24-28_kuo-yi chen, wen-jie, cai_the design and implementation of the english pronunciation education device-converted_edited international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 28-32 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i1.16 pi ssn 2 6 5 59 98 6 article history: received march 1st, 2019; accepted may 29th, 2019; published may 29th, 2019. the design and implementation of the english pronunciation education device kuo-yi chen a, 1, wen-jie a, cai a, 2 a department of computer science and information engineering, national formosa university, taiwan 1 kuoyichen@nfu.edu.tw; 2 40443142@gm.nfu.edu.tw abstract the english learning issue is always a problem for students who are not coming from native english countries. among the problems of english learning, such as spelling, reading, writing, the most significant barrier could be english pronunciation. to improve this issue, we design and implement the english pronunciation education device. this device could help students to improve their english pronunciation with 3d printed blocks and real person voice. keywords english learning; english pronunciation; phonetic symbols; teaching device this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction in the modern world, the ability to use multiple languages could be essential. among all languages, english could be the primary language across the globe. however, english learning could be a struggle process. due to the learning student might not live and grow in nativeenglish countries, the environment of english using is hard to be created. moreover, the nonstandard accent leads to more problem in english pronunciation. for the issue of english pronunciation, the most common approach is the use of phonetics. there are many phonetics systems used, such as international phonetic alphabet (ipa), kenyon and knott phonetic, daniel jones phonetic symbol. these phonetics systems are a least long time from english learning. however, these phonetic symbol systems are different from each other. students have to choose one or try to correspond them with the table 1 and lead to more confusedness and trouble. recent studies already show that the use of phonics approach could be a better way to learn english pronunciation than traditional phonetics systems (diaz-plaza, 1995). to increase the performance chen, jie & cai / the design and implementation of the english pronunciation education device 29 phonics learning for younger students, an english pronunciation education device is designed and implemented in this paper. literature review the issue of english pronunciation is a trendy study area, especially in non-native english countries. such as in asia, huang, guimin give his study in chinese students learning english pronunciation (huang et al., 2017). jayapalan, kamalashine also has the study of teaching and learning english pronunciation in malaysia (jayapalan & pillai, 2016). these studies both indicate the problems of the using of phonetic symbols (hameed & aslam, 2015). on the other hand, some researches show the mobile app might help students to learn english pronunciation (cavus, 2016; james, 2017). however, the use of mobile apps might lead to bad eyesight since there are already a lot of mobile devices around students (schaefer, 2015). therefore, the requestions of the teaching device to improve the ability of english pronunciation still existed (huang et al., 2017; black et al. 2015). methodology to avoid the modern 3c devices interference, such as ipad, mobile phones, and then reduce the learning performance of english teaching, the english pronunciation education device should be designed without apps and mobile devices. therefore, the education device is designed as follows. table 1. the vowels and diphthongs with ipa, john, and k.k. source: http://sparkandshine.net (2014). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 28-32 30 figure 1. the outlook of the english pronunciation education device. there are two major parts for this device, the alpha buttons, and the central station. students put the alpha buttons which could spell a word on the central station, and then the main station will read this word with phonics. with this approach, any word could be read by each pronunciation to reach the goal of learning. to recognize 26 different letters of the alphabet, we design the letters buttons of the alphabet with 3d printing technology. each letters buttons is including an electrical resistor. with the measurement of the particular value of each electrical resistor, the alphabet could be recognized. figure 2. the electric resistor and alphabet buttons with 3d printing technology, all alphabet buttons could be printed as follows. each alphabet button contains various electric resistors from one ohm to 10k ohm. with the measurement approach, the values of electrical resistors could be detected when the alphabet button is attached to the teaching device. therefore, various amounts of electrical resistors could be considered as a tag, and let teaching device have the sequence of alphabet sequence as a word. with the use of electrical resistors, 26 alphabet buttons could be easily detected. the cost of electric resistors is better than other approaches such as rfid, ir sensors, bar codes. therefore, the value of the proposed teaching device could be reduced significantly. figure 3. the alphabet buttons result and discussion chen, jie & cai / the design and implementation of the english pronunciation education device 31 the english pronunciation education device is designed by 3d modeling technology; we created the shape as a school bus to indicate the learning goal. the windows of the school bus for ready for alphabet buttons placing. figure 4. the english pronunciation education device 3d model the students could place the word, for example, cat, with the alphabet buttons. the order of alphabet buttons could be used to present the word as follows. figure 5. the sequence of alphabet buttons on the pronunciation education device since the sequence of alphabet buttons could be detected by the device, therefore, the sound of phonics could be played by a microcontroller. thus students could hear the sound of phonics and learn pronunciation as well. conclusion in this paper, we propose a design of english pronunciation education device. this device is presented as two major parts, the equipment, and alphabet buttons. with the use of electrical resistors, the cost of the device could be reduced significantly. without the lcd, the students could focus on more on learning and reach the goal of english pronunciation learning with fun. acknowledgment this work was supported by the taiwan ministry of science and technology (most) under grant no. most-104-2221e-150-014-, grant no. most 105-2221-e150-052 and grant no. most 106-2221 e-150-006. references black, m.p., et al. (2015). automated evaluation of non-native english pronunciation quality: combining knowledge-and data-driven features at multiple time scales. in sixteenth annual conference of the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 28-32 32 international speech communication association. cavus, n. (2016). development of an intellegent mobile application for teaching english pronunciation. procedia computer science, 102 p. 365-369. diaz-plaza, r. r. (1995). interactive teaching apparatus and method for teaching graphemes, grapheme names, phonemes, and phonetics, google patents. hameed, p.f.m., aslam, m.s. (2015). pronunciation as a stumbling block for the saudi english learners: an analysis of the problems and some remedies. theory and practice in language studies, 5(8) p. 1578. huang, g., et al. (2017). a evaluating model of english pronunciation for chinese students. in communication software and networks (iccsn), ieee 9th international conference on 2017. ieee. james, i. (2017). the use of web-based text-to-speech tool in improving english pronunciation and changing perception of error correction among young learners. international journal on elearning practices (ijelp). jayapalan, k., pillai, s. (2016). the state of teaching and learning english pronunciation in malaysia: a preliminary study. malaysian journal of elt research, 7(2): p. 19. schaefer, s. (2015). a fresh look at english “combining forms”: structure, identification and pronunciation. in book of abstracts. the vowels and diphthongs with ipa, john and k.k. (2014). http://sparkandshine.net/internation al-kk-dj-phonetic-symbols-and-thecorresponding-figure/. 29-36_montha chumsukon_the development of problem solving skills through problem-based learning in economics in school course international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 33-40 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i1.40 pi ssn 2 6 5 59 98 6 article history: received april 19th, 2019; accepted may 29th, 2019; published may 29th, 2019. the development of problem solving skills through problembased learning in economics in school course montha chumsukon a, 1 a faculty of education, khon kaen university, thailand 1 jin.inthawong@gmail.com; montha_j@hotmail.com abstract problem-solving was necessary skill during the 21st century. according to the advanced social change, the traditional knowledge management focusing on the lecture which did not facilitate the problem thinking skill. the problem-based knowledge management was the instructional model, which could enhance the students’ problem-solving skill. the objectives of this research were: 1) to develop students’ problem-solving skill by using the problem-based learning in economics in school course so that not less than 70% of students would have scores passing the specified criterion 70% of full score, and 2) to study the students’ satisfaction on problem-based learning in economics in school course. the target group of this study was 32 second-year students who enrolled in learning in economics in school course during the first semester of the 2017 academic year. there were 3 kinds of research instrument: 1) the instrument using for action including 9 problem-based plans, 27 hours, 2) the instrument using for reflecting research findings including the teachers’ teaching behavioral observation, the students’ learning behavioral observation, and 3 essay items of evaluation form in problem-solving skill at the end of cycle, and 3) the instrument used for evaluating the action performance including 5 multiple choice items of problem-solving skill, and 15 items of 5 level of rating scales for evaluating the students’ satisfaction. data were 2 it is analyzed by using the statistics including percentage, mean, and standard deviation. the research findings found that: for the students’ problemsolving skill through problem-based learning in economics in school course, there were 25 students or 78% passing the specified criterion out of 32 students who were higher than the specified standard 70%. also, the mean score was 42.7 9 points or 71.33% out of 60 points, passing the specified criterion 70%. for the students’ satisfaction in problem-based learning in economics in school couse, in overall, it was in “high” level (very satisfied). this research was classroom action research. it is beneficial for improving social studies teachers to develop future students. the students can continuously learn by themselves; it allows them the opportunity to achieve the goal of life-long learning and to become a person of quality for the 21st century. keywords problem solving skills; problem-based learning; satisfaction this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction problem-solving is an essential skill for the 21st century because, in today’s society, there are many problems to encounter, such as work problems, life problems, and personal problems. thus, problem-solving is a vital skill for carrying on one’s life. therefore, in teaching, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 33-40 34 teachers should help and support students to acquire the necessary problem-solving skills and to be able to apply them in real life situations. the social studies branch at the faculty of education of khon kaen university is responsible for producing teachers in the fields of social studies, religion, and culture. it is necessary to produce competent and proficient teachers. moreover, the learning program can be managed in such a manner that students can efficiently acquire the necessary knowledge to strike a balance in three areas knowledge, morality, and values. economics is a compulsory school course in the bachelor of education curriculum. the social studies branch focuses on basic knowledge of economics for solving economic problems at both the household and the community levels. however, interviews with students who had enrolled in the course showed that most of the teachers had given lectures which had resulted in the following: 1) less participation by the students and 2) fewer learning opportunities, and 3) fewer learning alternatives. it was found that some content had been too difficult to understand and to be applied to daily life when having to solve economic problems. these factors had caused the students to have a lack of enthusiasm for the lessons and activities that could potentially help them practice their problem-solving skills. from the conditions of the problems, the researchers found that improvements needed to be made in learning management, especially in those areas that can assist students in developing their problem-solving skills by applying problembased learning. the reasoning is that students can learn how to deal with problems from situations and environmental settings, which are similar to real life. the problems that the students have to encounter in their lives can stimulate and develop their problemsolving skills in order to assist them to logically solve their problems. as a result, the students must act and make decisions about what they are seeking by themselves and must learn to work as a team with other people, this is what the students can gain from their learning (silanoi et al., 2017; office of education council, 2007; barrows and tamblyn, 1980; delisel, 1997; trop and sage, 2002). blumberg (2000) found that problem-based learning can help students acquire skills by themselves; to improve their learning strategies until they become successful, which is chumsukon / the development of problem solving skills through problem-based learning in... 35 considered high-level process; and to improve their learning by themselves. hence, the researchers were interested in problem-based learning in economics school courses with the aim of developing problem-solving skills by using problem-based learning for students. furthermore, they sought to help no less than 70 percent of the students to pass with 70 percent of total scores. moreover, regarding problem-based learning, this study also aimed to examine the students’ degrees of satisfaction. furthermore, it sought to examine the requirements that they become able to develop and to apply problem-solving skills and in the process, become fonder of the learning process. finally, they should become people of quality who are able to accomplish the following: 1) to solve economic problems within their families, 2) to apply the knowledge in the public arena, 3) to start thinking for themselves, 4) to be selfdetermined, 5) to become more responsible and competent in planning, 6) to become fond of learning, and 7) to be able to control themselves. furthermore, they should become individuals who undertake life-long learning and who should be able to adjust to social and economic changes quickly. literature review based on a study of the documents and related research about problemsolving skills, satisfaction, and problembased learning, it was found that problemsolving skills represent a high level of competency (quellmalz, 1985). there are 4 phases of problem management procedures which are as follows: 1) problem identification, 2) the causes of the problem identification, 3) finding the solution, and 4) verifying the solution (weir, 1974; polya, 1973). the students need to practice systematic thinking. therefore, the researchers will develop a teaching innovation to develop the students’ problem-solving skills. problembased learning is likely to help develop problem-solving skills in the school course of economics. moreover, from studying the related theories, it was found that problem-based learning focuses on the students. by utilizing problems as a stimulus for learning, the students can acquire new knowledge by themselves by developing their thought processes until the solutions are decided. there are six steps to solving problems: 1) connecting with the problem, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 33-40 36 2) setting up the structure, 3) visiting the problem, 4) reversing the problem, 5) producing a product or performance, and 6) evaluating performance and the problem (delisle, 1997; trop 5 and sage, 2002; office of education council, 2007). also, if the students were able to express positive feelings about what they are doing (feldman and arnold,1983, they would start to think for themselves, to become more determined, to become fonder of learning, and would be better able to control themselves when they are learning. methodology this study is classroom action research, carried out in the classroom (kemmis, mctaggart, and skeritt, 1998), and follows the action cycles called paor, standing for planning, action, observation, and reflection. the target group was 32 second-year students majoring in social studies who enrolled in economics in school course in the first semester of the 2017 academic year. the procedure was as follows: the tools used in the study consisted of the six steps of problem-based learning plans (delisle, 1997; trop and sage, 2002; office of education council, 2007). the six figure 1. the procedures of operational research. chumsukon / the development of problem solving skills through problem-based learning in... 37 steps are as follows: 1) connecting with the problem, 2) setting up the structure, 3) visiting the problem, 4) reversing the problem, 5) producing a product or performance, and 6) evaluating the performance and the problem. the 9 plans (27 hours with 3plans for each cycle) included the following: (1) teachers behavior observation form; (2) student’s learning behavior observation form; (3) the 3-item subjective test to evaluate the problem solving skills at the end of the cycle; and (4) evaluation tools which was comprised of a 5-item subjective test to evaluate problem solving with 60 total points. the evaluation consisted of a rubric, which was used to evaluate four skills: 1) identifying the problem, 2) identifying the causes of the problem, 3) finding the solution, and 4) verifying the solutions (weir, 1974; polya, 1973). finally, there was a 5 level satisfactory survey with three parts (15 items) as follows: 1) learning management, 2) learning environment, and 3) the benefits derived from problem-based learning. the researchers collected the data in the following manner: 1. an orientation was held to inform the students about the following: a) problem-based learning, b) the roles of the teachers and students in the learning activities, c) the economic content of the school course, and d) the system for evaluations. 2. there were nine plans, (27 total hours for problem-based learning activities), which covered knowledge about action research and paor cycles according to kemmis and mctaggart (1990). there were three cycles in the operation of the learning management plan (1-3), (4-6), and (7–9). while teaching, the researchers and assistants collected the data from the management of the learning activities by the learning management plan by using the research tools. the data from operation reflection was used to improve the learning plans for the next cycle. after finishing learning management for each cycle, the researchers evaluated the students’ problem-solving skills and examined the students’ learning behavior observation forms. 3. when all learning activity plans and cycles had been finished, the researchers had the students complete the problem-solving skills evaluation and the satisfaction survey. the scores international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 33-40 38 were coded and then were later analyzed. the analyses of the scores from the test compared to the criteria showed that more than 70% of the students had passed with 70% of the total score. it shows that the results of the satisfaction survey of the students toward problem-based learning in terms of mean and standard deviation are valid. results and discussion this study can lead to the development and improvement of the students’ problem-solving skills. from examining the development of the students’ problem-solving skills using problem-based learning in an economics in a school course, it was found that 25 of 32 students (78%) had met the required scores, which is higher than the set criteria of 70%. the average score was 42.79 out of a total of 60, which was 71.33% and which exceeded the set score of 70%. furthermore, there had been nine problem-based learning plans, and the students had practiced their problemsolving skills through the 6 steps of the problem-based learning process. each activity had encouraged them to think systematically and had presented situations that could engage them in participating in problem-solving (trop and sage, 1998). this was their opportunity to further enhance their knowledge and to develop the target skills, such as gaining knowledge that is consistent with real-life content and can be applied in real life situations; developing the skills of critical thinking, analytical thinking, rational thinking, synthetic thinking, and creative thinking; and finally, gaining practice in 8 they are thinking to effectively solve problems. moreover, the students were able to continuously learn by themselves, which can lead to life-long learning, an important quality for people in the 21st century (suwannoi, 2016). this corresponds to findings from blumberg (2000) who stated that problem-based learning encourages students to make efforts, to develop ways of learning until they reach higher level processes, and to be able to improve their learning by themselves. the results of the study are related to reynold & hancock (2010) who studied learning management in an environmental technology curriculum. they found that problembased learning is one means to practice problem-solving skills in real life because students were able to gain more chumsukon / the development of problem solving skills through problem-based learning in... 39 knowledge via problem-solving skills. also, problem-based learning study was conducted by krongthong kairiree (2010), at the international college of suan sunandha rajabhat university, and the results indicated that problem-based learning had improved the students’ english skills. based on the data from the students’ level of satisfaction in problem-based learning in an economics in a school course, the findings showed that overall, most of them had been very satisfied (average 3.98, sd = 0.36). because problem-based learning offers interested problem situations for the students (trop and sage, 1998), they had tended to accomplish the following: 1) to participate more in the learning activities that are student-focused, 2) to seek knowledge and find the answers by themselves, and 3) to interact with other people. the teachers had acted only as facilitators in these activities. reynold & hancock (2010) also studied learning management in the curriculum for environmental technology and found that the students had shown better attitudes after participating in problem-based learning class. conclusion problem-based learning offers an alternative means to help students to accordingly develop their levels of competency and proficiency. given that with problem-based learning, the students can continuously learn by themselves, it allows them the opportunity to achieve the goal of life-long learning and to become a person of quality for the 21st century. from this study, it was found that when students are in the process of learning via problem-based learning, they will learn to think in different ways (ranging from basic levels to high levels), will be more confident in expressing and will express qualities of leadership. therefore, it is possible to apply problem-based learning to the development of social skills and leadership skills for the students, which are important skills in today’s society. acknowledgment we would like to express our gratitude to the faculty of education at khon kaen university for supporting this study. references blumberg, phyllis. (2000). evaluating the evidence that problembased learners are self-directed learners: a review of the literature. in eversen, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 33-40 40 dorothy h. and hmelo, cindy e. (eds.). problembased learning a research perspective on learning interactions. pp. 199-225.mahwah, new jersey: lawrence erlbaum associates. delisle, r. (1997). how to use problembased learning in the classroom. verginia: association for supervision and curriculum development. feldman, d. & arnold, h. (1983). management individual and group behavior in organizations. tokyo: mcgraw – hill. howard s. barrows, robyn m. tamblyn. (1980). problem-based learning an approach to medical education. new york: springer publishing company. 10. kemmis, s., and mctaggart, r. (1990). the action research planner. geelong : deakin university. khairiree k. (2010). the effects of using problem-based learning and cooperative learning instructional model: international college, suan sunandha rajabhat university perspective. suan sunandha rajabhat university. office of the education council. (2005). problems based-learning. bangkok : pimdee printing. polya. g .(1973). how to solve it. new york: doubelday quellmalz, e.n. (1985). better methods for testing higher oder thinking skills. education leadership,43 (october), 2934. reynold, m.j. & hancock, r.d. (2010). problem-based learning in higher education environmental biotechnology course. innovations in education and teaching international, 47(2), 175–186. tallent, mary k. (1985).“the future problem solving program : an investigation. silanoi, l., et al.. (2017). training materials for teacher development. khon kaen: institute for research and development in teaching profession for asean khon kaen university. suwannoi, p. (2016). problems basedlearning. search on 9 may 2018. trop, l., sage, s. (2002). problems as possibilities: problem based-learning for k -16 education. 2nded. alexandria, wa: association for supervision and curriculum development. weir, j.j. (1974). problem solving is every body’s problem. the science teacher, 4 (april), 16-18. article 07-31_layout (english version) international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp.142-149 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.31 i ssn 2 6 5 59 9 86 (pr int), i ssn 2 6 8 54 0 74 (o nline) article history: received april 1st, 2019 ; accepted november 11th, 2019; published november 30th, 2019. portraits of children's autonomy in paud alam minangkabau reni junita saria, ¹, nurhafizahb, yaswindac a, b, c early childhood education, faculty of education, universitas negeri padang, indonesia 1 renijunitasari20@gmail.com abstract this article is motivated by the results of research on how children's autonomy in paud alam minangkabau. autonomy is one aspect of human personality that cannot stand alone, this means that autonomy is related to other aspects of personality such as social aspects, emotional aspects, physical and psychological aspects. the purpose of this study is to describe how the autonomy of children in paud alam minangkabau. data collection techniques used are the format of observation, interviews, and documentation. observations focused on children and interviews were conducted with school principals and teachers on how to instill autonomy. from the results of this study, it is illustrated that almost all children have good autonomy where autonomy has been well developed through the collaboration of parents and teachers in the development of children's autonomy. with the existence of such cooperation the development of autonomy can be carried out maximally. seen when the child can be left by parents at school and do various activities for him without having to be helped by teachers or other adult. keywords: portrait; autonomy; children of paud alam minangkabau this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction education0is0a fundamental aspects in the continuation of human life. this requires knowledge of skills and attitudes so that humans can adapt themselves to their family environment and the community environment. children's education at an early age has an extraordinary influence on children's development because it lays the foundation for further development. when the children grows up, education at an early age will provide a deep scar and significantly affect the attitude, behavior, and intelligence (nurhafizah & azlina, 2015). early childhood education is a level of education that is generally between the ages of 4-6 years. education in this kindergarten is not compulsory education (masitoh; 2009), but its role is vital as a fundamental educational stage. therefore education in kindergarten requires special attention from teachers, parents, and also from the government and managing foundations. without attention from various parties, education in kindergarten will not achieve maximum results as expected. at present, education in kindergarten is still in a stage of change from a program that focuses on social and emotional development into kindergarten that emphasizes academic values, especially reading, writing, mathematics, and science, and preparing children to think and solve problems. early childhood education is education given from the children birth to eight years old. education reni junita saria, nurhafizahb yaswinda / potret kemandirian anak di paud alam minangkabau 143 for early childhood is the basis for the formation of the human personality as a whole, which is characterized by nature, noble character, intelligence and skill. early childhood education must be based on the needs of children, adjusted to the values held in the surrounding environment. education provided must be following the stages of child development and carried out in a playful atmosphere (yaswinda, yulsyofriend, farida mayar, 2018). in order for the development process to be carried out successfully according to the expected goals, the teacher can determine approaches, strategies, methods, and media that are appropriate to the development of students. marrison (2012) states that the practice of development following development is developmentally appropriate practice (dap), which means that the teacher's teaching practice is based on the way children grow and develop. dap is a recommended teaching practice in this profession, so it is hoped that teachers can understand how children grow and develop at all stages of development, namely cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical. children are scientific scientists because, through their five senses, children can observe natural phenomena that surround them. children are ready to carry out various activities in order to understand and master their environment. these periods are critical periods in which a child needs the right stimuli to achieve perfect maturity. if at this critical time, the child can get the right stimulation in the form of exercise or learning process, the child will experience difficulties in the next developmental period. in this way, the learning process of children from an early age is vital (nurhafizah, 2017). one aspect of personality that must be developed in early childhood is autonomy. autonomy in english is called autonomy, which is an attitude in the form of a decision to take a risk, manage yourself, without obtaining or asking for help from others. (santrock 2018). in obtaining autonomy, socially, emotionally, and intellectually, children must be allowed to be responsible for what they do. independent children are usually able to overcome problems faced in their developmental stages, such as being able to regulate themselves and not depend on others. self-reliance is one that must be possessed of adult life skills and is one of their developmental tasks. however, autonomy will not arise by itself without the excellent guidance and conditions of childhood (yaswinda, 2013). yamin 2012 stated that "autonomy is very closely related to children as individuals who have self-concept, self-esteem, and self-regulation". autonomy must be trained from an early age, and the development of early childhood autonomy can be described in the form of behavior and habituation of children. based on the analysis of the fact of the paud minangkabau, i saw the initial observation that children's autonomy is indeed well developed because it is seen when the child is wearing and removing shoes, when dating or coming home from school, after went to the toilet alone without the help of the teacher, and when the child is after eating, and international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 142-149 144 playing can tidy up its own equipment; then after using all the play equipment used, children can put it back to its original place. (martinis & sanan 2012) states that autonomy consists of several aspects: 1) intellectual, this aspect is shown by the ability to manage the various problems encountered. 2) social, this aspect is shown by the ability to interact with other people and not depend on or wait for the actions of others. based on the exposure previously disclosed, researchers are interested in examining the development of children's autonomy in paud alam minangkabau. research method based on the above discussion, the researcher can take the hypothesis as follows: ha: there is an effect of the use of educational media game tools on the creativity of children aged 4-5 years ho: there is no effect of the use of educational media game tools on the creativity of children aged 4-5 years theoretical perspectives based on the problems and research objectives formulated by researchers, this type of research is descriptive research with a qualitative approach. qualitative research is a research that intends to understand the phenomena about what is experienced by research subjects holistically and using descriptions in the form of words and languages, in a particular natural context, and by utilizing various scientific methods (moleong, 2007). researchers in this study will observe the development of children's autonomy. therefore the researchers chose the research subjects by saturation sampling. according to (sugiyono 2009), saturation sampling is a technique when all members are used as samples. this is often done when the population is relatively small, less than 30 people, or research that wants to make generalizations with minimal errors. there are 3 classes with 20 children in early childhood education (paud) alam minangkabau. therefore, researchers chose minangkabau nature early childhood education (paud) as the object of research. as for what will be the subject of research are the principal as the leader and policymaker in paud alam minangkabau, as well as the teacher as an educator who provides education and learning services as well as instilling autonomy for all students. data collection techniques used include: (1) observation to be disguised. disguised observations are observations made on research informants, and research informants know that they are being studied. however, one day the researcher is also not forthright about a matter because he wants to obtain confidential data (sugiyono, 2012). the number of objects studied was 20 people. results and discussion based on observations made on 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17 october 2018 in paud alam minangkabau the children here have seen their autonomy, namely 1) reni junita saria, nurhafizahb yaswinda / potret kemandirian anak di paud alam minangkabau 145 from the aspect of emotional autonomy in which the children here can be left by their parents at school, patiently waiting for the queue to wash their hands and turn to read the iqra, then patiently in the queue to shake hands with the teacher when they come home from school. 2) from the aspect of children's intellectual autonomy, where the child does the work from the teacher to completion, and the child can answer the questions given by the teacher. 3) from the aspect of children's social autonomy, where children want to share food and drinks with friends, and children also want to share toys with their friends. on october 17, 2018, where an interview with the school principal was held about how the principal's collaboration with the teacher was in establishing autonomy for children. children in paud alam minangkabau are taught about how autonomy so when the children here have been given trust, the children in each task or activity can do it themselves so that with the belief that children will be independent in addition to our collaboration with the teacher here we also do a collaboration with parents so that this autonomy children can also do at home. then on 11, 16, 23 october 2018 with the teacher about the autonomy of children were about the guidelines of aspects of children's autonomy. all the answers given by the teacher are almost the same as the children at school, the emotional aspects of children's autonomy can be left at school, from the aspect of intellectual autonomy of the child independently. they can do their tasks given by the teacher to completion and the last aspect of social autonomy where the children here also socially independent because children can share food or drink with friends and can also share toys with their friends. the researcher's findings describe the research data based on observations, interviews, and documentation in viewing the description of the autonomy. this research was conducted in class b with respondents in class b. the informants were teachers in class a1, a2, and b. 1. based on observations a) monday 08 october 2018 this is where the autonomy of children can be assessed when children can wash their own hands, prepare their food, and share their peers who do not bring food or drink. b) tuesday 09 october 2018 where the child is introduced to papaya leaves behind the class, then the child is told to pick leaves every one child picks one leaf ... and imitates the activities, and the child also does the same thing. here the autonomy of the children is excellent because all children can do the work until completion. c) wednesday 10 october 2018 where the social aspect of the autonomy of children is seen here when the children help one another in cleaning the garden and mistaking plants. d) thursday 11 october 2018 where the children here are invited by the teacher to watch together to the opposite class. before going to the opposite class, children queued up first to line up to do watching activities. here, the patience of the children in turns walked across to the opposite class. then the children were enthusiastic about watching. after finished watching, the children were given more questions about what they watched earlier. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 142-149 146 e) monday 15 october 2018 in the child learning also shows his autonomy where the child likes to do the assignment given by the teacher and do it himself without assistance until completion. f) wednesday, october 17, 2018 after taking iqra, children take turns to read iqra with the teacher. that day the child's autonomy is seen when the child is patiently waiting for his turn, which aspect of the child's emotional autonomy is seen. discussion based on the results of the study, researchers will describe the discussion of data analysis, because this study is descriptive with a qualitative approach, then the data collection techniques that researchers use are guidelines for observation, interviews, and documentation. the researchers' results that have been obtained will be used to obtain the expected results. then it will be relevant to the related discussion. the results of researchers that researchers have gotten from the results of observations, interviews, and documentation is a descriptive study of the autonomy of children in alam minangkabau paud. the child's autonomy will develop well if the child is given space and opportunity to do things as he wishes, act without coercion, and feel comfortable with the environment. in line with yamin's 2013 proposal, 81 that the child will become independent once he feels comfortable with the environment surdana (2014: 1) states that early childhood education is a coaching effort aimed at children from an early age through the provision of educational stimuli to help growth and development physically and spiritually so that children have the readiness to enter the next stage of primary education in life. furthermore trianto (2011: 24) states, early childhood education (paud) is a coaching effort that is shown to children from birth until the age of six years which is carried out through the provision of educational stimuli to help physical and spiritual growth and development so that children have readiness in entering further education. also, according to susanto 2018, 94 states the term autonomy in english is called autonomy, is an attitude in the form of a decision to take a risk, manage yourself, without obtaining or asking for help from others. titik kristiyani (in syafaruddin, 2004: 147) states that autonomy can be interpreted as an ability to think, feel, and do, something itself. autonomy can also be interpreted as a skill to help yourself both physically and psychologically. physical autonomy is reni junita saria, nurhafizahb yaswinda / potret kemandirian anak di paud alam minangkabau 147 the ability to take care of oneself, while psychological autonomy is the ability to make decisions and solve the problems at hand. according to wiyana (lina 2015: 5), there are several benefits that can be obtained if autonomy is taught from an early age, including children becoming more confident, comfortable to adjust to their environment, and not always dependent on adults (novan ardy wiyani, 2013: 33). according to ariyanti (in sari 2008: 28), the autonomy of early childhood has several benefits, including: 1. directing oneself and making decisions such as being able to manage the time of their own activities, have their own type of play. 2. social emotions like children are accustomed to helping others, and are more used to respecting others, willing to play with friends. 3. self-management like a child can control himself when a child is running in front of him with a hole so the child will spontaneously stop because there is the ability to manage themselves, not cry when left by a caregiver or parent. 4. finding self-identity like a child is more trusting and skilled so that the child does not hesitate or be ashamed of doing all his activities. 5. moral like children can be responsible for the decisions they make. havighurst (in, martinis & sanan 2012: 65) sanan states that autonomy consists of several aspects: intellectual, this aspect is demonstrated by the ability to manage various problems encountered. social, this aspect is shown by the ability to interact with others and is not dependent or waiting for action from others. according to kartono (in wiyana, 2013: 29) aspects of autonomy including emotions, this aspect is shown by the ability to control emotions and not replace emotional needs from parents. emotion, which is shown by the child's ability to control and not depend on the emotional needs of parents; 2) intellectual, which is shown by the ability of children to overcome various problems encountered; and 3) social, which is shown by the ability of children to be able to solve their own problems, without the help of others, because if the child is able to solve the problem without the help of others, of course, it will be beneficial for the child's life later. from some of the above opinions, it can be concluded that the aspect of autonomy consists of emotional, intellectual, and social aspects where children are used to solve their own problems without parents help. conclusion based on the results of research from the discussions that have been conducted by researchers, it can be concluded that: autonomy in the emotional aspects of children in this school, almost all of their children are good. however, with the encouragement and assistance provided by teachers, children can start to grow their autonomy. activities provided by the teachers are varied depending on the interests of the child. by looking at the interests of the child, the teacher can easily give an understanding to the child so that parents can leave it. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 142-149 148 the autonomy of children from the intellectual aspect seen here all their children are independent and can do their own tasks to complete. the way teachers here make children can enjoy learning and completing assignments given by the teacher, which is done alone by studying outside the room so that the activities are not monotonous and boring. the autonomy of children from the social aspects of children in this school is functional because the children here can share food with their friends, and children can also socialize with all their friends. no children are picky about friends. it because the teachers have started to embed the nature of sharing and not choosing friends from early in their school years, so that the children can develop and implement the social aspects well. references george s marrison. 2012. pelaksanaan strategi pembelajaran scaffolding melalui permainan di tk b sebagai upaya mengangkat pemahaman konsep bilangan (artikel). 553-yuli haryati, ismartoyo-2177-4480-1sm.pdf.semarang gaffar. 2011. pendidikan karakter anak usia dini sebagai generasi muda untuk menggapai bonus demografi (artikel).77-5-diana vidya fakhriyani-ipi498755-pdf.madura moleong, lexi. 2007. metodelogi penelitian kualitatif. bandung: remaja karya moleong, lexy. 2006. metodelogi penelitian kualitatif. bandung: pt. remaja rosdakarya masitoh. 2009. pelaksanaan strategi pembelajaran scaffolding melalui permainan di tk b sebagai upaya mengangkat pemahaman konsep bilangan (jurnal).55-3-yuli haryati, ismartoyo-2177-4480-1-sm.pdf.semarang nurhafizah & azlina mohd. kosnin. 2015. implementasi permainan tradisional indonesia di taman kanak-kanak kota padang. jurnal ilmiah ilmu pendidikan. volume xv no.1 april 2015. nurhafizah, nurhafizah. 2017. strategi pengembangan kemampuan sains anak taman kanak-kanak di koto tangah padang. jurnal anak usia dini dan pendidikan anak usia dini . (volume 3 no. 3b). 103-104. santrock. 2007. perkembangan anak. jakarta: erlangga susanto. 2018. bimbingan dan konseling di sekolah. jakarta: prenada media group sugiyono. 2012. metode penelitian kuantitatif, kualitatif, dan r & d. bandung: rosdakarya wiyana novanardy.2013. bina karakter aud.yogyakart&qaruzz media yamin, martinis dan sanan.2012. panduan paud.jakarta: gaung persada press group. yaswinda. yulsyofriend, & farida mayar. 2018. pengembangan bahan pembelajaran sains berbasis multisensori ekologi bagi guru paud kecamatan tilatang kamang kabupaten agam. jurnal pendidikan anak usia dini. (volume 2 no. ii), 13 yaswinda, yaswinda. 2018. growing role of teachers autonomy children age 2-4 years.jurnal pendidikan anak usia dini. (volume 2 no. i), 58 186_ijeiece (1) international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 11-17 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i.186 issn 2655-9986 (print), issn 2685-4074 (online) article history: received (april 15th, 2020); accepted (may 18th, 2020); published (may 29th, 2020). a revision of kola babarinde's stance on value statements in education ikeoluwapo b. baruwa department of early childhood and educational foundations, university of ibadan, nigeria. ikeoluwapobaruwa@gmail.com abstract the place of value statements in education cannot be undermined and should consequently not be overemphasized. value statements have been characterized to be part of most educational discussions and writings, however, its centrality should not be hindered (rather worked on) as conceived and supported by some philosophers, as against the logical positivists or empiricists who considered it to be a mere expression of thoughts. as the popular saying is, when the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse becomes inevitable; this paper seeks a revision of kola babarinde’s stance on value statements in education, and further emphasizes the position value plays in the contemporary schools. keywords: kola babarinde, value statement, education, this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction this paper is interested in seeking a conceptual analysis of what babarinde presented in his paper titled, ‘the relevance and limitations of value statements in education’. as highlighted by babarinde, the concept and stance of value statements have been argued overtime to that with a lack of logical stringency. this, in turn, has been further argued to be the genesis of failure of schools in particular and that of the institution of education in general. however, as earlier posited, this paper seeks to make a critique of babarinde’s position; whilst this paper agrees with some of the arguments in the original work, this paper further sets its departure and states reasons why the stance of value is of major concern to the contemporary pedagogy. in this study, the concept of value statements in education and the place of value in schooling (that is, can the schools teach value?) shall be of critical concern. seeking a revision in response to the paper, ‘relevance and limitations of value statements in education’, this paper agrees with the author in his analysis of what value statements entails. in his work, value statements were broken down into constituents and later formed as a whole in the body of his examination and analysis. he started with a brief introduction of how value statements are expressed and how they make up our everyday life. for him, human living, depicted by conversations or relationships are guided by values or value statements. in other words, the expressions of values or value statements cannot be separated, as it has become part of our daily living, even when we international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 11-17 12 do not take direct cognizance of these expressions in our manner of conversations. hence, it becomes more permeating and pervading in education for sake of a field of human endeavor that concerns itself with the lives of all beings, and therefore, confers on the prerogative often taken to be a 'legislate' or to offer 'expert opinion' on educational issues. to corroborate the emphasis of the author, babarinde established that, ‘one basic activity in human life is making choices . thus, whenever we choose, we confer values on the object of choice. value plays an important role in human life, especially in making choices as conceived, and this makes it important why value should be taught in schools (emphasis is mine). one might ask, what then are value statements? or, what is the value that makes it a statement? value statements can be seen to have been derived from the popular branch of philosophy, axiology, which means the nature of a value or what constitutes theories of value. here, in axiology, there are subdivisions of both ethics (the study of what is right or wrong, ethical or unethical, acceptable or unacceptable, good or bad, which guides human conduct) and aesthetics (the study or nature of beauty). hence, adjectives/words like wrong, bad, good, beautiful, moral, and the like are contained in value statements, and as earlier established, can be seen under the branch of axiology (nature of value). however, there is no truth claim in value statements (and this is one of the reasons why the logical positivists or empiricists considered it as mere verbal ejaculation). taking this for example as cited by babarinde: in a statement such as green is the best color for school uniform, it will be meaningless to say true or false except to signify or withhold support . he submitted that the nature that statements of value take, can be likened to that of prescriptions and which in turn has been described as elliptical statements – badly stated or incomplete statements. going by the analysis of the paper, he examined value statements with other related concepts such as analytical statements (all men are mortal, a bachelor is an unmarried male, empirical statements (mr. jumbo is 5m tall, the temperature inside this auditorium is 32° centigrade). in the aforementioned examples, he positioned that empirical statements are truth claims because they refer to a state-of-affairs which are verifiable on their own. on the other hand, analytical statements are considered a priori, which are statements necessarily to be true. that is, true in themselves. in his submissions, he suggested that the best that can be done is to render value statements into propositions or statements of implication, which in turn can bring about truth claim, if not to be taken as mere verbal ejaculation as described by philosophers of logical positivism. thus, for instance, one can consider the statement 'green is a better color for school uniform' to imply a stipulation or prescription to the effect that 'green color is to be preferred for school uniform'. in this case, as it is common with expressions of taste, it can be neither true nor false; rather, a wise comment should be: 'it all depends'. and if this is the case, it means the ikeoluwapo b. baruwa / a revision of kola babarinde's stance on value statements in education 13 kind of treatment given to prescriptions may be feasible when dealing with value statements. and this treatment is the reduction of value statements to proposition or statement of implication. for babarinde, the use of value statements must be reduced to the minimal level, especially by educators who unwittingly employ it in all areas of education. he further added that value statements are plagued with conceptual difficulties, therefore, philosophers in time past have rendered it questionable with reasoned arguments. can school teach value? what is the value that the school should teach or not teach? let me reiterate by conceptualizing value as one that regulates and guides human behavior and action in our day-to-day life. the concepts of value and norm are sometimes misconstrued and used interchangeably. for emphasis or clarification, while norm can be used for a relatively specific pattern of expected behavior, and which is mostly obligatory to the users, the value can be considered a matter of one's choice. considering, for instance, the use of ‘discipline’, it could be a value or a norm depending on the context of usage or understanding. discipline could be adopted in every sphere of human engagement or activity, but it is to be reminded that, not everyone can follow it. like it’s popularly said, you can force a horse to the river but you cannot force him or her to drink from the river. thus, discipline in this context can only become a value when there is an internalization by the party or user involved. and for the norm on the other hand, once there is internalization as earlier said, there is a tendency for such value to become a norm in making preferences and judgment for one's choice or need. thus, one's choice makes value subjective, and as it exists or conforms to the world of reality, values become present or embedded in every action. it is of imperative therefore to bear in mind that, values become seen in every word an individual selects and speaks, or what one wears; ways in which one interacts with his or her fellow beings, in every perception and interpretation of others, in every reaction and other human engagements. in situ, values are formed on the ground of one’s interests, desires, choices, and preferences. to the question raised in babarinde’s paper, can school teach value? or why should school teach value? babarinde could have over assumed in a few of his arguments by saying that, 'to say that schools should teach values would be the same as asserting that the school should do what is necessary to fulfill its assigned tasks . also, saying that the task of the school is to teach values, therefore, directing the school to teach it would be a contradiction is an assumption. like the popular saying, if the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. in the same vein, the task of teaching value is not only subsumed in the school, but we also have family, society, and other societies at large. therefore, the conclusion seems wrong to have been arrived at. in the same vein, babarinde argued that 'if the basic activity of the school such as literacy has become so difficult to achieve, how much more a highly complex international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 11-17 14 trait such as value which is as elusive as much as it is ambiguous? babarinde seems to be wrong to have concluded that the task of the school in the former is basic (literacy) and the other is complex (value). questions to be raised here is: does one teach literacy without value? do these tasks (literacy and value) run simultaneously or subsequently? examining these two ideas, it could be said that babarinde committed reductio ad absurdum (reduction to the absurd) in his analysis. for instance, arguing that the school should not teach value because it belongs to the school and arguing that value has become elusive and ambiguous is contradictory on its own. should we assume the responsibility of teaching value lies only in the school? or, from the arguments raised by him, when something becomes complex, is it not necessary to be taught or developed that one might know its importance? as a point of reinvigorating the separated links in these ideas, it would have been said that, though the responsibility of teaching value lies not only in the school, therefore, the teaching of such would be deemed necessary. can school teach value? education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather make the man a cleverer devil . thus, the whole endeavor of education is practically linked with the development of values in the receiver. in plato’s account on the republic, the philosopher-kings education aims beyond the attainment of the four virtues and includes the greatest and most beneficial study: that of ‘the good’ . similarly, awolowo recognized education as a systematic course of instruction involving giving intellectual and moral training to persons, bringing up the young, helping the young to develop, to lead out the best in him, and to evolve an integral personality . bamisaiye in analyzing the concept of education viewed it as a concept which must affect the social behavior of the person being educated and in addition to this, education is necessarily a process of inculcating values to equip the learner to live a life – a kind of life that is satisfying to the individual by the cherished values and ideals of the society . considering the definitions above, can school teach value? or can one receive an education without value? or do one go to school without receiving value directly or indirectly? according to j.a. akinpelu, an educated man is such a man who combines expertise in some specific economic skills with the soundness of character and wisdom in judgment. he added that an educated man is a person who is wise, shrewd in judgment excellent in character . it should be noted that the mark of an educated person according to plato in the republic, is the willingness to use one’s knowledge and skills to solve the problems of society. do we now say the schools should teach value or not if it constitutes the fulcrum of what makes us an educated person? notwithstanding, if the question is asked, can school teach value? if the answer to the question is no, it could be asked that, why is it that most tertiary institutions emphasize the character and learning of ikeoluwapo b. baruwa / a revision of kola babarinde's stance on value statements in education 15 their students? why do we have the university of ibadan emphasize on the good character and sound judgment of her students? and, if the answer to the question is yes, one could ask how did the nation get to this state of poor social values and rampant unethical practices that pervade the democratic situation in nigerian society? the responsibility of the school is to teach the value and one should not assume that value is of the school and therefore not necessarily needed to be taught. poor social values emerged as a result of many factors and that is why there is a dire need to address the issue of value in schools. the school must make a conscious effort at leading out such great value potentials in man and as john locke rightly said, the aims of education should be to create a virtuous man and not only a scholar . then, why should schools teach values? value introduces students to faulty rationalization and helps them make ethical decisions, without resulting in unethical judgments, even amidst external pressures. thus, ethical discussions can shape the learners to better understand the perils of making faulty rationalization and better enrich them to handle external pressures in their pursuit. value creates a mature personality, that learners imbibe positive traits like tolerance, empathy, assertiveness, and leads to a healthy lifestyle. in the same manner, it exposes the student to opposing viewpoints or contrasting ethical opinions, and also provide a platform to better understand the reasons behind every difference or variation. adoption of value can help sustain the society from various social problems such as violence, dishonesty, corruption, kidnapping, rape, ritual killings, and other social problems today. as duly considered, the teaching of moral values in schools would limit the aforementioned problems. at the societal level, education for values must aim at promoting social cohesion and national integration for transforming societies, nations and in creating a better world good articles on ethics are effectively specialtopic exemplars of advanced critical thinking skills. students who study such first-rate reasoning in the classroom stand a better chance of being able to engage in solid ethical reasoning in the workplace. the development of ethical decision-making skills allows students to leverage a competitive advantage into a great job and prepares them to become future business leaders. gardelli et al once presented three arguments supporting why ethics should be taught in schools. for them, they identified the socialization argument, the quality of life argument, and the tool argument. for gardelli et al, the socialization argument emphasizes the need to help students become good and great citizens, and to achieve this feat, they argued that ethics becomes crucial in the teachinglearning process. second to that is the quality of life argument, which argues that schools should foster in learners to become persons of moral character. lastly, the tool argument is of the concern that, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 11-17 16 when ethics are considered, the results of learners in other subjects would be better improved1. bringing to the fore, babarinde would be wrong to have concluded that schools should teach critical thinking without an emphasis on the corroboration of both critical thinking and value in schools. the questions here are: do we teach or develop critical thinking in learners? what is critical thinking without value? do we teach critical thinking or skills? let me attempt the questions one after the other. the word, ‘critical’, derived from the greek word kritikos, which means ‘to judge’, arose out of the way analysis and socratic argument comprised thinking at that time2 and then the word kritikos passed to latin as ‘criticus’ that is the type of spreading to world languages from it3. critical thinking can be described as an ability beyond memorization. in this, when learners think critically, they are encouraged to think for themselves; to question hypotheses, to analyze, and to synthesize the events. questioning as the cornerstone of critical thinking is the source of knowledge formation and the guide or framework for all learning. a critical thinker here goes one step further by developing new hypotheses and test them against the facts obtained. do we then teach critical thinking or 1 gardelli, et al. 2014. why philosophical ethics in school: implications for education in technology and general in ethics and education, vol. 9, no:1, pp. 16-28 2 karakoc, m. 2016. the significance of critical thinking ability in terms of education. international journal of humanities and social science. vol. 6, no. 7 3 hançerlioğlu, o. 1996. felsefe sözlüğü. i̇stanbul: remzi ktabevi:31. develop in learners the ability to think critically? in the author’s submission, critical thinking can only be developed in learners, therefore, it would be wrong to say we teach critical thinking as if we teach or pass the knowledge of ‘abc' to the learners or educands. however, for as much as critical thinking can be developed, it should be searched and analyzed concerning its different dimensions. to the question of value and critical thinking running simultaneously, values are developed not by forcing people to memorize words but by the use of reason, and like john locke stated, to follow reason is to live a life of self-denial; the ability to resist the satisfaction of our desires and follow where reason leads instead4. in the same vein, value, as posited by socrates, is a higher reality that is responsible for our capacity to reason as well as our very ‘existence and being’5. therefore, the concepts of critical thinking and value cannot be separated in the teaching-learning process. summary value statements, as emphasized from the inception of this paper heretofore, have been discovered with a lack of logical stringency, as overly employed by educators, and this, in turn, has contributed to the failure of schools in one way or the other. as posited by kola babarinde, value statements must be rendered into propositions especially in educational writings and discourses to 4 akinpelu, j.a. 1981. an introduction to philosophy of education. 5 akinpelu, j.a. ibid ikeoluwapo b. baruwa / a revision of kola babarinde's stance on value statements in education 17 save any misconceptions that may arise. similarly, as argued by the author, the interest or focus of the school lies in the development of morally sound learners, and that is why most if not all societies, would expect an educated man or an individual who has undergone a formal education to possess attributes like honesty, assertiveness, meekness, tolerance, humility amongst others. acknowledgment special thanks to my teacher and senior colleague (as i fondly call him), in the person of professor kola babarinde (of the department of early childhood and educational foundations, university of ibadan) for this privilege. references akinpelu, j. a. (1981). an introduction to the philosophy of education. london: macmillian education ltd awolowo, o. (1981). voice of wisdom. akure: fagbamigbe publishers babarinde, k. (1995). relevance and limitations of value statements in education. ilorin journal of education. vol. 15 bamisiaye. r. (1989). a practical approach to the philosophy of education. ibadan amd publishers daya, p. et al. education for values in schools: a framework. retrieved on 20th march 2019 gardelli, et al. (2014). why philosophical ethics in school: implications for education in technology and in general in ethics and education, vol. 9, no:1 hançerlioğlu, o. (1996). felsefe sözlüğü. i̇stanbul: remzi ktabevi:31 karakoc, m. (2016). the significance of critical thinking ability in terms of education. international journal of humanities and social science. vol. 6, no. 7 lewis, c. s. the importance of teaching values in education. retrieved on 24th march 2019 locke, j. (1996). some thought concerning education and of the conduct of the understanding. edited by natan tarvov and ruth w, grant. indianapolis,in:hacket. mcgregor, d. (2007). developing thinking, developing learning. open university press plato. (2000). the republic, university press: cambridge. walsh, d., & paul r. (1988). the goal of critical thinking: from educational ideal to educational reality. washington, d. c: american federation of teachers kemandirian aparatur sipil negara (asn) melalui literasi keuangan available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 1 (2021) page: 01-07 corresponding author vebionita17@gmail.com; deliza.zarni@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i1.414 research synergy foundation the impact of negative gadgets on children's language development during the covid-19 pandemic vebionita megi putri1 delfi eliza2 1, 2 early childhood education, padang state university, indonesia abstract gadgets are the primary tools so that learning can occur, the use of gadgets that are not according to what they are supposed to have a negative impact that can interfere with children's language development. in this paper, the author finds that the biggest problem with the application of online learning is the many negative impacts that arise from the use of gadgets. this study uses a literature study method in which books, journals, e-books are used as reference materials. the results obtained are that there are several negative impacts of using gadgets on aspects of children's language development during the covid-19 pandemic. keywords: negative impact of gadgets, language development, covid-19 this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction the ongoing covid-19 pandemic requires learning to be carried out online as a way to break the chain of outbreak transmission. this is in accordance with a government circular dated march 24, 2020, no.4 of 2020, where the implementation of learning at all levels of education is carried out at home online. the learning process carried out online shows that education is very important to carry out. the importance of early childhood education is contained in law no. 20 of 2003 concerning the national education system article 1 paragraph 14 explains that early childhood education is a coaching effort shown to children from birth to 6 years of age which is carried out through providing incentives that can assist physical and spiritual growth and development so that children have the readiness to enter further education. early childhood education is built with the aim of helping the development of all the potential that a child has(septi & eliza, 2019). with this home learning policy, it requires teachers and parents to be able to adjust to the new methods being applied (pratama, 2020). in helping the development of the child's potential, the right stimulus and patience must be given in its implementation (rahman, 2009). in the growth and development of children, it has been going on from birth to death (wahyuni, 2019). during the covid-19 pandemic, learning was carried out by utilizing existing technology. the use of technology is one of the keys to implementing the learning process in human life in the digital era, where the learning process has developed very rapidly. (aslan, 2019). the most widely used technology is gadgets. today, gadgets are used by adults, but early childhood is now very proficient in using technological devices, both smartphones and others (herlina, 2018). in 2018, 177.9 million international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 01-07 the impact of negative gadgets on children's language development during the covid-19 pandemic vebionita megi putri, delfi deliza issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 2 │ indonesians were categorized as active users of gadgets at the age of children and adolescents (zaini, 2019). in addition, smartphones, tablets, and devices are commonly used by children every day (masrah, 2017). the gadget itself is an electronic device that has various features to facilitate human performance. the use of gadgets today has a significant impact on children, including helping to form a mindset in children and helping children improve their child's right brain abilities (wulandari, 2019). moreover, exciting treats owned by gadgets generate interest for children to use them for a long time and anywhere (munir, 2017). appropriate gadgets in early childhood can improve children's understanding in developing vocabulary (machmud, 2018). still, this research can be refuted if the use of devices is not appropriate, and parents' negligent action in managing children's time is negligent. according to wulandari (2016), the optimal time for using gadgets for early childhood is 1 hour per day. if the quantity of time used is excessive, it will have a negative impact on children's health. according to setiawan (2019), parents allow children to use gadgets to calm them down by reason of learning demands. one of the studies conducted by anggraeni (2019) with the results of the study had a negative impact on the development of aspects of children's language. this is in accordance with the research conducted by nurul khotimah (2016), which also explains in detail the impact of using gadgets on children in the aspect of language development. it was explained that children rarely communicate with people around them. parents play an important role in helping and facilitating all children's learning processes (yuliawan, 2016). assistance from parents can prevent children from being negatively affected by gadgets (warsiyah, 2015). however, this cannot be said to run smoothly because parents still have difficulty providing directions during the learning process (wiresti, 2020). when parents facilitate children, it is not uncommon for children to abuse the trust given by their parents by playing gadgets at will without any restrictions based on completing tasks. in implementing the online learning process during the covid-19 pandemic, children carried out many activities at home with gadgets to impact children's language development. children rarely communicate with their surroundings because they are cool playing with their gadgets. according to saryono (2013), speaking ability is an ability related to responding to communication opponents. when children use gadgets, they do not respond to the surrounding environment, there are many questions that children do not answer because they enjoy playing with gadgets. this is evidenced by research conducted by triastutik that when the research was carried out, children experienced failure in some of the tasks and commands are given because they were too busy with their gadgets (nurrachmawatii, 2014). the tendency of children to be reluctant to talk to other people. another impact caused is the disruption of receptive language development, namely the child's hearing ability, expressive language development, and the child becomes less able to communicate non-verbally (anggraini, 2019). excessive use of gadgets in children can interfere with the language, social and emotional development of children, which impacts the senses (snowman, 1993). suryana, 2012). based on the description above, the researcher wants to explain the negative impact of using gadgets on children's language development during the covid-19 pandemic. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 01-07 the impact of negative gadgets on children's language development during the covid-19 pandemic vebionita megi putri, delfi deliza issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 3 research method this research is qualitative research using literature study as a research method. the literature study research was carried out with the help of library information, such as books, journals, articles and e-books (setiawan, 2017). the analysis was carried out based on several studies related to the research discussion, namely the negative impact of gadget uses and children's language development. the data collection technique used in this study is a documentary technique. according to arikunto (2010), the documentation technique variably searches for data about things from notes, books, papers, articles, journals, and others. the data analysis technique used is a content analysis which aims to determine the description of the characteristics of the content and then draw conclusions (nana, 2009). findings based on the description above, the researcher attaches the previous findings that strengthen the researcher's discussion. where the use of inappropriate or inappropriate gadgets can have a negative impact on children's health (ningsih, 2018). the results of research conducted by trinika (2015) explain that when children use gadgets, most of them use them to play games instead of learning. the negative impact that arises from the language aspect is the delay in talking to children because they spend hours just playing gadgets which takes away the time to interact and communicate with other people (ningsih, 2018). this is supported by yusmi's (2015) research that if children are still fixated on gadget sophistication and experience addiction, it will result in difficulty interacting with their environment. the results of research conducted by handayani (2013) concluded that there were 36.7 preschool-aged children who had suspected language development, the same thing was also expressed by mardiana (2016) that 8.2% of toddler age experienced suspect language development and children's speech. thus, excessive use of gadgets has a negative impact on the development and psychology of children, where children become less social and communicate with their environment (santoso, 2013). discussion online learning by utilizing technological devices, especially gadgets, is not considered optimal in delivering teaching material to students, so learning becomes meaningless because it is like only focusing on visual development and ignoring other developments. according to research conducted by dragon and wagner (2004), it can be seen that the learning styles of students who change in online learning are more visual and strong in reading and writing. implementation online seems uneven and teacher-centered. coupled with the implementation of discussions or the use of the lecture method, the child's response tends to be slower (moorhouse, 2020). gadgets are a device that aims to assist humans in carrying out their activities (pebriana, 2017), gadget itself has several functions, namely: international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 01-07 the impact of negative gadgets on children's language development during the covid-19 pandemic vebionita megi putri, delfi deliza issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 4 │ education communication social (chusha, 2017) children's language development language is one of the communication tools used by humans to think as a human first step to acquire knowledge (amel, ramadhan, and gani, 2019). language itself is a means of communication between individuals in the form of symbols and sounds produced by speech tools in order to communicate with other people. language acquisition is the greatest form of achievement because language acquisition is studied intensively on how children can speak, analyze and use language in their development. in the regulation of the minister of culture of the republic of indonesia no. 137, it explains that what is meant by language is; understand receptive language able to express language has a relationship between the shape and sound of the letters according to santrock (2007), a language is a form of communication in the form of spoken, written, or through signs. the first language known to children is called the mother tongue (fatmawati, 2015). having language skills can help children in listening or listening (lubis, 2019). the use of gadgets also helps in children's language skills, depending on the control patterns and influence of the parents (rahmawati, 2020). impact of gadget usage during a pandemic, all learning processes are carried out online using available technological devices, including gadgets. therefore, the use of gadgets in the learning process has an impact on early childhood development, as follows; emotions in children become unstable occurrence of health problems children become difficulty digesting lessons experiencing a security and comfort crisis due to existing content a parenting crisis difficulty communicating with other people (wiresti, 2020) in language development, the things that can be seen as the impact of the use of gadgets in the aspects of children's language are; there was a delay in speaking isolate, or the child has no interest in interacting children cannot express their desires properly the child cannot use expressions correctly children have high imaginations but are not realized. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 01-07 the impact of negative gadgets on children's language development during the covid-19 pandemic vebionita megi putri, delfi deliza issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 5 based on research conducted by yulsyofiend et al., (2019) conveying the negative impact of using gadgets on aspects of children's language development, as follows; can interfere with the child's receptive language development interfere with the expressive development of children the child's lack of fluency in using words there are obstacles in the introduction of the mother tongue in children children become unable to communicate non-verbally children have difficulty making eye contact with other people when interacting (maya, 2017). the intensity of using gadgets that are not appropriate can affect the child's language and social development, which also disturbs the child's psychology so that the child becomes addicted to using gadgets and ignores their surroundings (sari, 2016). the longer the duration of use, the more significant the impact experienced by the child. excessive use of gadgets in children without supervision and guidance from parents increases the negative impact received by children in their development process. the negative impact that is allowed to continue can hinder aspects of child development, including the development of children's language. it can be seen that language is a critical development for children because it becomes a means for children to interact and communicate with their environment. this is also reinforced by hasan's (2019) explanation that the more rapid the development of technology, the more information children receive, and this makes the importance of providing supervision to children conclusion from the above explanation, it can be concluded that there is a large negative impact from the use of gadgets in the development of children's language during the covid-19 pandemic. it can also be seen that parental control plays an important role in all aspects of a child's life. if parents act actively rather than passively, the negative impact of using gadgets on 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(2019). parents' perceptions of the presence of the era of digital technology among early childhoods. obsession journal. 3 (1). this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction 37-45_mukti amini_use of learning journal in tutorial of professional competencies improvement (pci) for early childhood educati_edited international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 41-50 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i1.24 pi ssn 2 6 5 59 98 6 article history: received march 4th, 2019; accepted may 29th, 2019; published may 29th, 2019. use of learning journal in tutorial of professional competencies improvement (pci) for the early childhood education program mukti amini a, 1 a universitas terbuka, indonesia 1 muktiamini@ecampus.ut.ac.id abstract the purpose of this study is to see the contribution of using learning journal in a tutorial of the subjects professional competencies improvement (pkp) in the s1 program pgpaud-ut. this research was conducted in 2015 at serpong district from jakarta branch, indonesia open university, with respondents nine students at semester 7th of early childhood education program (ecep), which join pkp guidance in one group. the research method is descriptive qualitative. the results of the research are the use of learning journals is beneficial to know the factors that affect the mastery of pkp by students. these factors are perseverance in studying the pkp guidebook, curiosity, frequency of asking, presentation in the tutorial, and explanation by tutor/supervisor. this research recommends that pkp supervisors can develop various alternative ways to communicate well with students by utilizing the latest technological developments. keywords learning journal; tutorial; profesional competence improvement (pci) this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction currently, teachers are required to improve their professionalism in teaching. one of the subjects that must be taken by ecep students in the semester 7th is professional competencies improvement (pci) course which is expected to be a scaffolding for students to improve their learning in their class through class action research. based on preliminary observation of the students who join the tutorial of pkp course, pkp course is enough to be a 'burden' for students, because this subject asks the students to make improvements in their learning classes, and then write the results of the development of learning in the form of research reports. most students in tutorial feel 'stress' when knowing is required to do research and then make a research report. although theoretically, the students have received the classroom action research course, when asked to practice and write down the improvement of learning in the research reports, many international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 41-50 42 students still feel very difficult. the ability to research and write the results of research improvements learning is essential for teachers so that when it becomes a graduate will be accustomed to doing research improvements learning and make research reports according to the scientific method. if the ability in this research is minimal, the quality of learning in its class will not increase because the teacher taught in the usual way. the purpose of this research is to find answers about the factors that affect students mastery of pci courses through the use of learning journals. literature review learning journal learning journals or logs learning can be applied to help students learn independently and to get optimal results through identifiable difficulties earlier. also, learning journals allow for corrective actions that need to be done by lecturers/tutors. learning journals are also able to become a tool for students to write down their ideas and feelings while learning. through the learning journal, students can write regularly and discipline about what they learn, what is still not understand, and the possibility of improvement that needs to be done by himself. according to ahlina (2005), the journal can lead to better learning because the journal is constructive and involves a reflective process. aris (2007) emphasized that learning needs to apply the task of writing study journals to be able to assess how deep the students understand the newly learned material while correcting the weaknesses and misperceptions of students. the content of learning journals is not necessarily scientific but can use simple sentences according to students' understanding. besides, the study journal is not a material summary but focuses on the reflection of learners on what has been read or is being learned (priyanto, 2012). according to kartono (2010), learning journals are useful for: (1) giving an accurate description of the growth of understanding of a person's material or experience, (2) showing a person's learning progress, (3) maintaining the recording of one's thoughts and ideas through learning experience, 4) help identify strengths, weaknesses, and choices in one's learning. professional competencies improvement (pci) pci is a course taken by ecep students in semester 7th. this course asks students amini / use of learning journal in tutorial of professional competencies improvement (pci) for the... 43 researching their class, then write it in the research report. this pci course fully contains learning improvement practices. the purpose of pkp courses is to facilitate students to learn to apply for previous courses in preparing lesson plans, implementing learning, and evaluating results and learning process. the learning services provided to the students in following the pci is the guidance by supervisors in the form of face to face tutorial. these guidance activities are conducted in groups and under the coordination of upbjj jakarta as a branch of indonesia open university, as many as eight meetings. in the tutorial activities of the students are assigned to write a learning improvement plan, which will then be used in learning activities for classroom action research in its class. students are also given guidance to write reports analysis. in this course, students are also given the task to simulate the improvement of learning activities conducted in the tutorial class. after that, students are required to write a research report from their classroom action research implementation (aisyah, 2007). research on the effectiveness of the tutorial process of pci course from ecep program conducted by chandrawati et al. (2009) concludes, among others, as follows: (a) most students receive guidebooks when tutorial has been implemented, so they have no preparation to follow pci guidance, (b) most of the students do not directly read the guidebooks that they receive, (c) pci guidance is implemented more than 8 meetings. it is needed since students and supervisor feel this amount is insufficient, and (d) the supervisor finds it difficult to assist students in preparing the pci report because it must be done individually and the number of students who are guided too much. tutorial according to indonesian dictionary (https://kbbi.web.id/) tutorials are: (1) guidance class by a teacher (tutor) for a student or a small group of students or (2) an additional teaching by tutors; while the tutor is: (1) the person who teaches a person or a small number of students (at home, not in school) or (2) a lecturer who guides the number of students in his class. based on these limitations, tutorials mean teaching others or providing learning assistance to someone. such learning assistance may be provided by older or peer age peoples (wardani, 2005). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 41-50 44 tutorials as a learning aid in distance education can be provided in various forms, for example face to face, written, electronic, radio, and others. tutorial activities involve people who teach (tutors) and people who learn (tutee). among tutors and tutee, interaction or communication occurs, and this is the essence of the tutorial (wardani, 2005). the learning materials will be learned together between the tutor and the tutee through the interaction. in face-to-face tutorials, communication takes place between the tutor and the tutee directly. tutorials are different from face to face lectures. in the tutorial activity, the more actively expected party is the tutee, while the tutor is only a facilitator. tutee must undertake various assessment activities facilitated by the tutor; such as analyzing diverse literature, discussing difficult material, writing papers, producing individual reports or group reports, counseling, listening to information from guest lecturers, and talking tasks (hazard 1967, in wardani, 2005). while in lectures, usually more lecturers dominate the activities. in general, the function of the tutorial is as follows: (a) meet the needs of students to conduct academic interaction with tutors and with fellow students. through this interaction they can solve the various academic problems it faces, (b) assist or provide opportunities for students to develop thinking skills; (c) assist students in applying the knowledge and skills acquired through the tasks assigned by the tutor and then examined, commented on, and discussed by the tutor, (d) especially for face-to-face tutorials, students can meet the need to socialize, so as to interact social and educative among fellow students, (e) increase student motivation to learn, especially if the tutorial activity is able to stimulate the competition academic health among students, and (7) trigger, spur, and familiarize students for autonomous learning; therefore, the tutorial should be able to pave the way for students to perform activities. this can be done by creating conducive conditions, i.e. conditions, environments, and assessments that foster a desire for learning (holmberg, 1995, in wardani, 2005). methodology approach and type of research this research uses a qualitative or naturalistic approach, which is done by observing the reasonable situation in the amini / use of learning journal in tutorial of professional competencies improvement (pci) for the... 45 field directly without any intervention from the researcher or control / treatment of the research subjects. this type of research includes descriptive research, i.e. research that attempts to describe and interpret objects according to what they are (best, 1982: 119, in sukardi, 2008: 157). based on the process of data collection conducted, descriptive research included in the type of self-report research, where information is collected by researchers directly to obtain information following the problems and research objectives. research sites this research was conducted at jakarta branch of iou, on nine students of ecep program at 7th semester in serpong district who join pci tutorial. data analysis is done inductively. researchers go directly to the field, studying, analyzing, interpreting, and drawing conclusions from the phenomena that exist in the area. according to bogdan and biklen (1982) in moleong (1989), data analysis in qualitative research is a systematic process of tracking and arranging transcripts of interviews, field notes, and other materials collected to improve understanding of these materials to interpret their findings to others. results and discussion results of data obtained from students based on students' written learning journals include the sense of the success of the improvement after implementing classroom action research learning, and how the students to more quickly master the pci material. sense of success after improvement of learning students are asked to write in a learning journal about a sense of accomplishment after doing the entire classroom action research cycle, as well as writing down the reasons. opinions expressed by students can be seen in the table 1. table 1. sense of success after improvement of learning no responden t opinion 1 my yes, the three children i've observed have changed. najmi is getting neat in coloring. david was able to cut straight. jeremy has already improved in coloring and folding. 2 ft yes. because most children can read the words i teach. 3 di yes. i feel successful in doing the classroom action research because all the designs i created fit the methods i international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 41-50 46 designed for the implementation of research. i feel the improvement plan that i’ve written is not unsuccessful but still has to be done continuously with more varied methods. 4 ks yes, i feel an increase in learning. yes, i feel the benefits after i make improvements in the classroom. the problem i face is in introducing the letters to the child. initially, i found it challenging but it is now easier to apply to children, through exciting learning. 5 sql yes, because with this improvement, i became aware of new things, things that i did not know about my mistakes in teaching. through this research, there is also a child who was once challenging to set up and always dispose of trash in any place, now every finish his activity still help me clean up the class by brushing trash in the carpet in the classroom, and can throw it in the trashbin. 6 rcw yes, there are improvements and changes in the child's cooperation. i compare it with a class that does not make improvements through magazine move races, and my class results are better than other courses. this proves that my improvements have achieved excellent results even though they are not perfect. my hope and effort are that i will continue to apply this method of cooperation to the children so that they can grow optimally. 7 st yes. a little change, because children have become interested in my first activity is to count with objects. 8 spy yes, because in the class i improve the activities and abilities of children different from other classes 9 nl yes. the children are willing to answer the questions given by the teacher. based on table 1, it can be seen that all students feel successful in making improvements, although the intensity is different. some students feel less satisfied and want to improve it again; there are also who are confident because the performance of the children in his class look better (for the aspect he studied) than children from other classes after the improvement of learning. all students provide reasons for changes and improvements to the child's performance after research, such as: answering questions, interested in activities, neat in coloring and cutting, reading words, amini / use of learning journal in tutorial of professional competencies improvement (pci) for the... 47 discipline in disposing of garbage, cooperating with other children, and so on. based on the students' opinion, it can be seen that there is a significant change in the students between before and after classroom action research. how to understand the pci material students also explain the ways in which to more easily understand the material, which can be summarized in the table 2. table 2. how to understand the pci materials no respondent opinion 1 my the trick is the supervisor should give explanation step by step, until the students understand. if the material is too much, i get dizzy which one will do first. 2 ft the trick is to read the pci guidebook, noting the explanations and asking the supervisor if i have difficulties 3 di in my opinion, for students to easily understand pci materials is more monitored and guided by competent lecturers in the course of pci. and we must be willing to ask a lot if there is something that is not understood, do not keep quiet until lecturers have to collect pci assignments often. the supervisor is competent because i can appreciate her explanation and any improvements given i can do, although the early writing in pci report head felt dizzy and i stress. 4 ks by providing systematic stages in explaining the material to the students. 5 srl given more detailed explanations and examples of pci reports 6 rsw in my opinion, mrs. mukti is good because it explains how to make the improvements plan first, then asks us to implement our plan, then just ask us to write the pci report chapter by chapter. 7 st i think mrs. mukti is right as a lecturer giving explanations to make the improvement plan up to the report, only us as a student who did not international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 41-50 48 understand it, so it feels very confused until all thoughts are fixed for the writing of pci report. 8 spy always present in the tutorial, because that's where the lecturer explains how to set up a pci report. 9 nl the trick is to be given a detailed explanation and examples. students read more pci guidebook to better understand in making a report. i think mrs. mukti has given a detailed explanation; only i still have to learn more in compiling words to write pci report. the answers in table 2 shows that students have their suggestions for reading more of the pci guidebook, always present aton time at the tutorial, noting the tutor's explanation and asking questions. also, they also provide general suggestions, such as: more comfortable if the stages of guidance start from making a design improvement and implementing and monitoring improvement, and then explained how to write a pci report step by step. at the tutorial class, most students complained when the supervisor told the stages of making the pci report at the initial meeting. following the requests of the students, the initial meeting focused on the guidance in making the improvement plan according to the rules of pci and implementation it, then continued advice for writing pci report step by step (per chapter), which was held from the fourth meeting. discussion learning journals are instrumental for students to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses they have learned. including to write the impression of a sense of success after mastering specific material, and what to do to be able to master the material. this is by the research from kartono (2010) above, that one of the benefits of learning journals to help students identify strengths, weaknesses, and choices in learning. this finding is also consistent with the results of fadllia's (2012) study that there is an influence between learning journals and cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning outcomes. conclusions based on the results of research and discussion can be concluded that the learning journals are instrumental in amini / use of learning journal in tutorial of professional competencies improvement (pci) for the... 49 helping students to understand better the material learned in the lecture meaningfully. through student learning journal, it can be seen that all students feel successful in improvements they have done, especially seen from improving performance in children. although there are a small number of students, who are not satisfied because of the short research time, students also agree to more easily learn pci course then it is necessary: read pci guidebook carefully, always present on time at the tutorial, record explanation from the tutor and often ask. pci tutorial is preferred if it starts from making the improvement plan, then the implementation of the improvement and monitoring, and then explained how to make the pkp report step by step. suggestion based on these conclusions, some ideas need to be followed up as follows. first, to the students, to be more serious in learning the pci guidebook, not just relying on the explanation from the supervisor. besides that, students have to improve their teaching professionalism by doing classroom action research (car) if there is a problem in its class that can be solved with car. secondly, to the ecep program, to revise the pci guidebook according to student input. references ahlina, m. (2005). implementation of metakongnitif strategy as reflection media to increase student's reflectic thinking ability in class ii at smp laboratorium um malang. unpublished thesis. malang: fmipa um. aisyah, s., et al. (2007). professional capacity building guide (pkp) for ecep. jakarta, open university publishing center. big indonesian dictionary (online), https://kbbi.web.id/. chandrawati, t., et al. (2009). effectiveness of guidance course pkp turorial at ecep (pgpaud ut) (research report). jakarta: universitas terbuka. fadllia, a. (2012). the influence of learning journal creation in the approximation approach of nature around (jas) to student results on ecosystem material. essay. fmipa universitas negeri semarang. husamah. (2016). implementation of log learning task towards learning outcomes at introduction to education international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 41-50 50 course in biology education department. proceedings of second national seminar of 2016 cooperation of biology education program study program with center for environment and population study (pslk) university of muhammadiyah malang. kartono. (2010). application of learning journal appraisal techniques on problem-based problem-based models to improve student results of basic subjects of quadrilateral. journal of engineering application rating: 57-71. moleong, lexy j. (1989). qualitative research methodology. bandung: remaja karya. sukardi. (2008). educational research methodology. jakarta: bumi aksara wardani, igak, (2005). tutorial program in open high and distance education system. http: \\ www.ut.ac.id 16-23_iryna havryliuk_socio-adaptive dimension of students’ personal space_edited international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 18-27 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i1.39 pi ssn 2 6 5 59 98 6 article history: received april 28th, 2019; accepted may 29th, 2019; published may 29th, 2019. socio-adaptive dimension of students’ personal space iryna havryliuk a, 1 a department of general education, modul university dubai, united arab emirates 1 ira_gu@ukr.net abstract psychological literature presents such notions as "living space," "mental image," "psychological space," etc.; however, only a few pieces of research practically view the modal content of students' spatial organization within the limits of their social and adaptive security. therefore, it is essential to develop empirical programs for studying the modal features of students' personal space in a socio-adaptive dimension. the article aims to introduce and apply conceptual and methodological support for studying the issue mentioned above; explain the psychological content of modal signs of students' personal space in a socio-adaptive dimension. the following methods were used to conduct the research: theoretical (analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction, systematization, and generalization); empirical (observation and conversation); mathematical statistics (kruskal-wallis h test). data were processed using spss statistics software, version 13.0. one hundred fifty-seven students aged 18 to 25 were invited to participate in research. after specifying the study stages, defining strategies and applying various psychodiagnostic methods, the results were as follows: a) students with a high level of personal space sovereignty (45.9 % of testees) demonstrated profound control over life; it indicates excellent socio-psychological adaptation and mental well-being of an individual, combined with high standards of autonomy and self-identity; b) students with a medium sovereignty level (38.2 % of testees) expressed an uncertain position related to determining their personal space. it is often associated with social factors of an individual's self-realization, which impede and even destroy the potential establishment of a holistic, full-fledged own space; c) students with a low level of psychological space sovereignty (15.9 % of testees) showed the signs of deprivation; such young people might experience alienation and fragmentation of their own life, complications in the search for the object of identification. keywords students; modality; personal space; adaptation; sovereignty this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction age and socio-psychological characteristics of the youth demonstrate that the process of students’ socialization is a dynamic phenomenon; it helps the younger generation to enter a so-called social sphere, where personal space plays a leading role. numerous theoretical concepts presented in psychological literature use such notions as “living space”, “image of the world”, “self-image”, “subjective space”, and “psychological space”. however, only a few pieces of research at a practical level view the modal havryliuk / socio-adaptive dimension of students’ personal space 19 content of students’ spatial organization within the limits of their social and adaptive security. therefore, it is essential to develop theoretical principles and empirical programs for studying the modal features of students’ personal space in a socio-adaptive dimension. the article aims to generalize the theoretical and methodological achievements of the mentioned problem described in socio-psychological literature; develop and implement conceptual and practical methodological support for studying the margins of students’ personal space. finally, the paper substantiates the psychological content of modal signs of the students’ own space in a socio-adaptive dimension. literature review age characteristics of the youth contain a range of psychological forms related to cognitive, motivational, behavioral, and emotional spheres. nevertheless, one of the leading roles is given to an establishment of personal space margins to set up a stable internal position. it is during this period that an individual’s views on social phenomena are being formed, and a young person takes part in various social activities. the peculiarities of students as a group are revealed in the studies of different researchers (virna, 2014; koshyrets, 2010; maksymenko, 2013; serbin, 2018; erikson, 1996). however, students as a unit cannot be fully understood and described due to their mobility and effects caused by social changes according to y. serbin students make up a specific social group with its own life, working conditions, behavior, psychology, and values; therefore, young people have to be studied within the context of their lifestyle (serbin, 2018). at this age, students go through an active process of developing social maturity as readiness for self-determination, both personal and professional. it is a result of the interaction between sociogenic needs and environmental values. in this way, an individual is embedded in a holistic system of a particular society. the indicators of social maturity include systematic knowledge about the world and the integrity of worldview; solid professional choice and high motivation to achieve the targets; ability to control one’s behavior, adaptation in society, and self-realization. an individual must show readiness to take care of health under intensive conditions of study and work, as well as a willingness to create a family; demonstrate the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 18-27 20 sustainability of socio-moral orientations, civic position, and potential of personal spiritual improvement. on the other hand, developmental and pedagogical psychologies describe the cases of asocial behavior (aggression, vandalism, theft, etc.) among adolescents. it was caused by a particular deprivation situation that intruded personal space, ruined the sovereignty of territory and things and, as a result, led to the psychological destruction of a person as an individual (hoshovskyi, 2008). such features of a spatial organization are only an integral part of a general understanding of personal space, defined as a form of psychological reality reflection, and as a system of individual’s relationship with an outside world at a specific time. k. abulhanova-slavskaya notes that self-determination is both the process and result of the person’s choice of priorities, goals, and means of self-realization in specific life circumstances (abulhanovaslavskaya, 1991). transforming a student into an individual interested in a selfchange predetermines the further process of becoming a professional, capable of building and developing his/her life. cultural and historical factors, such as social spheres, social roles, and expectations of society, as well as person’s intrinsic peculiarities, specifying his/her capabilities, abilities, and needs, influence the formation of personal space. all these aspects are interconnected and interdependent; specific facts prove that socio-psychological changes result in either a positive or a negative transformation of the structures of the young person’s living space. e. erikson treats the process of social development in unity with the mechanisms of group interaction. he defines the former as a sequence of psychological crises. the central and common feature throughout all critical periods of individual’s development is a desire of self-identity. however, young people experience conflict between the creation of individuality and so-called identity diffusion. it is a time when a person either realizes own uniqueness or feels uncertainty related to slightly blurry self-identification. such confusion is characterized by an inability to choose a career or continuing education and can provoke further regressive tendencies in the process of socialization (erikson, 1996). in any case, a person has always been striving to make life meaningful; therefore, the sense of being is primarily seen in developing “one's self” (royce, 1983). havryliuk / socio-adaptive dimension of students’ personal space 21 detailed analysis of s. nartovabochaver’s works indicates that the state of psychological space margins determines a person’s attitude to the environment. personal space performs several complex functions-protective, representative, controlling, identifying. its main characteristics include reality, completeness, coexistence, and interaction of components; thus, psychological space defines the content of social and informational impact on a person (nartovabochaver, 2002). individual’s personal area consists of physical, social, and purely psychological phenomena used for selfidentification, such as territory, objects, and social attachments. these phenomena become meaningful within a particular situation and are defended by all physical and psychological means available (nartova-bochaver, 2005). the definition of personal space given by v. koshyrets is also worth mentioning. he denotes it as one of the components of the multifunctional structure of the students’ living space. it provides an adequate level of psychological adaptation, as well as forming of social maturity, selfaffirmation, and self-fulfillment (koshyrets, 2010). private space as an integrated psychological entity ensures individual’s inviolability, identity preservation, the possibility of self-presentation, and protection against manipulation. this article denotes it as a component of social space, a specific “microcosm” represented by signs of socio-psychological adaptability. methodology the following methods were used to conduct the research: theoretical (analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction, systematization, and generalization); empirical (observation, conversation, testing using “sovereignty of the psychological space” (sps) questionnaire by s. nartova-bochaver, and “sociopsychological adaptation” methodology (spa) by k. rogers and r. diamond); mathematical statistics (kruskal-wallis h test, a nonparametric test used to define statistically significant differences in the expression of individual psychological characteristics between two or more groups); correlation analysis aimed to establish the relationship between the diagnosed data. the figures were processed by spss statistics software, version 13.0. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 18-27 22 results and discussion one hundred fifty-seven students aged 18 to 25 participated in research voluntarily. the experimental work was carried out in eastern european national university and included several stages – preparatory, main, and final. the primary method for conducting research was “sovereignty of the psychological space” (sps) by s. nartova-bochaver. it identified three groups of students with different indicators of psychological space sovereignty: high, medium, and low. 45,9 % of testees turned out to have a high level of mental space sovereignty, which means that the students outlined living space as the most significant (close, beloved, interesting) part of their life. an individual with such a high determination level is characterized by autonomy and emotional stability. students with a medium sovereignty level (38.2 % of testees) denoted an uncertain position related to determining their personal space. it is often associated with social factors of an individual’s selfrealization, which impede and even destroy the potential establishment of a holistic, full-fledged own space. young people with the low level of psychological space sovereignty (15.9 % of testees) showed the signs of deprivation; such students might experience alienation and fragmentation of their own life, complications in the search for the object of identification. to compare the groups according to pre-established psychological table 1. results of the kruskal-wallis h test for defining psychological differences of the personal space sovereignty of the studied student groups indicators ranks chisquare df sig. group 1 group 2 group 3 the sovereignty of psychological space 299,5 151 44,5 314,48 2 .000** sovereignty of a physical body 284,3 149 55,6 292,55 2 .000** sovereignty of a territory 278,3 152 73,8 308,67 2 .000** the sovereignty of things/objects 295,7 161 52,8 288,11 2 .000** sovereignty of habits 268,0 153 64,5 308,78 2 .000** the sovereignty of social relations 288,9 143 42,5 313,78 2 .000** sovereignty of values 276,0 169 46,4 272,66 2 .000** significance level: ** p ≤0,001. havryliuk / socio-adaptive dimension of students’ personal space 23 characteristics, we selected nonparametric method of mathematical statistics, such as kruskal-wallis h test. it is a rank-based test used to define statistically significant differences between two or more groups (k>2). fundamental indicators of the reliability of the calculations for this criterion are a practical value of “chisquare” (x -), the number of degrees of freedom (the “df” row), and the p-level, or the statistical significance of the test – the “asymp. sig.” row (byuyul, 2005). the results of the kruskal-wallis h test application to the formed matrix of psychological space sovereignty empirical data are given in table 1. further analysis is related to the study of indicators of socio-psychological adaptation. for that reason, we used the “socio-psychological adaptation” (spa) methodology developed by k. rogers and r. diamond. the results were as follows: group 1 demonstrated the highest indicators of adaptation, emotional comfort, and aspiration to dominate; in group 2, the highest rates are recorded on the scale of self-acceptance, acceptance of others, and internality; in group 3 the empirical data indicators were lower than the ones in previous groups. the results of the kruskal-wallis h test application to the formed matrix of sociopsychological indicators empirical data are given in table 2. so, students with a high and medium level of psychological space sovereignty possess an immense adaptability indicator. they are responsible, reliable, and obedient, able to control their own actions and follow previously made decisions, think critically, and rely on themselves. such students (especially the ones in group 2) have more developed self-acceptance, which is expressed in recognizing their external and 2 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 18-27 24 internal attractiveness and tendency to self-observation (introspection). acceptance of others helps to create warm relationships with different kinds of people, be more tolerable and openminded. students with a high level of emotional comfort (especially in group 1) always feel free to express themselves. such young people are optimistic and self-confident; on the other hand, aspiration to dominate may develop an excessive desire for success and public admiration, as well as a superiority complex. internality indicator dominant in group 2 testifies that the students have high requirements, but tend to blame themselves for failures. the generalization of the socioadaptive dimension of the students’ personal space during the period of professional self-determination requires a detailed study of relations between the diagnosed indicators. that is why it was reasonable to apply correlation analysis. students with a high level of psychological space sovereignty were positively interconnected with such parameters as “sovereignty of a physical body” and “selfacceptance” (r=0,24; p≤0,05); “sovereignty of a territory” and “self-acceptance”; “sovereignty of a territory” and “acceptance of others”, in terms of an attitude towards the world and people (r=0,39; p≤0,05; and r=0,31; p≤0,05); “sovereignty of things/objects” and “emotional comfort” indicator; “sovereignty of habits” and “emotional comfort” (r=0,34; p≤0,05; and r=0,30; p≤0,05). “sovereignty of social relations” parameter and “internality” indicator, as table 2. results of the kruskal-wallis h test for defining psychological differences in the socio-psychological adaptation of the studied student groups indicators ranks chi-square df sig. group 1 group 2 group 3 adaptation 214,7 184,4 95,1 73,396 2 .000** self-acceptance 156,6 196,5 111,2 72,263 2 .000** acceptance of others 164,5 199,0 114,0 27,987 2 .000** emotional comfort 219,2 208,0 139,0 27,703 2 .000** internality 158,4 222,2 95,3 128,007 2 .000** aspiration to dominate 193,2 191,3 121,3 26,028 2 .000** significance level: ** p ≤0,001. havryliuk / socio-adaptive dimension of students’ personal space 25 well as “sovereignty of values” and “internality” were negatively interconnected (r=-0,24; p≤0,05; and r=0,31; p≤0,05). the students of this category are determined and optimistic when it comes to life and professional selfrealization. testees with a medium level of psychological space sovereignty were positively interconnected with such parameters as “sovereignty of things/objects” and “adaptation” (r=0,38; p≤0,05); “sovereignty of values” and “selfacceptance” in terms of individual’s attitude to himself/herself (r=0,25; p≤0,05). however, “sovereignty of a physical body” parameter and “emotional comfort” indicator were negatively interconnected (r=-0,30; p≤0,05). young people of the last group – teenagers with a low level of psychological space sovereignty demonstrated the positive interconnection between “sovereignty of habits” and “internality” (r=0,32; p≤0,05); “sovereignty of a physical body” and “aspiration to dominate” (r=0,30; p≤0,05). on the other hand, “sovereignty of objects/things” parameter and “emotional comfort” indicator were negatively interconnected (r=-0,25; p≤0,05). conclusion the obtained results demonstrate modal signs of the students’ psychological space in a socio-adaptive dimension. young people with a high level of personal space sovereignty showed real control over the life environment (perception of the physical body, territory, objects, social relations, and values). such a grade indicates excellent socio-psychological adaptation and mental well-being of a person, as well as high standards of autonomy, independence, and selfidentity. modal signs of the territory, things, and values sovereignty were marked within the second group of students, who possess more advanced self-acceptance, toleration, and internality, or concern with one’s thoughts and feelings. finally, teenagers of the last category presented modal signs of objects and value sovereignty; the indicators of their social and psychological adaptation were localized in the internality sphere and the desire of emotional comfort. although the article does not cover all aspects of the problem, its results prove that the proposed format of determining students' socio-adaptive profile is quite international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 18-27 26 valid. further studies might aim to develop applied programs of forecasting and forming the socio-adaptive content of students’ psychological space. references abulhanova-slavskaya k. a. (1991). strategiya zhizni [life strategy]. moskva: myisl, 299 s. byuyul a. p. (2005). tsyofel. spss: iskusstvo obrabotki informatsii. analiz statisticheskih dannyh i vosstanovlenie skryityih zakonomernostey [tzofel spss: the art of information processing. analysis of statistical data and the restoration of hidden laws]. sankt-peterburg: «diasoftyup», 608 s. erikson e. (1996). identichnost: yunost i krizi [identity: youth and crises]. moskva: izdatelskaya gruppa «progress», 344 s. hoshovskyi ya. o. (2008). resotsializatsiia depryvovanoi osobystosti [resocialization of deprived personality]. drohobych: kolo, 480 s.. koshyrets v. v. (2010). informatsiinyi prostir osobystosti: interpretatsiini protyrichchia vyznachennia [informational space of personality: interpretative contradictions of definition]. psykholohichni perspektyvy – psychological prospects, 17, 118-125. maksymenko s. d. (2013). k voprosu o vnutrennem prostranstve svobody i lichnosti [on the issue of the internal space of individual freedom]. problemy suchasnoi psykholohii: zb. nauk. pr. kamianets-podil. nats. un-tu im. i. ohiienka, in-tu psykholohii im. h. s. kostiuka napn ukrainy – problems of modern psychology: collection of scientific works of the kamyanetspodilsky national university named after i. ogienko, g.s. kostiuk institute of psychology of the national academy of sciences of ukraine, 20, 7-18. nartova-bochaver s. k. (2002). ponyatie «psihologicheskoe prostranstvo lichnosti» i ego evristicheskie vozmozhnosti [the concept of “psychological space of the individual” and its heuristic capabilities]. psihologicheskaya nauka i obrazovanie – psychological science and education, 1, 35-42. nartova-bochaver s. k. (2005). psihologicheskoe prostranstvo lichnosti [psychological space of personality]. moskva: prometey, 311 s. royce, j., powell, a. (1983). theory of personality and individual differences: havryliuk / socio-adaptive dimension of students’ personal space 27 factors, systems, and processes. englewood cliffs: prentice-hall, 206 p. serbin, y. (2018). vplyv osobystisnoho adaptyvnoho potentsialu studentiv humanitariiv na protses yikhnoi adaptatsii do navchannia [influence of personal adaptive potential of students of humanities on the process of their adaptation to studying]. nauka i osvita – science and education, 5-6, 19-25. virna, zh. p. (2014). profesiinyi prostir osobystosti: vid oznak dystsyplinarnosti do realnosti subiektyvnoho modeliuvannia [professional space of personality: from the signs of discipline to the reality of subjective modeling]. problemy suchasnoi psykholohii: zb. nauk. pr. kamianets-podil. nats. un-tu im. i. ohiienka, in-tu psykholohii im. h. s. kostiuka napn ukrainy – problems of modern psychology: collection of scientific works of the kamyanetspodilsky national university named after i. ogienko, g. s. kostiuk institute of psychology of the national academy of sciences of ukraine, 23, 100-111. article 01-15_layout international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 68-78 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.15 i ssn 2 6 5 59 9 86 (pr int), i ssn 2 6 8 54 0 74 (o nline) article history: received march1st, 2019 ; accepted november 11th, 2019; published november 30th, 2019. effect of use of educational appearance ape (ape) media image to creativity children age 4-5 years in national country city mataram nusa west tenggara i made suwasa astawaa, 1, ni wayan purni astitib a, buniversity of mataram, indonesia 1astawa.fkip@gmail.com abstract problems found in developing children's creativity in children age national country city mataram west nusa tenggara. is the non-use of educational game tools provided by schools. educational game tools that exist only to be stored in the warehouse and never applied in children's learning. teachers are more monotonous to teach using magazines and children's books. the type of research used is experiment with randomized pretest-postest control group design design that is the existence of the treatment group and control group. to obtain optimal development, the treatment group was given treatments 5 times while the control group did not get treatment. to obtain the appropriate data, the researchers collected data from the observation, documentation, and instruments of the creative development of children. the subjects were 2 classes of a1 as a treatment group with 10 children consisting of 4 males and 6 females, and a2 group as a control group with 8 children consisting of 4 males and 4 females. the results of this study at the pre-test stage that is for the group a1 57.37% and group a2 54.37%. in the post-test stage, after the treatment group received treatment, the result of the a1 group was 74.25% and the a2 group 56.40%. the final result of the comparison of pre-test and post-test that is treatment group (a1) has increased 16,88% while the control group (a2) only 2.03%. through the utilization of educational game tool that is the image media in children's learning activities, teachers are able to increase the creativity of children aged 4-5 years. so that the utilization of educational media game tools will affect the creativity of children aged 4-5 years in children age national country city mataram west nusa tenggara. keywords: educational game tools (ape); creativity this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction early childhood education is an education directed to develop the whole sphere of child development, both aspects of physical, motor, cognitive, language, emotional social, religious and moral values of religion. these six aspects of development must be developed and enhanced in a balanced and sustainable manner because basically these six aspects are interconnected with each other. in addition to these six aspects of development, there are also developments developed through early childhood education are 9 plural intelligence. however, the developmental aspects between the two have the same focus to provide good stimulation of children's creativity. according to muazar habibi (2015) states that creativity is an individual mental process that produces effective, imaginative, aesthetic, flexible, integration, succession, discontinuity and effective differentiation ideas in various fields for the solution of a problem. according to chaplin, 1989 (quoted from yeni, et al., 2012) suggests that creativity is i made suwasa astawaa, et.al./ effect of use of educational appearance ape (ape) media image... 69 the ability to produce new forms in art, or in machinery, or in solving problems with new methods. further supriadi, 1994 (quoted from yeni, et al., 2012) suggests that creativity is the ability of a person to give birth to something new, both in the form of ideas and real work that is relatively different from what has been there. the conclusion is that creativity is one's attempt at solving a problem to produce something new that is different from the usual based on ideas, imagination, creations, and combinations. creativity is used to create or work with ideas and imagination to create a different and produce work that has a higher value than the usual work. a person's creativity may increase as he begins to pour his idea into something he makes like an educational game and has a high imagination in producing work. according to maykesugianto. t in badru zaman, et al., 2007 (quoted from laila khoiris, 2012). lailakhoiris.wordpress.com) educational game tools is a game deliberately designed specifically for educational purposes. meanwhile, badru zaman, 2007 (quoted from laila khoiris, 2012. lailakhoiris.wordpress.com) stated that ape for kindergarten children is an educational game tool designed for the purpose of improving aspects of child kindergarten development. furthermore adams, 1975 (quoted from laila khoiris, 2012). lailakhoiris.wordpress.com) argues that educational games are all forms of games designed to provide an educational experience or learning experience to their players, including traditional and modern games given educational and teaching content . according to the association for education and communication technology (aect), as mentioned by asnawir, it defines the media that is all forms used for a process of information distribution. if the media carries a message or information that is instructional or contains instructional purposes, then the media is called learning media. according to zainal aqib (2015) states that the media is an intermediary or introduction. while the learning media is everything that can be used to channel the message and stimulate the learning process in the student (student). i made suwasa astawa, (2016 ) states "media images are media that can be enjoyed by the senses of the eye and can cause stimuli to reflect, such as pictures/paintings, photos, slides, posters, and so on. picture/painting is an example of visual media that can be used to cause stimuli to reflect ". the relationship between educational game tools with the media images of children's creativity. child creativity, as discussed, can be developed in various ways. one of them is using educational game tools. educational game tools have the purpose of making is to develop aspects of child development. aspects in question are all the supporting components for the child's life that are cognitive, physical motor, language, moral religion, art, and social-emotional. all these aspects support for the readiness of children to face the next age. that's what is contained in one of the educative game tools that are the image media. through educational game tools that are utilized optimally, then the child's development will international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 68-78 70 be achieved well. because of the use of educative game tools capable of supporting children and bringing fun learning. educative game tools can also make children have more imagination during the learning process. if the child is well-stimulated 6h, especially if through the example directly or the child can see it is using a tool or visual media such as media images then the child will experience improvement in accordance with his age. research hypotheses based on the above discussions, the researcher can take the hypothesis as follows: ha: there is an effect of the use of educational media game tool on the creativity of children aged 4-5 years ho: there is no effect of the use of educational media game tools on the creativity of children aged 4-5 years theoretical perspectives research method the type of research used by researchers here is research true experimental design (sugiyono, 2016). where researchers conducted experiments on the subject to find the significant effect of ape on the creativity of children. researchers can control all external variables that influence the course of the experiment. thus the internal validity (the quality of the implementation of the research design) can be high. according to nyoman dantes (2012), experimental research generally demands strict control on the influence of other variables beyond the treatment variable. with this kind of implementation, experimental research is generally regarded as research that is able to provide the most stable information, both in terms of internal validity and external validity. research approach approach here is done that is quantitative and qualitative research approach. according to sugiyono (2016) in quantitative research, researchers have consequences that researchers have to deal with numbers as the embodiment of everything observed, thus allowing the use of statistical techniques. furthermore, the qualitative approach according to sugiyono (2016) is a research method based on postpositivism philosophy, used to examine the natural object condition where the researcher is as a key instrument, the sampling of data source is done by purposive and snowball, collecting technique with triangulation ) data analysis is inductive/qualitative, and the results of research more emphasis on the meaning of the generalization. experimental design in this study, researchers used the true experimental design design that has the characteristics of the control group and the sample was chosen randomly. while the design form used is randomized pretest-postest control group design is to enter the i made suwasa astawaa, et.al./ effect of use of educational appearance ape (ape) media image... 71 second group as a control class and subject selection randomly in each group. the research design can be described as follows: in this design, there are two groups selected at random, then given a pretest to know the initial state is there any difference between the experimental group and the control group. good pretest results when the experimental values of the two groups are equal. observation will be done twice by holding pretest-posttest, with the existence of pretes, then the research design of the level of equality of the group participate in the calculation. pretes is also useful as a statistical control and can be used to see the effect of treatment on the score achievement (gain score). hypotheses statistics for the purpose of hypothesis testing, the hypothesis zero (h0) and the alternative hypothesis (h1) in the form of statistical hypothesis as follows: statistical hypothesis h0: μ y a ≤ μ y b h1: μ y a> μ y b information : h0: there is no effect of ape utilization of image media on the creativity of children aged 4-5 years h1: ape utilization of image media has a positive influence on the creativity of children aged 4-5 years. results discussion in this study, subjects used as treatment / experimental class had the same characteristics as the control group. it is apparent from nearly the same age of learners and the initial ability of students who are almost the same. early ability of learners is obtained through pre-test results performed before treatment is given. subjects used the researcher is class a where the average age of children is 4-5 years. group a existing inthere are two classes, namely group a1 and group a2. group a1 serve as treatment group with the number of learners that is 10 children. while the a2 group used as a control group and not treated with the number of students that is 8 children. data of each child can be seen from the table below: pre-test test results before treatment group a1 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 68-78 72 no name skor value (%) 1 ky 37 61,67% 2 nz 36 60,00% 3 ll 32 53,33% 4 ni 35 58,33% 5 in 32 53,33% 6 aq 27 45,00% 7 ad 40 66,67% 8 rv 36 60,00% 9 rn 30 50,00% 10 zn 40 66,67% amount and average 345 57,50% from the results of pre-test data above, it can be seen group a1 which made the experimental group with the number of 10 students got a score below 70%. where the highest value of the students zn and ad got a value of 66.67%. the higher the value of respondents than other friends because the two respondents are more active during the learning either ask the teacher or do the task to finish. and the lowest score of aq students with a value of 45%. respondent aq includes an inactive child, a description of the teacher also said that he rarely completed the task during the learning with his teacher. obtaining a value below 70% is due to the development of children's creativity has not been too prominent through the use of media images. this is also because children are only accustomed to using magazines and notebooks during the learning process. pre-test trial results before treatment group a2 (control group) no name skor value (%) i made suwasa astawaa, et.al./ effect of use of educational appearance ape (ape) media image... 73 1 el 32 53,33% 2 zk 36 60,00% 3 vn 34 56,67% 4 tn 39 65,00% 5 zn 30 50,00% 6 fd 22 36,67% 7 rs 29 48,33% 8 as 40 66,67% amount and average 262 54,58% the results of a pre-test for the control group that is a2 with the number of students 8 students got a score below 70%. learners with the highest score of 66.67% and the lowest score are 36.67%. the lowest score in the control group was lower than in the treatment group. this is because respondents can not focus during learning. respondents more often out of class and play at school. post-test results after giving treatment to group a1 with habituation to use media of image to child during the week. while group a2 as control group was not treated. so do the post-test data collection by observation of student learning activities. scores obtained from post-test results can be seen in the table below: post-test results after treatment in group a1 (treatment group) no name skor value(%) 1 ky 48 80,00% 2 nz 44 73,33% 3 ll 45 75,00% 4 ni 44 73,33% 5 in 42 70,00% international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 68-78 74 6 aq 37 61,67% 7 ad 47 78,33% 8 rv 46 76,67% 9 rn 42 70,00% 10 zn 50 83,33% amount and average 445 74,16% post-test results in group a1 increased after receiving treatment continuously through habituation using the image media in the learning process. researchers also work with teachers during the learning process. it aims to prevent teachers from using magazines or notebooks when teaching. the value obtained is 61.67% for the lowest value, and the highest value is 83.33%. increasing the value of children is also because during the treatment more children are given the freedom by teachers to ask or do the task in its own way. post-test test results without treatment in group a2 (control group) the results of pre-test obtained by group a2 as a control group did not increase too much, even there are students who experience impairment. this occurs because of the absence of treatment in group a2 and the absence of habituation using the image media in learning. the highest score obtained is 68.33% where this value is not too much improved from the previous pre-test results, in the absence of treatments from researchers. and the lowest value is 33.33%, the respondent has decreased from pre-test resultaa. in addition to the absence of treatment, the influence of unquestioned discipline by teachers is also a factor, where children feel free in school. so the time of learning, children freely go to the classroom and do the job as he wishes. b. pre-test data and post-test data a comparison between the pre-test results and the post-test results was given to see the comparisons in the a1 group treated with group a2 treated as a control group and not treated. the results of this comparison will determine the success or failure of treatments given by researchers in the learning process during the study took place. the results of the comparison of pre-test and post-test data can be seen in the table below: table comparison of pre-test and post-test value in group a1 no name value pre-test value post-test i made suwasa astawaa, et.al./ effect of use of educational appearance ape (ape) media image... 75 1 ky 37 48 2 nz 36 44 3 ll 32 45 4 ni 35 44 5 in 32 42 6 aq 27 37 7 ad 40 47 8 rv 36 46 9 rn 30 42 10 zn 40 50 a mount 345 445 percentage (%) 57,50 % 74,16 % from the analysis of difference of pre-test result and post-test for treatment/experiment group that is group a1 obtained mean pre-test is 57,50%. as for the post-test data obtained an average of 74.16%. from the data can be seen the improvement of children's creativity through the use of image media increased as much as 16.66%. table comparison of pre-test and post-test results in group a2 no name result pre-test result post-test 1 el 32 35 2 zk 36 36 3 vn 34 37 4 tn 39 40 5 zn 30 32 6 fd 22 20 7 rs 29 31 8 as 40 41 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 68-78 76 jumlah 262 272 persentase (%) 54,58 56,67 from the result of control group data taken that is group a2 obtained the average result for pretest that is 54,58%. as for the value of post-test obtained an average of 56.67%. this result increased by 2.09%. unlike treatment groups that experienced a significant increase, the control group experienced little improvement as treatments or treatments were never administered. this is because the control group as a comparison of the results of the study on the group was given treatment. from both result of pre-test and post-test data above can be seen that comparison of pre-test value for experiment group that is group a1 increase more that as much as 16,66%. while the control group only increased by 2.09%. table test the data normality interval fo fh fo-fh (fo-fh)2 (𝑓𝑜 − 𝑓ℎ)' 𝑓ℎ 60-63 64-67 68-71 72-75 76-80 81-84 1 0 2 3 3 1 0,270 1,334 3,396 3,396 1,334 0,270 0,730 -1,334 -1,396 -0,396 1,666 0,730 0,5329 1,7795 1,9488 0,1568 2,7755 0,5329 1,973 1,333 0,573 0,046 2,080 1,917 jumlah 10 7,922 price fh 2.7% x 10 = 0.270 13.34% x 10 = 1.334 33.96% x 10 = 3.396 33.96% x 10 = 3.396 13.34% x 10 = 1.334 2.7% x 10 = 0.270 compare the results from chi-square calculate with chi-square table. data can be said to be normal distribution if chi square count smaller than chi square table (x2count ttabel). from the results of the above data calculation obtained tcount 6.781> 2.306 of ttable. so ha accepted and ho rejected. ha is said to be accepted because of the increased ability of children's creativity during the research that took place with the use of media images during the treatment given. this improvement is obtained from the result of continuous habituation during treatment when the child's learning process, so that children are accustomed and feel happy with learning. thus, there is a significant effect of media utilization of images on children's creativity for group a1 in childrn age national country citymataram west nusa tenggara. conclusion based on the results of data analysis, hypothetical testing of creativity ability of children obtained tcount = 6.781 greater than ttable = 2.262 which means (μ y a> μ y b). so ha accepted and ho rejected. this means that the use of image media in learning has an effect on improving the creativity of children in group a age 4-5 years in childrn age national country citymataram west nusa tenggara. this can be proved by an increase of 16.66% from the pre-test and post-test results in the a1 group as the treatment group. this increase can be achieved because of the treatments given by researchers continuously. while for the control group increased by 2.09% because the control group did not receive treatments during the experiment. if the conclusions obtained are the students' creativity of the treatment group can be increased through the habituation of the use of image media and the freedom given by the teacher to the students to be creative during the learning process as much as 16.66%, while in the control group found an increase of only 2.09% due to the absence of treatment and habituation given and still lack of opportunities given teachers. so to enhance students' creativity control group should also be given treatments or treatment and habituation of the use of media images. as educators must also participate in the provision of stimulation 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(2016). educational research methods, quantitative approach, qualitative, and r & d. bandung: alfabeta susanti, ririn. (2017). journal. improving early childhood creativity through paper paper media toheba, feni. (2016). journal. role of image media against children learning motivation in group b tk melatiburangaampibabo district parigi moutong regency educational insights. (2016). media image understanding and function. www.wawasanpendidikan.com, retrieved 22 august 2017. yenirachmawati, et al. (2012). creativity development strategies in childhood kindergarten. jakarta: kencana. yuliani, et al. 2010. multiple intelligence-based creative plays. jakarta: index. kemandirian aparatur sipil negara (asn) melalui literasi keuangan available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 1 (2021) page: 25-34 corresponding author anik.twins@gmail.com; evielisanti@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i1.520 research synergy foundation development of steam media to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia anik twiningsih1 evi elisanti2 1public elementary school in laweyan no.54 surakarta city, indonesia 2duta bangsa surakarta university, sukoharjo city, indonesia abstract the research aims of this study are to develop the media steam-based learning (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) in grade 1 thematic learning to improve critical thinking skills and the culture of scientific literacy in grade 1 students in public elementary school in laweyan, surakarta. this media was developed based on the steam approach, so the use of media through the syntax of analyzing, synthesizing, making conclusions, and organizing strategies and tactics. the excellence of this innovative work focuses on improving critical thinking skills and scientific literacy skills. this type of research is research and development (research and development) with addie design (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation). based on the results of the study before using steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media, it is identified know that the average class of students' critical thinking skills of 74.80, and the average science literacy class of 73.61. after using steam-based typewriter media it can be seen that the average class of students' critical thinking skills of 86.67 and the average science literacy class of 88.67. the results of this study prove that steam-based non-typed media developed can improve students' critical thinking skills so that it has a positive impact on scientific literacy. this study concludes that new learning media developed can increase the activeness of students and ultimately have a positive impact on learning outcomes student. keywords: critical thinking skills, scientific literacy, steam media this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction the development of steam media is crucial to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy because we found ample evidences that the teacher have limited learning media available. furthermore, in our sample, school in public elementary school in laweyan surakarta, learning media available. existing learning media have not met the needs of students so that it has an impact on student learning outcomes. the available media is not entirely precise on the learning objectives so that it is necessary to have teacher creativity in creating learning media innovations to provide a conducive classroom atmosphere since its presence would give students a sense of comfort in learning and later would students to receive the knowledge. effective learning media can determine learning outcomes, educators are expected to develop learning media as a tool to deliver effective and efficient learning resources so as to foster interest and motivate students and can improve understanding and learning achievements. learning media as a means of conveying messages from learning media to students serves to present learning objects that make complex problems easy, systematic and simple (falahudin, 2014; primasari, zulfiani, & herlanti, 2014; elisanti & prayitno, 2018). thus, innovation from learning media would provide more meaningful learning since the teacher could consider the students condition when preparing the media. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 25-34 development of steam media to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia anik twiningsih, evi lisanti issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 26 │ critical thinking skills are closely related to literacy. students' critical thinking will also improve the skills of students in literacy. active thinking skills in solving real-life problems by analyzing, synthesizing, so that they can conclude the results of observations correctly and scientifically (irawan & febriyanti, 2016; lestari, saepulrohman, & hamdu, 2016; elisanti, sajidan, & prayitno, 2018). thus, decision-making based on critical abilities is a form of good scientific literacy on a scientific basis(geraldine, 2016; purangol, mayuri, supari, & elisanti, 2019). scientific literacy as knowledge and natural skills to be able to identify questions, acquire new knowledge, explain scientific phenomena, and draw conclusions based on facts, understand the characteristics of science, aware of how science and technology build the natural, intellectual and cultural environment, and a willingness being involved and care on science-related issues(oecd, 2018) science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics (steam) deals with science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. science deals with a way of thinking through observing and conducting experiments, technology is a way (a way of doing) through activities using tools, techniques can be interpreted as a way of doing which involves problem-solving, how to use a variety of materials, designs, and creating art, mathematics is related to measuring (a way of measuring) (imad uddin, 2017). steam is a development of stem education by adding elements of art (arts) in learning activities (aprilia, ridwan, hadinugrahaningsih, & rahmawati, 2018). based on this background, this study aims to develop the media steam-based learning to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia literature review steam aim is to create stimulate and motivate students concerning higher-order thinking that includes problem-solving, collaborative strategies, independent learning, project-based learning, challenge-based learning, and research. stem learning does not only mean to strengthen practical education in the stem field separately so that students can understand and make decisions about natural conditions and their changes as activities of humans in daily life (aldila, abdurrahman, & sesunan, 2017; permanasari, 2016). innovative learning media can attract students' enthusiasm for learning and thinking skills of students which will ultimately produce the literacy skills of students. good student literacy skills will provide an improvement in student learning outcomes to create a conducive learning climate. based on the problems that have been described, it is deemed important to develop steam-based learning media. srimati, et al said that with stem is expected to produce quality resources that are ready to face the challenges of the global era so as to answer the needs of natural resources that have capabilities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (srimati, rochintaniawati, widodo, purwianingsih, & riandi, 2018). suciati, et al (2019) found that teacher interventions on learning media can overcome low understanding of concepts and can motivate students if the media used appeals to them (suciati, kartowagiran, munadi, & sugiman, 2019). stem research has also been conducted by nurjaman, hamdu, and elan which revealed that traditional stem-based outdoor learning is in line with the 2013 curriculum (nurjaman, hamdu, & elan, 2018). thus, the used of media that determines students' learning achievements, the application of stem or steam is a scientific approach, integrative thematic, and of course in line with 21st century learning. suciati and suciati et al., (2019) the research uses a single-case research design. steam contextual learning media. the subject is a student 6th grader of one of the primary schools. the research result shows that the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 25-34 development of steam media to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia anik twiningsih, evi lisanti issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 27 coastal contextual learning media in the form of shells was effective to improve the understanding of concept in number counting operation for the research subject. it can be seen from the improvement of the correct answers on the test of understanding concept given. the steam-based learning innovation research method of colored two-dimensional figure mixing refers to the research and development design (research and development) can be student center learning, was effective to improve the understanding of concept so that as could succeed in improving student’s science literature and critical thinking through the designed media. research method the steam-based learning innovation research method of the colored two-dimensional figure mixing refers to the research and development design (research and development) by taking the addie development design (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation). addie design used using the model put forward by mulyatiningsih(2012), the design stages of addie development are as follows: table 1. the design stages of addie development stage activity analysis analysis of the needs of teachers and students for the development of learning innovation media and selecting priority scales for problems to be resolved immediately. design determine the learning approach to be applied, design innovation media, design assessment instruments. development developing innovation media following the selected learning approach. implementation testing out innovation media, carrying out learning assessments, distributing response questionnaires. evaluation perform data analysis and make revisions or improvements to the applied innovation media the subjects of this study were 25 students of grade 1 in public elementary school in laweyan, surakarta, indonesia. the percentage population of research this is 100%. the research instruments were a media validation sheet, a teacher response questionnaire, a student observation sheet, and a student learning result sheet. the type was descriptive qualitative data and quantitative descriptive. data analysis techniques from the results of this study were descriptive analysis techniques, descriptive quantitative, and quantitative analysis. the quantitative descriptive analysis technique was used to analyze the implementation of the colored two-dimensional figure mixing steam-based. the results of students' observations were analyzed using the following formula. 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑥100% 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 the observation category refers to arikunto (arikunto, 2013) and converted as in table 2. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 25-34 development of steam media to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia anik twiningsih, evi lisanti issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 28 │ table 2. the score category score (%) category 86-100 very good 76-85 good 60-75 less 55-59 fair the subjects of this study were 25 students of grade 1 in public elementary school in laweyan surakarta, indonesia. the percentage population of research this is 100%. the instrument questionnaire of collecting data used measure indicator critical thinking skill and science literacy skill the item instrument has a scoring interval 0-100 corresponding to respective criteria. instrument validity test was conducted using pearson’s product moment correlational test with the following terms: if r statistic > r table, the item is considered as valid, and if r statistic < r table, the item is considered as invalid and is removed. the instrument of validity test obtained the lowest score of 0.335 and highest one of 0.665 > f table, with 25 students as respondents with r value = 0.380 (r product moment value), meaning that the instrument of indicator critical thinking skill and science literacy skill item was valid. meanwhile, the reliability test obtained cronbach alpha 0.912 > 0.380, meaning that each of items is reliable, implemented in the experiment classes findings and discussion colored two-dimensional figure mixing media colored two-dimensional figure mixing media is a learning innovation media of the creativity of thematic class teachers. in its implementation, the colored two-dimensional figure mixing media can be used in all themes in grade 1 in elementary school. the elements that are handled in this material are the content of the lessons that exist in each theme of civics, indonesian, mathematics, and arts and crafts. in conclusion, colored two-dimensional figure mixing media can be implemented in all themes in thematic classes. media products can be seen in figure 1, figure 2, and figure 3. figure 1. a colored two-dimensional figure mixing block international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 25-34 development of steam media to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia anik twiningsih, evi lisanti issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 29 figure 2. the steam-based on colored two-dimensional figure mixing media the steam-based on colored two-dimensional figure mixing media aims to provide learning convenience to students in learning the subject matter that exists in each theme. the steam-based on colored two-dimensional figure mixing media aims to make students easily recognize knowledge about science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. in its implementation, steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media can be used in all themes in the classroom. in learning activities, the things that the brain manipulates using the steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media are the content of the lessons that exist in each theme. the following is a visualization of design as components of the relationship between steam and the steam-based on colored two-dimensional figure mixing media in learning in thematic classes. figure 3. the design as components of the relationship of steam with colored two-dimensional figure mixing media science, the element of science that connects to the colored two-dimensional figure mixing media is the content of science lessons that the brain manipulates using the colored twodimensional figure mixing media. students easily capture the scientific knowledge that is in each subject matter. technology, the technological elements that connect with the colored two-dimensional figure mixing media are the uniqueness of the colored two-dimensional figure mixing media as an innovation in learning media made by the teacher that is adapted to the conditions of the students. steambased colored twodimentional figure mixing media s t ea m international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 25-34 development of steam media to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia anik twiningsih, evi lisanti issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 30 │ engineering, the technical elements that connect the colored two-dimensional figure mixing media are the learning strategies or models used in learning when implementing the colored twodimensional figure mixing media can provide a conducive classroom atmosphere. art, the art elements that connect the colored two-dimensional figure mixing media is students recognizing the game when using the colored two-dimensional figure mixing media to attract student’s activity. mathematics, the mathematical elements that connect the colored two-dimensional figure mixing media include, using colored two-dimensional figure mixing media, students gain experience learning to recognize simple flat geometry, for instance, squares, triangles, circles, and numeracy skills to recognize numbers. colored two-dimensional figure mixing media is a tool in learning activities to activate student activity, in this study to improve scientific literacy and ultimately have an impact on students' critical thinking skills as well. science literacy is introduced to students by using steam-based colored twodimensional figure mixing media. science literacy is developed in thematic learning activities by linking the theme of a clean, healthy, and the great environment. the use of steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media on the theme of a clean, healthy, and the great environment is oriented towards improving students' critical thinking skills. -another theme. the relationship between the steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media with critical thinking skills and scientific literacy is visualized in the following figure. figure 4. the relationship between the steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media, science literation, and critical thinking skill practical implementation of steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media in learning the use of steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media in thematic learning was applied by the teacher through talking stick games. the stages of the steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing implementation in thematic learning activities follow the following stages: in the analysis stage, the teacher gives an introduction about the steam-based colored twodimensional figure mixing media to the students and the benefits of media in learning. the teacher introduced and motivated how to demonstrate the steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media and how to operate it. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 25-34 development of steam media to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia anik twiningsih, evi lisanti issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 31 in the synthesizing stage, is the core of implementing steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media in integrating with thematic learning and building students' critical thinking skills. students under the guidance of the teacher tried to use the related media through talking stick games. students were asked to come forward to mention the type of flat stick labeled with the keywords the theme of a clean, healthy, and great environment then matched it up in a flat shape which was attached to the colorless box. after that, the students took another flat shape stick which was different from other students through talking stick games. then this game was carried out until the existing flat-shape sticks were embedded in the flat shape that matches the type found in the non-colored block. in the conclusion stage, students were assigned to retell orally the types of flat shapes that have been studied and relate them to scientific literacy with the theme of a clean and beautiful environment. in the stage of arranging strategies and tactics, students were asked to draw simple flat shapes of squares, triangles, and circles on their respective book’s worksheets. the results of the measurement of critical thinking skills and science literacy skills can be seen in figure 5 below. figure 5 graph of the average score of student’s critical thinking skills and student’s science literacy in class before and after the learning using steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media. based on the results of this study research before using steam-based colored twodimensional figure mixing media, it was identified that the average score of student’s thinking skills class of 74.80, and the average of the student’s science literacy skill class of 73.61. based on the results of this study research after using steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media, it can be identified that the average score of the student’s critical thinking skills class of 86.67, and the average of the science literacy class of 88.67. based on the results of re search before and after using the steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media, it can be stated that the steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media can improve students' critical thinking skills and scientific literacy in learning. the use of appropriate media can increase student activity in learning activities, including problem-solving activities to stimulate students to think critically (feuerstein, 1999; syawaludin, 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 critical thinking skills science literation critical thinking skills science literation before use the media after use the media 74.8 73.61 86.67 88.67 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 25-34 development of steam media to improve critical thinking skills and science literacy: a research and development study in sd negeri laweyan surakarta, indonesia anik twiningsih, evi lisanti issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 32 │ gunarhadi, & rintayati, 2019; elisanti, et al., 2020). the implementation of the steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media, teachers can build students' abilities in solving problems in the classroom, assist students to become active in stimulating critical thinking skills and students reveal it easier to solve and understand difficult concepts. the use of steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media follows the steam learning syntax. the implementation of the steam approach in the use of learning media is proven to be able to improve students' ability to solve problems (kim, gwon-suk, & young, 2012). increased problem-solving abilities are followed by the development of scientific literacy, by following the steam approach, students can find answers to problems scientifically (land, 2013; long & davis, 2017). using stem learning models students can see the meaning of the learning material. they can also connect materials with everyday experiences in real life (pasaribu & suyanto, 2020). the student center is a learning process so that it can involve students' active learning in the class. the teacher provides a problem in learning that can create a better learning atmosphere where a problem can stimulate students to get answers to a problem and how to solve problems in various ways. this is in line with vygotsky's learning theory, which states that social interaction with other relatives triggers the formation of new ideas and enriches the intellectual development of students. conclusion based on the results of this study, it can be concludes that steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media in thematic learning can improve student’s critical thinking skills and scientific literacy in the first-grade students is one of teacher learning innovations that is structured as a learning medium that ultimately provides optimization and increases student learning outcomes. steam-based colored two-dimensional figure mixing media in its application can be positive for students 'critical thinking skills and scientific literacy, this is indicated by the improvement in students' critical thinking skills which previously had a mean score of 74.80 improved to 86.67. the increase in scientific literacy, which was previously a mean score of 73.61, increased to 88.67. references abidin, z. 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(2019). development of augmented reality-based interactive multimedia to improve critical thinking skills in science learning. international journal of instruction, 12(4), 331–344. this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction microsoft word 531 problem solving ability in early children.docx available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 4 number 1 (2022): 51-58 corresponding author srihilmawatirostika@student.upi.edu doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i1.531 research synergy foundation problem solving ability in early children's mathematics learning rostika srihilmawati1 1universitas pendidikan indonesia abstract the problems in this study were (1) what kind of problem-solving abilities the children had before the use of beams in learning mathematics in group b at kartika kindergarten class x1, (2) what kind of problem-solving ability of children had after using beam media in mathematics learning in group b at kartika kindergarten class x-1 (3) is there a difference in problem-solving ability in group b at kartika kindergarten class x-1 before and after using a beam or block media. the general objective of this study is to determine whether there is an effect of using beam media on problem-solving abilities in early childhood mathematics learning. this study used a pre-experimental method; the research subjects were group b children in kartika kindergarten class x-1 bandung. as for the data to be obtained is the result of observations, interviews, documentation, and tests. researchers performed a pretest and posttest on group b to increase problem-solving abilities in early childhood mathematics learning. the results showed that there was an effect of beam media on the problem-solving ability in group b; they got an average of 22.66% in the initial test, while the final test was 27.26%. keywords: beam or block media, early childhood problem solving ability this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction ruseffendi (effendi, 2012) explained that problem-solving ability is very important in learning mathematics, not only for academic science but also it is important for those who will apply it in other fields of study and in everyday life. the problem-solving process is really needed because it relates to the life process of children, especially during the golden age. problem-solving abilities can help children make decisions carefully, systematically, logically, and they will consider various points of view. bluman (2011) describes four problem-solving steps, namely (1) understanding the problem first and reading the problem carefully. underline or write down the information contained in the problem. decide what the goal is, (2) choosing a strategy to solve the problem. in this step, trial and error will occur. it is believed that this second step is a strategy used to solve problems, (3) implementing a strategy, implement it so that a solution is obtained. if it doesn't work, then look for other strategies, (4) evaluating the answer by checking the answers and seeing if they make sense. use estimation as a form for checking answers. the world community, including in indonesia, especially parents of early childhood, considers learning mathematics to be very difficult to teach. this is the assumption for most people that sometimes they become afraid of mathematics. especially for early childhood, they should be trained in critical thinking, creative thinking, and finding alternative solutions. anggorowati (2012) considers mathematics to be a universal science that underlies the development of modern technology and has various disciplines which can influence the progress of human thinking. not a few teachers rarely use supporting media to train early childhood cognition. in fact, educators must ensure that the media used in learning is appropriate and enjoyable so that it creates an attitude of creative thinking, and the media is considered to be helpful in the process of problems solving learning. then, the approach used allows children to fully understand the concept in cognitive development, especially in problem-solving abilities. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 51-58 problem solving ability in early children's mathematics learning rostika srihilmawati 52 the characteristics of the media, according to musfiqon (2012: 30), must be adapted to the context of the lesson; among them are (1) all types of tools are useful and used as learning aids for teachers to students, (2) fostering student interest in learning, (3) improving the quality of learning, (4) facilitating communication between teachers and students in learning. childhood was happy with playing with beams and arranging beams into various forms of buildings (nurrohmah, 2012). beam media is one of the manipulative media used in mathematics learning. amir (2014) states that the importance of manipulating objects in the form of games carried out in learning will have an influence on the problem-solving abilities of early childhood. researchers use beam media that is assembled, grouped, integrated, perfected a design, or compiled a complete shape. the demands of the times are getting higher; this has an impact on mathematics learning which is required to keep up with the times. mathematics must be used as a tool to compete with other nations both in terms of thinking and generating new ideas in the process of life (sadiq, 2009, p. 1). in this millennial era, it provides facilities for students to be able to solve problems or questions with multi-thinking and multi-ways karlimah (2008). learning mathematics in early childhood education is still considered less important. many parents are only oriented to mathematical standards, namely calculation only. problem-solving is part of logical mathematics. logical mathematics requires creative and productive critical thinking skills, which are high-level competencies and can be viewed as basic competencies (sudiarta, 2007). clements & sarama (pirrone, 2018) building block play (bbp) in early childhood entering primary school years improves higher-order thinking skills in mathematics across gender and socioeconomic boundaries. diana and joan (wahyuni, 2014) explained that using blocks for children can develop an understanding of reasoning, patterns of understanding, and problemsolving strategies they face. nctm in ashton (2014) children's block play introduces and expands many mathematical concepts "going beyond just sorting and arranging”. research methods this study used a pre-experimental method; the research subjects were group b children in tk (kindergarten) kartika x-1 bandung. as for the data to be obtained is the result of observations, interviews, documentation, and tests. finding and discussion researchers have conducted research on the effect of block media on problem-solving abilities in early childhood mathematics learning. the results of this research obtained significant results, and the differences were clear. early childhood problem solving ability in group b at tk kartika x-i. researchers conducted research on group b aged 5-6 years, and at the time of the pretest, it was clear that the results of the field research were as follows data table of pretest calculation results problem solving ability of children in group b kindergarten kartika x-1 calculation pretest n 30 total score 680 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 51-58 problem solving ability in early children's mathematics learning rostika srihilmawati 53 average 22.67 highest score 36.00 lowest score 12.00 deviation standard 5.397 initial ability of problem-solving ability in group b of tk kartika x-i. the results of the research conducted by researchers before using block media on the problemsolving ability of early childhood care in the good, adequate and insufficient categories. from the data, the results of the calculation of the results of all aspects of the initial test of problem-solving abilities in group b at tk kartika x-1 are as follows; in good criteria get a percentage of 3.3%, adequate categories get a percentage of 56.7% and in insufficient category 33.3%. when viewed from per aspect, the results of the calculation of the final test results are as follows: results table of problem-solving ability in group b tk kartika x-i before using block media. no aspect criteria interval f % 1 understanding problem good 7-9 adequate 7-5 13 43.3% insufficient 5-3 14 46.7 % 2 planning strategy good 7-9 7 23.3% adequate 7-5 18 60.0% insufficient 5-3 5 16.7% 3 implementing good 7-9 3 10 % adequate 7-5 21 70 % insufficient 5-3 6 20% 4 rechecking the work good 10-12 17 56% adequate 10-8 2 6.7% insufficient 8-6 10 33.3% after conducting the initial research, the results of the pretest for group b children at tk kartika xi depicted in graphic form in order to get a clearer description by looking at each aspect of the 4 phases of the problem-solving process of early childhood are presented in graph 4.1: international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 51-58 problem solving ability in early children's mathematics learning rostika srihilmawati 54 graph of problem-solving ability in group b at tk kartika x-1 before using block media problem solving ability in group b at tk kartika x-i after using beam media. researchers conducted research in group b at tk kartika x-1. beam media is a manipulative media that he applies to group b, and if you see the results are as follows. data table of posttest calculation results of problem solving ability for group b at kindergarten kartika x-1 from the results data of the calculation of the results of all aspects of the final test of group b's problem-solving ability at tk kartika x-1 are as follows; in the good criteria, it gets a percentage of 30%, the category is adequate to get a percentage of 50%, and in the poor category, it is 20%. when viewed from per aspect, the results of the calculation of the final test results are as follows: no aspect criteria interv al f % 1 understanding problem good 7-9 adequate 7-5 2 73.3% insufficient 5-3 7 23.3% 2 planning strategy good 7-9 9 63.3% adequate 7-5 9 30.0 % insufficient 5-3 2 6.7% 3 implementing good 7-9 2 40% adequate 7-5 7 56.7% insufficient 5-3 1 3.3% 0% 43,3% 46,7% 23.3% 60,0% 16,7% 10% 70% 20% 56% 6,7 33,3% 0 20 40 60 80 good adequate insufficient understanding problem planning strategy implementing rechecking the work international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 51-58 problem solving ability in early children's mathematics learning rostika srihilmawati 55 data table of the calculation of the final test result of problem solving ability in group b at tk kartika x-1 the results of the research conducted by the researcher after using beam media on the ability to solve problems in early childhood in group b at tk kartika x-1, in the aspect of understanding the problem skills, getting a presentation of 0% for the good category, 73.3% adequate and insufficient 23. 3%, strategic planning skills in the good category 63.3%, adequate 30%, and insufficient 6.7%. implementing strategy skills in the good category are 40%, 56.7% adequate, and insufficient 3.3% and on the skills to recheck the work in the good category is 43.3%, adequate 10%, and 20% insufficient. the results of the posttest in group b at tk kartika x-i are depicted in graphic form by looking at the overall aspect, and the four phases of the problem-solving process are presented in graph 4.2 graph of problem solving ability in group b at tk kartika x-1 at the time of the posttest the influence of beam media on early childhood problem solving ability after doing the initial and final research, here the researcher will explain the effect of beam media on the problem-solving ability of early childhood. before seeing the results of this effect, the data normality test was carried out. some data are not normally distributed because they do not have a calculation final test n 30 total score 818 average 27.27 highest score 36 lowest score 15 deviation standard 5.741 0 ,73,3% 23,3% 63,3% 30,% 6,7% 40% 56,7% 3,3% 43,3% 10% 20% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 good adequate insufficient understanding problem planning strategy implementing rechecking the work international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 51-58 problem solving ability in early children's mathematics learning rostika srihilmawati 56 p value> 0.05. so the researchers conducted a non-parametric test or man whitney using the spss version 22 software as follows: from the results of the man withney test, the value asymp.sig. (2-tailed) = 002. it can be concluded that the insights are due to asymp.sig. (2-tailed) <0.05, then h0 is rejected, so it can be concluded that there are differences in children's test scores at pretest and posttest. the next step is to do paired t-test (paired-sample t-test). table 4.4 illustrates the results of the paired t-test. table of dependent sample t-test results class treatment average sd difference in average t-test statistic pvalue description b group pretest 22.6667 5.39689 4,6 002 0.05 significant posttest 27.2667 5,74116 from table 4.4 above, it appears that the results of the dependent sample t-test (pairedsample t-test) data in class b in early childhood problem-solving ability are significant because they have a p-value <0.05. this shows that there is a significant difference in the problem-solving ability before and after the use of beam media on the problem-solving ability of early childhood. from this, it can be concluded that the beam media has an effect on the problem-solving ability of early childhood. this is evidenced by the average value before the implementation of the computer learning program, the average is 22.6667, and after applying the use of beam media, the average is 27.2667. the following is graph 4.5, which describes the average use of beam media on the problemsolving ability of early childhood in group b at tk kartika x-1, bandung, as follows. average graph of problem solving ability before and after using beam media 20 30 pretest postest 22% 27% international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 51-58 problem solving ability in early children's mathematics learning rostika srihilmawati 57 conclusions and suggestions conclusion based on the results of the research and discussion described in the previous chapter, it can be concluded that: 1. the influence of beam media on problem-solving abilities in early childhood mathematics learning provides a very important role for cognitive aspects, especially in the daily life of early childhood. this is evidenced by a fairly good increase in the aspect of understanding the problems; children can respond well to every problem they face. 2. the initial condition of the problem-solving ability in group b at tk kartika x-1 before using beam media, it seems that they cannot understand step by step of the problem-solving ability process. 3. after the researcher carried out the treatment or stimulus with beam media, it proved that there was a significant increase in the problem-solving ability of children in less than two months compared to the untreated group. suggestion some suggestions (1) for the teacher should understand the stages or procedures for learning beam so that they can master and be able to see the child's development when playing beam while at the same time seeing the process of early childhood problem solving abilities, (2) the teacher should be oriented towards the child's learning process, it does not have to be oriented towards the final result, (3) tk kartika xi manager is expected to be able to facilitate beam media facilities and infrastructure so that more beam units and various types of beams are available in the beam center, (4) tk kartika xi tk managers should add educators to student ratios that exceed the ratio 1: 15 in order to be well conditioned, (5) further researchers are expected to conduct more comprehensive and in-depth research on the effect of beam media on problem-solving abilities in early childhood mathematics learning and are expected to innovate in media design and also have a longer time in doing research so that the optimal final result will be seen, (6) researchers are expected to be able to see aspects of problem-solving abilities from another point of view and more broadly in understanding the factors of problem-solving abilities that can stimulate greater so that learning objectives are achieved properly. references amir, a. (2014). pembelajaran matematika sd dengan menggunakan media manipulatif. in forum paedagogik jurnal pendidikan agama islam, 6(1). anggorowati, r. (2013). penggunaan media manipulatif mika transparan dalam pembelajaran matematika materi penjumlahan pecahan untuk meningkatkan hasil belajar siswa kelas iv sd islam al furqon bulak surabaya. jurnal penelitian pendidikan guru sekolah dasar, 1(1), 1-6. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 51-58 problem solving ability in early children's mathematics learning rostika srihilmawati 58 ashton, e. (2007). children’s mathematical thinking. new brunswick curriculum framework for early. bluman, g allan. (2011). math word problem demystified. new york. mc graw hill. isbn :978-007-176386-8, mhid : 0-07-176386-4. effendi, l. a. (2012). pembelajaran matematika dengan metode penemuan terbimbing untuk meningkatkan kemampuan representasi dan pemecahan masalah matematis siswa smp. jurnal penelitian pendidikan, 13(2), 1-10. karlimah. (2008). “matematika untuk siswa berbakat akademik. menembangkan pendidikan unggul dan bertaraf internasional”. seminar internasional membangun pendidikan berkialitas. isbn : 978979379-0. bandung : upi pres. musfiqon. (2012). pengembangan media & sumber pembelajaran. jakarta: pustaka publisher. nurrohmah, s. (2012). meningkatkan kemampuan keaksaraan anak dengan permainan balok geometri huruf. jurnal pendidikan anak, 1(2). pirrone, c., tienken, c. h., pagano, t., & di nuovo, s. (2018, january). the influence of building block plays on mathematics achievement and logical and divergent thinking in italian primary school mathematics classes. in the educational forum (vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 4058). routledge. shadiq, f. (2007). apa dan mengapa matematika begitu penting. departemen pendidikan nasional direktorat jenderal peningkatan mutu pendidik dan tenaga kependidikan pusat pengembangan dan pemberdayaan pendidik dan tenaga kependidikan (pppptk) matematika, 1-10. sudiarta, i. g. p. (2007). pengembangan pembelajaran berpendekatan tematik berorientasi pemecahan massalah matematika terbuka untuk mengembangkan kompetensi berpikr divergen, kritis dan kreatif. jurnal pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 13(69), 10041024. wahyuni, d. (2016). mengembangankan kemampuan kognitif anak melalui bermain rancang bangun balok di paud it al fatih kota banda aceh. jurnal ilmiah mahasiswa pendidikan anak usia dini, 1(1). 114_ijeiece (1) international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 1-10 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i.114 issn 2655-9986 (print), issn 2685-4074 (online) article history: received (february 28th, 2020); accepted (may 6th, 2020); published (may 29th, 2020). religious based learning as a form of cultivating character values in children with special needs at sdlb jenangan, ponorogo vivi vellanita wanda damayanti1, restiana irniasari2 1state islamic institute of ponorogo, indonesia 2sma negeri 1 plus kpg nabire, indonesia 1vvellanita@gmail.com*; 2restiirnia@gmail.com abstract the application of character education has been carried out in public schools for more than a decade. in character education, the divinity value became the first value that was crucially determined and applied. by pointing the divinity value it is expected that students could understand the values of morality and humanity. not only in public schools but also in special needs schools, the value of religiosity was applied and is a major cornerstone in the learning process. in this qualitative study the religious values were applied in sdlb jenangan, ponorogo, would be discussed in detail. the purpose of this research was to explain the urgency of building the character value in children with special in the learning process. data in this study were collected using observation, interview, and documentation. the results of this study showed that the learning process carried out in sdlb jenangan, ponorogo, represented a religion-based learning system. this religion-based education aimed to make the special need students being able to increase their selfconfidence and control. further, it is expected that the student would have the ability to minimize their attitudes. keywords: character values; religious based learning; disabilities students this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction facing the decentralization and globalization era, in which the degradation of morals may happen the education takes a rule as a fundamental and priority of the indonesian government. to realize the good educational product, the national education must not only focus on the knowledge but also the character building of students. law no 23 the year 2003 about national education system states that the functions of the national education areas the students' abilities developer and creator based on the national characteristics and civilization. this statement is in a hand with the statement of hidayati et al (2014) who states that the education is a deliberate and conscious effort in creating an atmosphere of the learning process so that learners can actively improve their potency to improve their spiritual strength, self-control, personality and noble character which is important not only for themselves but also when they interact with society. therefore, it can be inferred that the education must go together with the character building, hence, that is called the character education. the word "character", which generally means the moral and mental quality of someone, comes from greek, "kharassein" means tools for marketing, to engrave and pointed stake. this word, then, is adopted by french "caractere" which in the 14th century is used in english "character" and the next is also adopted by indonesian in the word of "karakter" international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 1-10 2 that specifically can be inferred as nature, psychological trait, moral or manner that differentiates someone with other (agung, 2011). john dewey in agboola and tsai (2012) defines the character as the interpenetration of habits. for this reason, the educational character should not be taken lightly because it would have a foundational and everlasting effect on the children's future (agboola and tsai, 2012). lickona (2012) defines the character as the conscious effort to help someone to understand, care, and do the ethical values. to realize it, it is needed a set system of morality must be done comprehensively and continuously. each of them is synergizing and cannot be separated from each other in developing someone's character, namely moral concept, moral attitude, and moral behavior. besides, buchori and setyawatin (2015) state that the character education is more than a process of making someone understands whether something is right or wrong, but how someone able to internalizing those moral values in daily life. figure 1. lickona’s moral values cycle the character education is a system that is created to cultivate students' character values, that can be used to be a whole and good human being who can serve the god, the own self, other humans, society, environment, and the nation (mulyasa, 2011). the application itself was carried by the indonesian government for more than a decade. this statement can be seen, implicitly, in the national long-term development plan (rencana pembangunan jangka panjang nasional/ rpjpn) on 2005-2025 in which the indonesian's government emphasized the emergence of character development at every educational level. based on kemendiknas or the department of national education (2010) those are eighteen characters that should be developed in the student's selves, namely: (1) religious, (2) honesty, (3) tolerance, (4) discipline, (5) work hard, (6) creative, (7) independent, (8) democratic, (9) curiosity, (10) spirit of nationality, (11) love the country, (12) rewarding achievement, (13) friendly/ communicative, (14) love of peace, (15) joy of reading, (16) environmental care, (17) social care, and (18) responsibility. those eighteen values in 2016 are shortened into five main points: religiosity, nationalism, independence, cooperation, and integrity. vivi vellanita wanda damayanti, restiana irniasari/ religious based learning as a form of cultivating... 3 picture 1. the core of character values (source:https://cerdasberkarakter.kemdikbud.go.id/? page_id=132) anwar et al., (2018) state that one of the guidance to strengthen and develop the character is by providing religious education. the religiosity becomes the first character of the eighteen character values that are mentioned by the department of national education. it is also becoming the main character of the core values that are published by the ministry of education and culture. the religious education is needed and required in every type and level of education. the value of religiosity is applied and is a major cornerstone in the learning process (asrori, 2016), not only in public schools but also in special needs schools or inclusive schools (arsyad, 2014). khudrin (2012) states that the purposes of religious education in the teaching-learning process are to embody harmony between humans and god, humans with humans, and humans with nature. in the elementary school, the religious values are implemented to achieve the goals, those are: students can worship properly, students can read holly koran, and students can get good morals (kumalawati and sormin, 2019, and fathurrahman, 2014). in the public schools, the values mentioned above can be taught by some method, such as: hiwar (conversation) of qurani and nabawi, the story of qurani and nabawi, amtsal of qurani and nabawi, exemplary of qurani and nabawi, habituation, ‘ibrah and mau’izah, and targhib and tarhib(kumala and sormin, 2019). in this study, the religious value that is applied in sdlb jenangan, ponorogo, will be discussed in detail. the aim is to explain the urgency of building the character value in children with special needs. theoretical perspectives research method this research is descriptive qualitative research that is conducted in the sdlb jenangan, ponorogo, east java. a depth semi-structured interview is used to collect the data from the headmaster, two teachers, and 4 students' parents. besides the interviewees, students in the third grade of sdlb jenangan, consists of 3 males and a female (all of them have a mental delay) are choosing as the sample of this research. the reason for choosing this class as the sample of purposive sampling is because the students are aimed can serve the information. all of the students in this class are children with a mental disorder (down syndrome). this condition makes the students being a little hard to be taught by the usual method. the teacher decides to use religious-based learning as the approach to teaching educational values. for this international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 1-10 4 reason, this class is aimed at research. therewith the interview, the other data collection techniques used are observation and documentation. those are chosen in purpose to make the data collected deeply and completely. besides, the library research is also done to find the appropriateness of religion-based learning with the experts' theories. in this research, the triangulation technique is used to verify the data. the data analyzing techniques include: data reduction, organizing/ processing the data, interpretation, and verification. to fulfill the reliability requirements, the checking is done by the prolongation observation, intra-rater, and checking the results with the experts' theories to see the appropriateness between the research and the theories. religious based learning as the part of character building in character education, the divinity value becomes the first value that is crucially determined and applied. by pointing the divinity value, it is hoped that an educational output that will be formed, can understand the values of morality and humanity. the religious education is needed and required in every type and level of education. anwar et al., (2018) state that one of the guidance to strengthen and develop the character is by providing religious education. mustafa and salim (2012) state that religious education is important because through it, the character building of someone as a worshipper, as an individual, and also as the part of society that can be developed. mustafa and salim (2012) also define that religious education as an educational system in which the training of sensibility of students in such a manner -that in their attitude to life, their actions and decisionsand approach to all kinds of knowledge, are governed by the deep feeling of ethical values of goodness. to make the students able to be kind, the religious point of view takes a role as an important thing to be applied consistently. it is in a hand with the lickona's opinion (2012) that is the good character content is all about the kindness and good moral deeds. in short, to make students can have a religious character, the students must understand what the religion is, how to give attitude toward it, and how to apply it in their daily life continuously and consistently. the process of getting character is by making the children aware of the values, how to respond to it, and how to apply it in their daily life. the cycle of the character-building is shown below. figure 2. the cycle of character building the first thing to apply religious-based learning is to make students understand what religion is. it is related to how to give a moral concept to the students. in the sdlb jenangan, ponorogo, the students with a mental disorder are not given the vivi vellanita wanda damayanti, restiana irniasari/ religious based learning as a form of cultivating... 5 concept of god in deep and detailed explanation. however, every single thing that is done by the students will be connected to the existence of god. for example, when students start to get their tantrum, such as crying loudly, being naughty, disturbing others, or being impolite, the teacher will remind them that god does not like them to act like that, so that humans. they must be kind. the other example is when they do a teaching-learning process that uses cultural sources, the teacher always reminds them that everything that exists in this world is created by god, and so on. the process of planting religious value without giving the students a deep and detailed concept is chosen by the teacher by the consideration that students will only confused if they have to understand some abstract concepts of god. this, by the statements of kumalasari and sormin (2019) that the special needs students with a mental disorder have low intelligence that makes them hard to receive an academic education, especially something that only is given in concept. the second, to apply religious-based learning needs to make students aware. this is the part of how to make the students have an attitude in line with religion taught. in the public schools, to make students aware, it can be taught by some method, such as: hiwar (conversation) of qurani and nabawi, the story of qurani and nabawi, amtsal of qurani and nabawi, exemplary of qurani and nabawi, habituation, ‘ibrah and mau’izah, and targhib and tarhib (kumala and sormin, 2019). however, in the special needs school with mental disorder students, the method that is possibly the most to be applied is by habituation. this also becomes the method that is applied in sdlb jenangan to make the students achieve the third step of applying religious-based learning, that is applying the religious values in their daily life consistently and continuously. the habitual can be applied by doing some activities that make children actively play and participate in the learning process (novitawati et al, 2019) continuously and consistently. in the sdlb jenangan, the activities are planned systematically. regularly, children are stimulated to always greet others, kiss the teacher's hand, doing daily prayer (dhuha and dhuhur) together in the school, reciting the thoyibah sentence by song, reading daily prayers such as the prayer to learn, prayer to eat, prayer in and out of the bathroom, and memorization of short surahs. they are also thaught to mentioning asmaul husna. these activities are done day by day, consistently and regularly, in purpose to create pleasant religious and moral learning situations for children and plant it as the students' habit. religious based learning for the sdlb students special needs school or inclusive school is a school with disabilities students. gal and yeger (2010) define the disabilities students as the students who face obstacles due to their physical, emotional, and cognitive limitations. these limitations or barriers are within the individual and can be temporary or permanent. to handle this condition, the teachers are prepared to face and to international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 1-10 6 find the special needs of individual children, including children with disabilities (amini, 2017). holmberg and jeyaprathaban (2016) state that some individuals based on their physical and mental abilities need instruction that is more appropriate or relevant than is usually available in the structure of the formal and informal educational system. these individuals are also known with the disabilities students (hanum, 2014). on the other hand, the disabled person has been defined as 'a person with physical, intellectual, sensory or mental impairment and whose functional capacity is limited by facing attitudinal, environmental and institutional obstacles' (urt, 2010: 9). this definition is by article 1 of the united nations convention on persons with disabilities in 2006 which describes persons with disabilities as those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, which in interaction with various barriers can prevent them from fully and effectively participating in a society based on equality with others (cosmas, 2018). by taking into account the human rights perspectives, students with special needs must have access to equality in the education program. for this reason, inclusive education for children must be taken seriously, even to implement it, as several complex problems must be faced (vramas, 2014). the problem arises to handle the special needs students may come in both human and cultural resources. the special need students need to learn in proper situations with the teacher that is expert in that field so that the ability of students can improve maximal. hence, the inclusive education program is needed. inclusive education is an ongoing process that aims to offer quality education for all, while respecting differences and the different needs and abilities, characteristics and expectations of learning from students and society, eliminating all forms of discrimination (unesco in vramas 2014). in indonesia, inclusive school is also known as special need school (slb or sekolah luar biasa). slb negeri jenangan is a special need school that is oriented towards the skills and independence of the students. this school is an integrated school that includes 3 levels of education, namely special need elementary school, special need junior high school, and special need senior high school. based on the condition of the school and the students, the vocational skill is designed to increase the life skills of students with special needs through, in hope that the school will provide students with a vocational skill that is adjusted to the potential of each student so that one day students can be able to live during the community and have a skill that is accepted by the community. not only providing the vocational skill, but slb jenangan also applied religious-based education to make the students able to be a religious human being with good character value inside them. for example, students will be able independently to do ablution and five daily prayers because they practice dhuha and dhuhur every day in the school. students can do daily activity prayers before and after do something. they can act polite and be calmer, and soon. this, day by day, will be vivi vellanita wanda damayanti, restiana irniasari/ religious based learning as a form of cultivating... 7 implemented as their habitual that conscious or unconsciously will build good character values inside mental disabilities or intellectual disabilities. intellectual disability itself, also known as cognitive disability, previously called mental retardation, is described as a disability characterized by significant deficits both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior as expressed in conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills that occur before the age of 18 is where the need for support is a must (tasse, luckasson, & schalock, 2016). moreover, raty, pirtimma, and kontu (2016) state that it is important for the intellectual disabilities student to be taught by some approach that can promote physical activity and do it as their habit. in the sdlb jenangan, religious-based learning that promotes physical activity is done. the students will be placed in the variatif activities that need their body movements, such as doing prayers, singing asmaul husna, speak loudly the surahs, and others. here, the students are guided to be active learners that do anything by themselves. although it seems easy, it is hard to do. the teacher not only must be patient to guide the students but also must be a strong positive role. teachers should be a good model for children and provide a good example for them. the result of this study shows that the learning process carried out in sdlb jenangan, ponorogo, represented a religion-based learning system. the focus of the research is in the third grade of students in the sdlb jenangan consists of three males and a female. all of them have intellectual disabilities. based on the interview and documentation, the application of religion-based education makes the special need students being able to increase their self-confidence and control. some activities that are religiously oriented are applied, such as doing prays dhuha and dhuhur together, praying before doing anything, such as before learning, before eat and after learning. by doing this regularly, students will remember and apply it as their habit. when this goal is passed, the students’ self-confidence will be improved. through the interview with the teacher, it is known that the students who were able to do the activities designed would be more confident, not only in the school but also in their home. they are being braver to singing in front of others (some songs they already memorized), speak loudly when they are asked to pray the daily activity prayers, greet others (include someone they do not know yet), and so on. these positive attitudes show that religious-based learning successfully builds the self-confidence of the special needs students. the punishment given to the special needs students in sdlb jenangan who do some mistakes is not a physical punishment but by remembering some daily life prayers and some short surahs from the holy quran. the purpose of applying these activities is to make the student being more behaving in both the school and their home. the students will remember when they do something wrong they have to memorize some things. they have not to be naughty, they should not disturb others, they must pay attention to the teacher and so on. if they do international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 1-10 8 not, then they have to memorize some daily life prayers and some short surahs from the holy quran. this kind of punishment is chosen by the teacher because the teacher believes that the activities can make the students be more behaved and avoid them to act improperly. they also more regulate themselves in doing anything so that they are not be punished. religious based learning also makes the students being able to avoid themselves from the tantrum that often arises unpredictably on themselves. special needs students type c are often getting tantrum. it is a condition when they are angry, crying, screaming, raging, biting, hitting, scratching, or even hurting themselves (rahmahtrisilvia, 2010, and yosiani, 2014). in general, tantrum behavior can be classified as aggressive behavior done by a child to get out of deprivation condition (syamsuddin, 2013). a tantrum can be solved by placing the students to activities that are varied and/ or move them from place to place. in the sdlb jenangan, religiousbased learning that makes the students do not stick in one activity but move from activities to activities (such as, they are praying before learn, after that they coloring something like the main material, singing asmaul husna or memorizing the holy quran surahs while clapping their hand, etc). they also move from place to place, such as from the classroom move to the small mosque (mushola), and then they can move to the garden (when the learning rest time). these, will avoid the students from deprivation conditions. both the teachers and the parents agree that these activities can be a therapy to make the students behave well. for the formal subject, the sdlb decides to not give them to many subjects but focus on the vocational subject. this, by considering the intellectual of the students, is purposed to make the students more focused and can optimally learn the applicative skill to make them being able to survive in the future. this decision was negotiated by the schools and parents and they agree to do this, together, for the students' future as what wijayanti (2018) states that the goals of character education are to foster and strengthen the important values of life that need the cooperation of the school as the formal education, the families and the society as the place where the students live. conclusion the result of this study shows that the learning process carried out in sdlb jenangan, ponorogo, represented a religion-based learning system. the subject of the research is in the third grade of students in the sdlb jenangan, consist of three males and a female. all of them have intellectual disabilities. based on the interview and documentation, the application of religion-based education makes the special need students being able to increase their self-confidence and control. they can be more behaving in both in the school and their home. they also more regulate themselves in doing anything. religious based learning also makes them being able to avoid themselves from vivi vellanita wanda damayanti, restiana irniasari/ religious based learning as a form of cultivating... 9 destructive attitudes that often arise unpredictably on themselves. references agboola, alex., and tsai, k. chen. (2012). bring character education into the classroom. european journal of educational research, vol 1(2), 163-170. agung, leo. (2011). character education integration in social studies learning. international journal of history education, vol 12 (2), 393.403. amini, mukti. (2017). implementation of parenting education program in kindergarten. indonesian journal of early childhood education studies, vol 6(2), 113-119. anwar, chairul., saregar, a., hasanah, u., and widayanti. (2018). the effectiveness of islamic religious education in the universities: the effect on the students’ characters in the era of industry 4.0. tadris: jurnal keguruan dan ilmu tarbiyah, vol 3(1), 77-87. arsyad, a rahman. (2014). pendidikan agama pada anak berkebutuhan khusus di smplb sentra pendidikan khusus dan pendidikan layanan khusus. jurnal al-qalam, vol 20 (1), 161-170. asrori, achmad. (2016). contemporary religious education model on the challenge of indonesian multiculturalism. journal of indonesian islam vol 10 (2), 261-283. buchori, achmad., and setyawati, r. dwi. (2015). development learning model of character education through e-comic in elementary school. international journal of education and research,vol 3(9), 369-386. cosmas, juhudi. (2018). educating children with intellectual disabilities in pre-primary education, tanzania. international journal of education and research, vol 6(7), 73-86. gal, eynat., and yeger, batya engel. (2010). inclusion of children with disabilities: teachers' attitudes and requirements for environmental accommodations. international journal of special education, vol 25(2), 89-99. fathurrahman. (2014). pembelajaran agama pada sekolah luar biasa. el-hikam: jurnal pendidikan dan kajian keislaman, vol 7 (1), 67-92. hanum, lathifah. (2014). pembelajaran pai bagi anak berrkebutuhan khusus. jurnal pendidikan agama islam, vol 11 (2), 217-235. hidayati, abna., zaim. m., rukun, k, and darmansyah. (2014). the development of character education curriculum for elementary students in west sumatera. international journal of education and research, vol 2 (6), 199-198. holmberg, jorun buli., and jeyaprathaban, sujathamalini. (2016). effective practice in inclusive and special needs education. international journal of special education, vol 31(1), 119-134. kementrian pendidikan dan kebudayaan. 2020). kebijakan penguatan pendidikan karakter. in https://cerdasberkarakter.kemdikbud.go.id/?pag e_id=132 accesed on 27th of april 2020. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 1-10 10 kemendiknas. (2010). pengembangan pendidikan budaya dan karakter bangsa. jakarta: badan penelitian dan pengembangan. khudrin, ali. 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(2010). strategi pembelajaran untuk mengatasi perilaku tantrum pada anak autistik. pedagogi: jurnal ilmiah ilmu pendidikan, vol 10 (2), 1-10) raty, lauri., pirtimma, raija., and kontu, eina. (2016). teaching children with intellectual disabilities: analysis of research-based recommendation. journal of education and learning, vol 5(2), 318-335. syamsuddin. (2013). mengenal perilaku tantrum dan bagaimana mengatasinya. informasi, vol 18 (2), 73-82. tassé, m. j., luckasson, r. & schalock, r. l. (2016). the relation between intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior in the diagnosis of intellectual disability. intellectual and developmental disabilities, vol 54 (6), 381–390. vrasmas, traian. (2014). curriculum for children with disabilities in inclusive education: a literature review. elsevier (precedia-social and behavioral science), vol 127, 336-341. wijayanti, dwi. 2018. character education designed by ki hajar dewantara. jurnal pendidikan dasar, vol. 10(2), 85-91. yosiani, novita. (2014). relasi karakteristik anak tunagrahita dengan polatata ruang belajar di sekolah luar biasa. e-journal graduate unpar, vol 1 (2), 111-124. 407.edited.format available online at: http://journals.rsfpress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 2 number 2 (2020): 127-132 corresponding researchers s albiaansyah@gmail.com: fahriany@uin.jkt.ac.id doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i2.407 research synergy foundation the acquisition of english vocabulary for children at grade iii.b at sd islam nurul hidayah albiansyah, fahriany syarif hidayatullah state islamic university of jakarta, indonesia abstract this research is an effort to understand the acquisition of the english vocabulary by students at sd islam nurul hidayah in bojong sari. the aim of this research is to recognize and evaluate the acquisition of english vocabulary by students at sd islam nurul hidayah in bojong sari. the use of simple statistical analysis response research query, a qualitative approach was used. this study used the theory on a telegraphic and formulaic speech from tabors and snow. in this study, there were 17 students, and the collection of data techniques was taken from interviews. the third graders were chosen as the participants in this study because they were categorized as the last lower class where the acquisition of english in children can be obtained optimally as in philip (1995) stated that the lower class children cognitive development is focused on vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling. the results of the interview indicate that the development of english vocabulary by children is in two phases (telegraphic expression and constructive language). a similar study was conducted by lubis that used the same theory of second-language sequential acquisition from tabors and snow (1994) at star kids kindergarten binjai in acquiring english vocabulary. his result showed the sequential is dominated by productive language. it is caused by students’ internal and external factors. the result of this study then recommends that the teacher of sd islam nurul hidayah in bojong sari increase the student's motivation to learn english and to practice english more frequently. it is recommended that more studies be carried out to investigate the acquisition of english vocabulary in preschool or kindergarten students. keywords: children; elementary school; second language acquisition this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction language acquisition belongs to the psycholinguistic domain, namely linguistics, whose object is knowledge of the language, use of language, change of language, and other things that have a relationship with these aspects. language knowledge has to do with cognitive problems because the language elements that are known and understood a process in the brain. the use of language is related to the practice of language knowledge, which is what we know we put forward in the form of language use. as a field that is included in the realm of psycholinguistics, language acquisition has recently developed rapidly. this is caused by changes in the teaching of language teaching and learning, as well as the increasingly aggressive universal concepts in language acquisition. language teaching and learning not only rests on the view that language is a set of habits so that mastery must go through the formation of these habits but also on the view that language is obtained through the formation of hypotheses based on input received by learners. language acquisition can take the form of first language acquisition and second or third language acquisition. a language is first learned when children without language, who were original, learn the language. a second language is accomplished when a child or adult who has learned the first language (his mother language) then formally and in a prepared fashion learns the second language. the acquisition of the first language has the characteristic of continuity in the form of a series of entities that move from saying one simple word to a complex combination of words. the ability international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 127-132 the acquisition of english vocabulary for children at grade iii in sd islam nurul hidayah albiansyah, fahriany issn 2685-4074 (online) 128 │ of a child to accept language is in line with the biological development of his body, especially those related to parts of pronunciation. that is why the development of childhood language with each other is also different despite the same age. the interesting thing in the development of language acquisition in childhood is the speed of acquisition is not the same, but the stages apply generally. dealing with the spoken language acquisition, a study was conducted by chow, davies, and plunkett on spoken-word acknowledgment in 2-year-olds (2017). research showed that language forms cognition by bias to increase the quality of mental function, such as listening and analogy. ninio (2018) research also focuses on learning how to generate supplementary predicates for children aged 2-3 years with shared semantic topics. the research results demonstrated that children establish a general concept of exchange of arguments, which is common to buildings with dependent predicates, allowing movement and encouragement. another research by yip and zhai (2018) explored the influence of context on the comprehension of the spoken word during the processing of the chinese sentence via an eye-tracking process. yet, the study has sixty native mandarin university students who are participated in the experiment. the 60 native mandarin students are asked to listen to a chinese sentence conscientiously and considered different visual probes of chinese characters. the outcome of the analysis showed that the meaning of the previous sentence had an initial impact on the process of spoken word recognition, and phonological obstruction of information only had an independent impact on the spoken word recognition process. in other words, following the immediate emergence of ambiguity, it is primary dominant) meaning is facilitated in relation to unrelated words, which ends with a sentence in the condition of a biased sentence. in this research article, the english vocabulary spoken acquisition of iii.b children will be analyzed. through this description, the researchers decided to investigate to what extend is the acquisition of english vocabulary for children at iii.b in sd islam nurul hidayah. in this period, children are active speakers with good speaking to communicate their minds. that is why the researchers are interested in observing children at this age. in addition, the acquisition of a second language by children is a key and important aspect of the field of second language acquisition. in reality, sla's recent period had much of its impetus from studies on the learning of the second language for children. the limits of the learning of a child second language are somewhat subjective and are acquired by people who are in a young age to be within the crucial period, but also with an already learned first language or the successive learning of two languages in childhood. the second language learning of children is, therefore, the simultaneous acquisition of two or more childhood languages, usually covered by the term bilingualism. literature review the researchers used the theory of tabors. p and snow (1994) in his book entitled educating second language children: the whole child, the whole curriculum, the whole community (pages 103125), the sequence of acquiring a second language is explained through the four stages below as follows: 1. using home language if a child learns an individual language and is introduced to an atmosphere where everyone, such as a language school student, speaks in a different language, where english is the main language at school, so the child would choose to use the language that is used in the home language, while others will not understand it. it could be short at this point, or in some situations, it may be done so that others may understand what it means. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 127-132 the acquisition of english vocabulary for children at grade iii in sd islam nurul hidayah albiansyah, fahriany issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 129 2. non-verbal period when children learn that their own home language doesn't work, they arrive at a time when they never talk and use nonverbal communication techniques. this is a time in which kids will learn languages actively; they will learn in new languages with characteristics, words, and voices (willing to recognize receptive languages) but will not use new languages verbally. this is an important step in learning a long or short second language. during the developmental stage, some languages may lead to misinformation, which underestimates the correct language skills of the child. 3. telegraphic and formulaic speech in this step, the child is ready to learn a new language and to use a formula in a telegraph. this is like a single-language boy who learns a basic language or sentence (word content) to express the entire experience. for example, a child says, "me down," that he wants to go down. formulaic speech refers to fragments of not analyzed phrases or even syllables that are united by repeating what the child learned. tabors (1997 ) states, for example, that pre-school english students sometimes play the word sentence "look it," for instance, to invite others to play. this is the process of children listening to others that will help them accomplish their social aims even though they don't know the meaning of the two terms. 4. productive language now children have started going beyond telegraphic sayings or making phrases, and their own thoughts are created. at first, children use simple words such as "i want to play," but over time, the child can manage the new language structure and vocabulary. errors during this period in the use of popular language were the experiment of new language children with the principles and systems of learning. research method the method of this research was used as a qualitative method in which to provide a deeper understanding of the subject's acquisition of english vocabulary. this research design was intended to catch such phenomena, and there was a real situation on the children at grade iii.b. in this way, this research was held on 2nd – 3rd december 2019 and 9th – 10th december 2019. at 08.00-11.00 am (every meeting). in a qualitative method, the researchers are purposeful in choosing participants. to provide deep insight and a thorough understanding of what she is studying, they select a specific subject. their expertise in the selection of the topic plays an important role in what to include and remove. in this research, the children of grade iii.b, ages eight to nine years old, were selected. for the sake of the current research, the researchers s conducted interviews with the children. the interview questions with them were carefully constructed and reviewed based on the research objectives. the interviews were recorded via the recorder application of a mobile phone by the side of notetaking. while interviewed in english, the interview with them was carried out in simple english questions due to their capacity in english proficiency. the interviews were conducted at school. the interviews were recorded and then transcribed specifically on the basis of the participant's exact words and opinions. the participant presented basic details during semi-structured interviews and a short description of an answer to the questions that the researchers asked. in doing the face-to-face interviews, the researchers s observed the interviewees in terms of giving information, delivering short answers using simple sentences spoken toward the questions that the researchers asked, and gestures or expressions when sharing the information. technically, to validate the result of the research, the researchers did three steps: 1. preparation in this section, the researchers read several books on language, linguistics, and psycholinguistics, especially the acquisition of english in children. looking for data related to the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 127-132 the acquisition of english vocabulary for children at grade iii in sd islam nurul hidayah albiansyah, fahriany issn 2685-4074 (online) 130 │ topic in this study and the syllabus of the teaching and learning process at sd islam nurul hidayah. 2. data collection in data collection, the researchers s consulted and at the same time asked permission from the school at sd islam nurul hidayah to conduct research. then the researchers take data at school by recording how many students their age and recording the children in acquiring english through direct interaction with children. the researchers follow their teaching-learning process and what is more important in this study is when the children at the end of the semester in the acquisition of english. in this stage, the researchers tested the children but by means of interviews and did not make the children feel like they were doing research. the questions are in the form of "can you tell me your parts of the body?", followed by the syllabus that the teachers have taught in the classroom, namely about transportation, color, classrooms, work, nation, universe, how to introduce yourself, memorization verses, pray before and after study and prayer meals. 3. data analysis in the data analysis stage, the researchers interviewed the children and recorded the interviews, after which the data was collected for analysis. in analyzing the data, the researchers s identified and analyzed all the data collected both in the questionnaire and in the interview. the results obtained through direct interviews were identified, then grouped based on theory, then analyzed based on the theory put forward by tabors. p and snow (1994) regarding second language acquisition in the last two stages, namely: telegraphic and productive language. findings and discussion after analyzing the data, findings, and discussions obtained from the interviews carried out with the children of grade iii.b into their acquisition of english vocabulary is highlighted. according to the interviews, which have been translated and transcribed, the researchers found the results about to what extent their acquisition influenced children's acquisition in english vocabulary, as follows. 1. parts of body from the interviews with the theme of parts of body, the result showed seven children who used parts of body vocabularies telegraphically were 39% and ten children who used parts of body vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 61%. 2. transportation from the interviews with the theme of transportation, the result showed 11 children who used transportation vocabularies telegraphically were 62%, and 6 children who used transportation vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 38%. 3. colors from the interviews with the theme of colors, the result showed 8 children who used colors vocabularies telegraphically were 44% and 9 children who used color vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 56%. 4. classroom from the interviews with the theme of classroom, the result showed 10 children who used classroom vocabularies telegraphically were 40% and 7 children who used classroom vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 60%. 5. job from the interviews with the theme of job, the result showed 8 children who used job vocabularies telegraphically were 45%, and 9 children who used job vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 55%. 6. nation international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 127-132 the acquisition of english vocabulary for children at grade iii in sd islam nurul hidayah albiansyah, fahriany issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 131 from the interviews with the theme of nation, the result showed 8 children who used nation vocabularies telegraphically were 43%, and 9 children who used nation vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 57%. 7. universe from the interviews with the theme of the universe, the result showed 14 children who used universe vocabularies telegraphically were 81%, and 3 children who used universe vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 19%. 8. self-introduction from the interviews with the theme of self-introduction, the result showed 7 children who used self-introduction vocabularies telegraphically were 57 %, and 10 children who used selfintroduction vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 43%. 9. praying before learning from the interviews with the theme of praying before learning, the result showed no children who used praying before learning vocabularies telegraphically were 0% and 17 children who used praying before learning vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 100%. 10. praying after learning from the interviews with the theme of praying after learning, the result showed no children who used praying after learning vocabularies telegraphically were 0% and 17 children who used praying before learning vocabularies had reached the productive language stage was 100%. the researchers s got the ten variables at sd islam nurul hidayah at grade iii.b in acquiring english vocabulary based on the syllabus of the school. conclusion based on the four phases of the tabors and snow theory (1994), namely home language use, nonverbal period, telegraphic and formulaic speech, and productive language after researching the acquisition of english in children in sd islam, nurul hidayah showed that the children had reached the third stage and the fourth is telegraphic and formulaic speech and productive language. acquiring english vocabs from the ten themes is the consequence of sd islam nurul hidayah 's syllabus in two telegraphic and formal levels: body part is 39% telegraphic, and 61% productive, transportation is 62% telegraphic and 38% productive, color is 44% telegraphic and 56% productive, classroom is 40% telegraphic and 60% productive, job is 45% telegraphic dan 55% productive, nation is 43% telegraphic and 57% productive, universe is 81% telegraphic and 19% productive, self-introduction is 57% telegraphic, and 43% productive, prayer before learning is 100% with 0% productive language, and prayer after learning is 100% and 0% productive language. from the results above, such as the conclusion from the acquisition of vocabulary english in children in sd islam nurul hidayah is in telegraphic and formulaic form speech and productive language. limitation & further research for further researchers, after the acquisition of english in children in sd islam nurul hidayah, researchers s suggests for further researchers to examine the acquisition of english in children in early childhood, kindergarten and elementary school where you come from, so from your research, you can find out the extent of language acquisition their english and the results of this study for the school, it will be a benchmark for teachers to further increase children's learning motivation and children's focus in the classroom, so as not to play a lot and be shy when pointed at doing something in class. give more practice first pronunciation of the universe, classrooms, and colors because of the research on the part these children are still many wrongs. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 127-132 the acquisition of english vocabulary for children at grade iii in sd islam nurul hidayah albiansyah, fahriany issn 2685-4074 (online) 132 │ references bloomfield l (1993). language. new york: holt, rinehart and winston inc. brown and hanlon, (1970). blackwell handbook of language development, second language acquisition in childhood. brown, cazden, and bellugi, (1973). blackwell handbook of language development, second language acquisition in childhood. crabtree, powers. 1994. the branches of linguistics. cambrige university pres chow, j., aimola davies, a., & plunkett, k. (2017). spoken-word recognition in 2-year-olds: the tug of war between phonological and semantic activation. journal of memory and language, 93, 104–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2016.08.004 clark and clark, (1977). “psikolinguistik; pengantar pengenalan bahasa manusia”. dki jakarta;yayasan obor indonesia. dardjowidjojo, soenjono, ed. 2013. “psikolinguistik; pengantar pengenalan bahasa manusia”. dki jakarta;yayasan obor indonesia. harley, (2001). “psikolinguistik; pengantar pengenalan bahasa manusia”. dki jakarta;yayasan obor indonesia. harton, (2011) statistik untuk penelitian. cetakan ke-4, yogyakarta, pustaka pelajar. nainggolan, (2007). pemerolehan leksikal bahasa inggris pada anak usia prasekolah di logo education centre. fakultas psikologi universitas diponegoro semarang. ninio, a. (2018). learning to produce complement predicates with shared semantic subjects. first language. 38(4), 399–418. doi:10.1177/0142723718755879 paradise, johanne (2006). blackwell handbook of language development. second language acquisition in childhood. phillips, sarah. (1995). young learners. oxford: oxford university press. snow and ferguson, (1977). blackwell handbook of language development. second language acquisition in childhood. sugiono (2008). metode penelitian kualitatif, kualitatif dan r&d. bandung: alfbeta. tabors, p. and snow, c. (1994). english as a second language in preschools. in f. genesee (ed). educating second language children: the whole child, the whole curuculum, the whole community (pp.103-125). new york: cambridge university press. language learning theories (2nd ed.). yip, m. c. w., & zhai, m. (2017). context effects and spoken word recognition of chinese: an eyetracking study. cognitive science. 42, 1134–1153. doi:10.1111/cogs.12570 microsoft word 6. ijeiece-530-article text-2199-1-15-20210527.edited by le.docx available online at: https://researchsynergy.org/ijeiece/ international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 2 (2021): 10-17 corresponding author yessi.rifmasari87@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i2.530 research synergy foundation the influence of the application of audio-visual learning media in increasing the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years; an experimental study yessi rifmasari stkip adzkia padang, indonesia abstract the research was motivated by the low development of religious and moral values (nam) of children aged 5-6 years at adabiah kindergarten in padang city. judging from the development of nam, many children have not been able to know religion and religious holidays. the research aims to determine the effect of the application of audio-visual learning media in improving nam children aged 5-6 years. this type of research is a quasi-experimental design. the population of all children aged 5-6 years is selected as samples of grades b1 and b2. sampling techniques using purposive sampling techniques, using the t-test formula. analysis of normal and homogeneous distributed data, then conducted hypothetical tests with t-test showed obtained. thitung >ttabel (2,301 > 2,048), then ho was rejected and ha accepted. conclusion "there is an influence on the application of audiovisual learning media in improving nam children aged 5-6 years in adabiah padang kindergarten. keywords: audiovisual media; religious and moral values; experiment. this is an open access article under the cc-by-nc license. introduction every human being definitely needs information, anytime and anywhere; every individual must seek and get new information. moreover, the world is currently experiencing chaos due to the pandemic, namely covid-19, because the pandemic is encouraged to do social distancing and physical distancing that results in people having to be at home continuously and prohibited from being close to each other. so inevitably, they have to do activities online or work from home (wfh). this online activity can be done using tools or media in the form of laptops, smartphones, and so forth, including learning activities given to early childhood at the age of 5-6 years. since the activity must be online, we must choose suitable media, which is appropriate and attractive for early childhood in conveying the message of learning to children. children aged 5-6 years are a group of small human beings who are in the process of growth and development; at this time, according to wulandari et al. (in sulaiman, 2019:53), is a very decisive age in the formation of good character attitudes, behaviors, and personalities of a child in the future. in the development of children, many aspects of development can be stimulated, one of them such as aspects of religious and moral values, this aspect of development is very important developed early. based on the observations conducted at adabiah kindergarten in padang city from january 12 to january 14, 2021, in group b1 found in the field, there are still many children on the development of religious and moral values have not developed well. the problems that researchers found during observation: 1) at the time of learning when explaining learning materials with the theme of religious holidays. there are still many children who do not pay attention to the explanations presented. so, when the teacher asks many children who do not international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 10-17 the influence of the application of audio-visual learning media in increasing the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years; an experimental study yessi rifmasari 11 respond, this is because the learning media used is less attractive to the child. 2) from the development of religious and moral values, many children have not been able to know about religion. the special day of religion is also evidenced when the child is asked questions, many children do not answer about religion and the special day of his religion. this also includes the children in focus on learning because of the provision of learning materials using less varied media. table 1. achievement level of religious and moral value development of children aged 5-6 years curriculum 2013 scope of development age 5-6 years religious and moral values 1. know the religion embraced 2. doing worship 3. behaving honestly, polite helpers, respect, sportsmanship, etc. 4. keeping yourself and the environment clean 5. knowing the great day of religion 6. respecting (tolerance) of other people's religions aspects of the development of religious and moral values in the stppa paud 2013 curriculum aged 5-6 years consist of six indicators, but researchers only looked at two indicators. two of them, namely; 1) know the religion embraced, 2) know the great day of religion. in the first indicator, namely knowing the religion embraced by 15 children, there are 8 children with a percentage of 53.33% whose development is less (k), 5 children with a percentage of 33.33% who are developmental enough (c), 2 children with a percentage of 13.33% good development (b). while in the second indicator, which is to know the religious holidays of 15 children, there are 7 children with a percentage of 46.67% whose development is less (k), 6 children with a percentage of 40% who have sufficient development (c), 2 children with a percentage of 13.33% who are well developed (b). based on the above exposure, the early symptoms of developing religious and moral values in tk b1 adabiah tend to be below. this, if left unchecked, will be feared to hinder the developmental aspects. identification of problems, 1) children pay less attention to teachers in explaining learning materials, 2) children are less responsive to teachers when teachers ask questions at the time of learning, 3) learning media is less attractive to children, 4) giving learning using less varied media. limitations of the problem, 1) the child is less responsive to the teacher when the teacher asks at the time of learning, 2) the learning media is less varied and unattractive to the child. the purpose of the research, to know the influence of the application of audiovisual learning media in knowing the religion embraced and knowing the great day of religion in improving the religious and moral values of the age of 5-6 years in kindergarten adabiah padang city. according to arsyad (2015:141), audio and audio-visual media are a form of learning media that is cheap and affordable. once we buy tape and equipment such as tape recorders, almost no additional costs are required because the tape can be erased after use, and new messages can be recorded again. in addition, there are also audio materials that can be used and adjusted to the level of ability of students. audio can display motivating messages. audiotape recorders can also be carried everywhere. since the tape recorder can use batteries, it can be used in the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 10-17 the influence of the application of audio-visual learning media in increasing the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years; an experimental study yessi rifmasari 12 field or places not reachable by electricity. cassettes or audiotapes can also be used for lessons and assignments at home. this is possible because almost all students have radio tape machines. steps steps to apply audiovisual learning media with the help of kine master application, the first step namely: a) preparing laptops, speakers and videos to be aired b) pay attention to how the sitting position, make sure the learners are in a comfortable state c) at the time of inviting students to listen to the video, the teacher conveys the learning and technical objectives of learning d) then the learners are ready to watch the video. the advantages of audiovisual media in improving religious and moral values are as follows: 1) easy-to-understand media, 2) learning media is not boring, 3) the voice on the learning media is very clear, and 4) the learning media is also easy to understand. according to satibi (2011:7.3), religion is god's rules and revelations deliberately revealed so that people live in order, peace, prosperity, dignity, and happiness both in the world and at the end. according to kurnia (in ananda, 2017:25), "religion" (agama in bahasa) comes from sanskrit, "gam" means to go. after obtaining the prefix and suffix "a" becomes "religion," which means to be the way. therefore, it can be interpreted that religion is irrefutable teaching or something eternal. according to satibi (2011:2.4), moral refers to the general rules of good bad and right wrong that apply in society at large. concerning these rules of conduct, children are required to know, understand, and follow them. changes in knowledge and understanding of these rules are seen as moral developments. application of audio-visual learning media in improving religious and moral values age 5-6 years, is a self-designed media. design audiovisual learning media created using the kine master application. then in this study also researchers only looked at the application of audiovisual media in improving the development of religious and moral values at the age of 56 years. this media contains about the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years. this media aims to provide ease in learning and provide new experiences also for children, especially in the present who are feeling this pandemic it is very easy for teachers to also communicate learning online using this audiovisual media. in-law no. 20 of 2003 concerning the national education system article 1 paragraph (19), the term curriculum is interpreted as a set of plans and arrangements regarding the purpose, content, and materials of lessons and ways used as guidelines for the implementation of learning activities to achieve certain educational objectives. the curriculum serves as a guideline in carrying out the learning process. the curriculum is prepared for students to provide new experiences that can be developed along with their development as a provision of their lives. previous research on learning media and techniques or methods used in improving the religious and moral values of children with different segmentation. related to the research researchers conducted, the application of audio-visual media to improve children's moral development differs from previous studies. research conducted by researchers here how the influence of the application of audiovisual learning media in improving the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years in kindergarten adabiah padang city. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 10-17 the influence of the application of audio-visual learning media in increasing the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years; an experimental study yessi rifmasari 13 hypothesis: ho: there is no influence on the application of audiovisual learning media in improving the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years at adabiah kindergarten in padang city. ha: there is an influence on the application of audiovisual learning media in improving the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years at adabiah kindergarten in padang city. the research method used in this study is experimental research. according to sugiyono (2019: 111), experimental research method is a research method conducted by experiment, which is a quantitative method used to find the influence of certain treatments on others in controlled conditions. according to sugiyono (2011:117),, population is a generalized area consisting of objects/subjects that have certain qualities and characteristics applied by researchers to be studied and then drawn conclusions. the research population was 75 adabiah padang kindergarten children, divided into five study groups. group a 15 children. group b1 15 children. group b2 15 children. group b3 consists of 15 children. group b4 15 children. according to sugiyono (2012: 83), the sample is a person or something taken as a sample because researchers consider that a person or something has the necessary information for international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 10-17 the influence of the application of audio-visual learning media in increasing the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years; an experimental study yessi rifmasari 14 research. so as for the research samples in the research group in group b1 and b2 with 30 people in children aged 5-6 years in kindergarten b. table 2. lattice instruments influence research application of audio visual learning media in improving religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years in kindergarten adabiah padang city variable indicators observed aspects religious and moral values get to know the religion embraced. observe the images contained on the worksheet and check the pictures. knowing the great day of religion draw the right line between a place of worship and a big day. this learning research instrument uses checklist format; checklist format in curriculum 2013 contains indicators of developmental achievement that have been set out in the daily activity implementation plan (rpph). the checklist format containing progress indicators to measure the achievement of basic objectives and competencies set out in rppm refers to the 2013 curriculum. table 3. assessment scale with instrument guide rubric. scale category indicators 3 b children can recite their scriptures and religion without help. children can draw lines according to the picture without assistance 2 c children can recite the scriptures and their religion with minimal help. the child can draw lines according to the image with minimal help 1 k the child can draw the line according to the picture with assistance. the child can draw the line according to the picture with assistance. table 4. observation sheet influence of the application of audio visual learning media in improving the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years in kindergarten adabiah padang city. no. name get to know the religion embraced knowing the great day of religion b (3) c (2) k (1) b (3) c (2) k (1) 1. 2. etc. the data collection techniques in this study were conducted in several ways. 1. observations are made at the beginning and end stages of the research process by obtaining preliminary data, including students, teachers in managing and applying learning media. this observation international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 10-17 the influence of the application of audio-visual learning media in increasing the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years; an experimental study yessi rifmasari 15 is expected to find accurate data. 2. documentation is written documentation rpph and documentation video about learning activities with the application of audiovisual media. the study's data analysis techniques compared the differences of two average values, so it was done with a t-test ( t-test). but before that, first, conduct a test of analysis requirements in the form of normality test and homogeneity test using analysis of liliefors test techniques. the research procedure is carried out in three stages, namely the preparation stage, implementation stage, and evaluation stage. discussion based on the results of research and analysis of the data that has been described, it is necessary to discuss further the application of audiovisual learning media in improving the religious and moral values of children in accordance with predetermined indicators, namely: 1) knowing the religion embraced, 2) knowing the great day of religion. the application of audiovisual learning media is very influential in improving children's religious and moral values; the first is to know the religion embraced, related to the theory according to hasan (2016:26) said the advantages of audiovisual media that the wearer is not boring. the use of learning media that is not boring means that the learning media used is interesting for children. this can make it easier for children to receive learning messages such as knowing the religion embraced by children can easily know what religions exist in indonesia. the second indicator is knowing the great day of religion; according to arsyad (2015:141), audio and audio-visual media is a form of learning media that is cheap and affordable. this also shows that audio-visual media can display messages that motivate the child, such as displaying a video that gives a learning message about knowing about religious holidays. children will easily remember learning messages delivered through a video with voice and image elements, such as videos designed using the kine master app about religious holidays. suppose the application of audiovisual media is maximized in the learning process. in that case, it will provide convenience for children to stimulate the development of their religious and moral values. in addition, it also provides convenience for teachers in delivering materials especially related to moral learning. the effect of audiovisual media in learning "religious and moral values" is appropriate in improving the child's morale. this child will understand the moral messages obtained through film and story, both understood through hearing or vision. the effect of audiovisual media in learning "religious and moral values" is appropriate in improving the child's morale. this child will understand the moral messages obtained through film and story, both understood through hearing or vision. as explained by fitri et al. (2017:68), the use of audiovisual media applied by teachers as an effort to improve the development of religious and moral values of children should be designed in such a way both in terms of the selection of stories and sound as supporters to attract children to follow the learning. use of this media continues to be used to improve the development of children every round. from the opinion of these experts related to this study, researchers will show learning media to children aged 5-6 years to see the influence of the application of the media and aims to improve the development of religious and moral values of children. by utilizing this media, it is expected that the presentation of material to children will be delivered optimally. in addition, this media within certain boundaries can also replace the role and duties of teachers. in this case, the teacher does not act as a material delivery but switches to a facilitator that provides convenience for children to learn. as for the obstacles found at the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 10-17 the influence of the application of audio-visual learning media in increasing the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years; an experimental study yessi rifmasari 16 time of the study, namely the limitations of the time given, this happens because children's learning activities during the covid-19 pandemic are not as usual, but the research conducted remains successful. it can be concluded that after the treatment of the application of audiovisual media on the value of post-test results: "there is an influence on the application of audio-visual learning media in improving the religious and moral values of children of age 5-6 years at adabiah kindergarten padang city". viewable on chart 1. graph 1. pre-test and post-test hypothesis testing histograms in experimental classes and control classes. the learning process in religious and moral values that use audiovisual media in children aged 5-6 years involves children directly in their application. the child does not feel bored following the learning process so that the religious and moral values of the child can increase. children do learn without pressure and continue to be eager to follow the learning process; audio-visual media is very influential in improving children's religious and moral values. conclusion choosing the right media or props, which corresponds to the material, will be very important to help improve the child's understanding to get good results later. audiovisual media is a modern instructional media that corresponds to the development of the times, namely the advancement of science and technology. as the name implies, this medium combines audio (through hearing) and visual (through vision). by utilizing this media, it is expected that the presentation of material to children will be delivered optimally. in addition, this media within certain boundaries can also replace the role and duties of teachers. in this case, the teacher does not act as a material delivery but switches to a facilitator that is to provide convenience for children to learn. through this media, teachers can display fairy tales or stories that are packaged in a film with the theme of religious and moral values, this aims so that the child can see, hear, understand, and then model good things such as behaving well to others, respecting the older person, loving the younger person, like to help selflessly, behave/maintain manners, be honest not to lie, do not take things that do not belong to him, and so on. suggestion international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 10-17 the influence of the application of audio-visual learning media in increasing the religious and moral values of children aged 5-6 years; an experimental study yessi rifmasari 17 in its implementation, the application of learning media is expected to pay attention to children's characteristics and the learning outcomes that children will obtain after learning with the help of media. as interesting as possible in the design of the media so that learning is not boring and interesting for children and can provide motivation to children and can be enriched again for future researchers. reference ananda, rizki. 2017. implementasi nilai-nilai moral dan agama pada anak usia dini. jurnal pendidikan anak usia dini vol. 1 issue 1. arsyad, azhar. 2015. media pembelajaran. jakarta : raja rajawali pers. hasan, hasmiana. 2016. penggunaan media audio visual terhadap ketuntasanbelajar ips materi perkembangan teknologi produksi, komunikasi, dan transportasi pada siswa kelas iv sd negeri 20 banda aceh. vol 3 no 4 diakses oktober 2016. oktaviani, dina 2017. pengaruh penggunaan media audio visual terhadap kemampuan membaca permulaan anak usia 5-6 tahun di tk salsa 7 jurnal rampai bunga vol. 3, no. 1, juni 2017 (diakses 29 januari 2020 jam 10.21 wib). radhiatul, fithri. 2017. penerapan media audio visual untuk meningkatkan perkembangan moral anak usia 5-6 tahun di paud cemara indah kota pekanbaru. jurnal pendidikan anak usia dini, vol 1, no 1, oktober 2017. satibi h, otib. 2011. metode pengembangan moral dan nilai-nilai agama. jakarta: universitas terbuka sugiyono. 2011. metode penelitian pendidikan pendekatan kuantitatif, kualitatif, dan r&d. bandung: alfabeta. sugiyono. 2019. metode penelitian kuantitatif kualitatif dan r&d. bandung: alfabeta sulaiman, umar. 2019. tingkat pencapaian perkembangan anak usia 5-6 tahun berdasarkan standar nasional pendidikan anak usia dini. jurnal nanaeke vol. 2, no. 1, juni 2019. 203_ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 1-10 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i.203 issn 2655-9986 (print), issn 2685-4074 (online) article history: received (may 5th, 2020); accepted (may 12th, 2020); published (may 29th, 2020). strategies for preventing disease transmission at early childhood education institutions jauhari jauhari islamic institute of jember, indonesia jauharijauhari18@gmail.com abstract early childhood education institutions with a lack of health standards can be a medium for disease transmission. this transmission leads to a decline in health status and the level of children's development. preschool children often suffer from several infectious diseases such as chickenpox, diphtheria, measles, mumps, hepatitis b, influenza, pulmonary tuberculosis, impetigo, and diarrhea. these diseases can be transmitted through direct or indirect contact such as respiratory tract, digestion, and skin. disease transmission can occur during interactions between children and children, children and teachers, and children and the environment around the school. the risk of disease transmission can be reduced by implementing prevention strategies for disease transmission, that is, by creating a healthy environment of the educational institution, keeping hands clean, providing handwashing facilities, implementing cough ethics, and increasing the role of teachers and parents to establish children's clean and healthy living behavior. these strategies can work well if they are supported and carried out by the manager, teachers, children, educational personnel, and parents. the strategies are expected to improve the health status of children, so they can achieve growth and development by their stages. keywords: early childhood education, prevention of disease transmission, strategies this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction health development is an integral part of national development, which has a large role in determining success in achieving national development goals. health development can improve the quality of human resources, characterized by an increase in the level of public health (purwandari, 2015). people can be categorized as healthy if their condition is good either physically, mentally, spiritually, or socially, so that they can live productively in terms of social and economical matters as stipulated in law of the republic of indonesia number 36 of 2009 concerning health. this condition will help improve the quality of human resources in indonesia. the quality of human resources has become a major indicator in measuring and describing the progress of a nation. the state, including indonesia, places human resource development as the main development issue, program, and strategy. various studies related to early childhood show that the preparation of quality human resources must begin at an early age, even from the time of conception in the womb. the need fulfillment of holistic, integrative development and growth of children determines the quality of health, intelligence, and social maturity in the next stage (kemendikbud, 2015). health promotion programs in early childhood education institutions are one solution to achieve this. jauhari jauhari / strategies for preventing disease transmission at early childhood education... 19 early childhood education (ece) is a coaching effort aimed at children from birth until the age of 6. coaching is performed by providing educational stimuli to help physical and spiritual growth and development so that children have the readiness to enter further education (kemendikbud, 2015). this education is a very effective investment (human investment for health development) in building the healthy behavior of the nation's generation. the school is an organized community, so it is easy to set public health efforts, and school children are a group that very easily accept changes or updates, so it is easy to guide, direct and instill good habits in children, including in preventing transmission of infectious disease (notoatmodjo, 2010). children in early childhood institutions are at risk of infectious disease transmission. based on research conducted by takaeb et all (2019) at early childhood education institutions, every academic year the majority of children of ece were ever absent from school for several days or weeks due to illnesses. symptoms that are often felt include abdominal pain, runny nose, fever, and cough. based on data from the united states center for disease control (cdc), there are 10,080 deaths with more than 80% of deaths due to diarrhea. in southern asia, in this case, in india, there are 0.4 million children die in one year because of diarrhea (journal of harvard school of public health). based on riskesdas (research on basic health) in 2013, the incidence of diarrhea in toddlers was 6.7% (range by province 3.3%-10.2%), and the incidence of diarrhea (≤ 2 weeks before the interview) with symptoms in all age groups was 3.5% (range by province 1.6%-6.3%). meanwhile, the period of diarrhea prevalence in toddlers was 10.2% and in all age groups (> 2 weeks-1 months before the interview) based on symptoms was 7%. there were health sighs that were most frequently experienced by toddlers in 2014 both urban and rural areas, namely cold (66.62%), cough (63.76%) and fever (62.52%) (ministry of health of the republic of indonesia, 2014) promotion and prevention to improve the health status of the nation and society need to be done, especially in the application of clean and healthy living behavior in the school environment (purwandari, 2015). they must be done at an early age systematically and sustainably. the health efforts aim to ensure the survival of children, especially those to reduce illnesses of children at an early age and to ensure optimal growth and development of children by their potential (kemenkes, 2011). good collaboration between educators and parents is required to optimize growth and development, one of which is through healthy behavior carried out by children of early childhood. the benefit of developing healthy behavior at an early age is that children will have a healthy lifestyle later on. this means that children's' healthy living behaviors at an early age will not easily disappear at later stages of development. besides, as they already have a healthy lifestyle, they will be free from attacks of various diseases that often occur in early childhood, such as cough/runny nose, tuberculosis, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 18-29 20 diarrhea, fever, measles, ear infections, and skin diseases. children are also protected from potential accidents that are always available around their environment, such as poisoning, falling, drowning, being pierced by sharp objects or thorns. various abilities possessed by early childhood will be explored and developed properly so that children in early childhood can grow and develop optimally (astuti, a.k, 2016)... theoretical perspectives types of infectious disease in early childhood infectious diseases that often occur in early childhood can be controlled by healthy behaviors (behrman, 2014). some infectious diseases that may occur in early childhood are: chickenpox (varicella), diphtheria, measles (rubeola), mumps, hepatitis b, and influenza (marni, 2016). in addition to tuberculosis, impetigo and diarrhea can also be transmitted in early childhood. chickenpox (varicella) is an infectious disease caused by varicella virus (vzv). this disease can strike in children after 3-6 years. it is spread by direct contact with children who suffer from varicella. it can also be transmitted through saliva or saliva splashes (droplet infection) as well as snot when coughing or sneezing. symptoms that appear in children suffering from varicella disease are fever, headache, and abdominal pain decreased appetite, and limp. after a few days, red spots will appear on the skin, itching that starts from the face, chest, or scalp. then blisters will exist and become scab (wong. d, 2014). diphtheria is an infectious disease caused by infectious corynebacterium diphtheriae. the transmission of this disease can be direct or indirect. direct transmission goes through droplet infection and direct contact with children suffering from diphtheria. meanwhile, the indirect transmission is run through objects that are contaminated with corynebacterium diphtheriae, for example, children's toys, eating utensils, drinking equipment, towels, etc. symptoms that appear in children suffering from diphtheria are fever, cough, cold, nasal discharge mixed with blood, lethargy, pale, headache, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, pain when swallowing, and swelling in the throat (marni, 2016). measles (rubeola), also called morbilli, is an infectious disease caused by morbili virus. transmission of this disease can occur when sneezing, coughing, breathing as well as direct contact with the children’s urine, feces, blood or sweat of children suffering from morbilli disease. symptoms that appear in children who suffer from this disease are fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, itching, reddish spots on the skin starting from the face, and then throughout the body and ending with skin peeling in browny color (marni, 2016). mumps is a disease caused by paramiksavirus which can be transmitted from the saliva of infected children. the mode of transmission is through direct contact or droplet infection of an infected child. symptoms that appear in children who suffer from this disease are fever, headache, malaise, anorexia, and enlargement of parotid glands and ear pain. jauhari jauhari / strategies for preventing disease transmission at early childhood education... 21 pain in the ear will be more severe if used for swallowing (wong, 2014). hepatitis b is an inflammatory disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis b virus (hbv). transmission of this disease is through the body fluids of infected children including feces, urine, saliva, and sweat. symptoms that appear in children infected with this disease are fever, malaise, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, upper right abdominal pain, yellowish appearance on eyes, yellow urine, and the yellowish look on the skin (marni, 2016). influenza is a respiratory tract disease (ari) caused by haemophilus influenza. transmission can occur through the air when a person sneezes or coughs. the symptoms that appear are cough, runny nose, nasal congestion, frequent sneezing, discharge from the nose, fever, muscle aches, dizziness, and anorexia (ngastiyah, 2014). pulmonary tuberculosis (tb) is a disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis. the transmission of this disease is through the air (airborne disease). tb can spread through the air if people suffering from pulmonary or throat tb are coughing, sneezing, or talking and sending it into the air. signs and symptoms of this disease are coughing for more than 2 weeks, weakness, fatigue, slow growth, fever for more than 2 weeks/recurring, for no apparent reason, no appetite and decreased or stagnant weight within 1 month even after nutrition management and a history of close contact with adults affected by tb (ngastiyah, 2014). impetigo is a skin infection caused by bacteria, which can be transmitted through direct contact between skin or between the skin and intermediate items, such as towels, clothes, or tableware that have been contaminated with bacteria. impetigo is more common in children than adults because children are more likely to physically interact with their peers at school or playground. symptoms of this disease are blister filled with fluid measuring 1-2 centimeters, pain, and itching on the blister. afterward, blisters will spread and rupture within a few days, and broken blisters will leave a yellow crus. the process of disease transmission in children disease transmission can be caused by 6 components of the chain of infection. if one chain is broken or removed, transmission can be prevented or stopped. the six components of the chain of infection are the infectious agent, the reservoir, the portal of exit, the transmission method, the portal of entry, and the susceptible host (vulnerable host). the infectious agent is an infectious microorganism. in children with infectious diseases, infectious agents can be in the form of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. reservoir or container sites or sources of infectious agents can live, grow, reproduce, and are ready to be transmitted to other hosts or children. based on research, most reservoirs are in humans, children's toys, animals, plants, soil, water, environment, and other organic materials. they also can be found in healthy people, the surface of the skin, oral mucous membranes, and upper respiratory tract. portal of exit (exit) is the location where infectious agents (microorganisms) leave the reservoir through the respiratory tract, digestive international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 18-29 22 tract, and urinary tract. the transmission method is by transporting microorganisms from a container or reservoir to other vulnerable children. there are several methods of transmission, namely direct and indirect contact, droplets, airborne, food, water or drinks, and through vectors (usually insects and rodents). portal of entry is the location of infectious agents entering vulnerable children. it can infect through the airway, gastrointestinal tract, or the non-intact skin. the susceptible host is a child with decreased immunity, causing an inability to fight infectious agents. the factors that can affect immunity are age, nutritional status, immunization status, and chronic illnesses. other factors that influence are gender, particular race or ethnicity, economic status, lifestyle and heredity (kemenkes, 2017; anderson & mcfarlane, 2014) findings and discussion creating a healthy educational environment the educational institution is an institution that is intentionally established to foster and improve the quality of human resources, either physically, mentally, morally, or intellectually. the educational environment is an environment that has been well organized so that it is easily accessible in the context of implementing public health efforts in children. children at an educational institution are a sensitive group to change because they are in a period of growth and development. at this stage, a child finds it easy to accept guidance and implant for healthy habits. health management at an educational institution is a way in which education and health programs are combined to foster healthy behavior as a major factor in life. to achieve this, it is necessary to establish an educational institution environment that can support both physical and non-physical health (notoatmodjo, 2010). the physical environment that can support children's health at an early childhood education institution is comfortable by the standard building of educational institutions. the building should meet the physical requirements such as the location of building not close to public places or crowds (for example markets, terminals, malls and so on), capacity and construction of educational institution buildings by the number of students accommodated, availability of school grounds and gardens, adequate ventilation to ensure air circulation in every classroom, adequate lighting, especially for sunlight access to enter every classroom, sewage and smooth rainwater systems with no inundation, adequate clean water, healthy toilets and available landfills in each class (notoatmodjo, 2010). meanwhile, the non-physical environment, or referred to as the mental-social environment, is related to the relationship between the school community (teachers, children, education staff, and parents). a healthy mental-social environment exists when there is a good relationship between the components of the school community. this good relationship will guarantee the growth and development of students, including the growth of healthy living behavior. jauhari jauhari / strategies for preventing disease transmission at early childhood education... 23 developing the role of teachers and parents of students an educational institution is an extended arm of the family in laying the foundations of behavior for future children's lives, including healthy behavior. school health management is needed to improve students' health status. the school community consisting of teachers, students, school employees is the target of health promotion within the educational institution. therefore, to improve health in the educational institution, active cooperation is needed between teachers, students, education personnel and parents of children by providing health education to instill healthy habits of daily living, monitoring children's health and recognizing abnormalities as early as possible, giving the first assitance for accidents, improving children immunity by immunization, setting dental treatment, improving nutrition, and striving for a healthy educational institution life (notoatmodjo, 2010). teachers are a very important element in the implementation of health efforts at school. teachers can carry out health education to children through structured subjects in the curriculum specifically designed for health education. also, teachers can monitor the growth and development of children and the abnormalities that exist in children. efforts that teachers can do in improving children's health care instilling healthy habits in children (for example washing hands before eating, brushing teeth after eating, wearing footwear, etc.), providing health guidance and observation (for example, checking nail hygiene, inspection on skin hygiene, hair hygiene, ear hygiene, dental hygiene), conducting early detection of diseases that may occur in children and making referrals to community health center if necessary, making records and reporting on activities or health efforts that have been made, coordinating and mobilizing the community around the school to maintain and improve the cleanliness of the environment around the school. furthermore, teachers must also be able to become an example for children in clean and healthy living behavior (notoatmodjo, 2010). parents have a role in maintaining children's health (jauhari, 2020). students are available in the school environment for a maximum of 8 hours a day, and the rest will return to the family and community (notoatmodjo, 2010). this means that most of the time spent by children every day is at home. therefore, parents have an important role in the growth and development of children (kurniawati. d and jauhari, 2009). the role of parents in the health efforts of students in schools is to participate in planning and organizing health programs at school. moreover, parents adjust to health programs at schools and try to find out or learn what their children get at school and encourage them to practice clean and healthy behavior (notoatmodjo, 2010). to ensure good cooperation between teachers and parents, a partnership is needed on the principles of equality, openness, and mutual benefit (notoatmojo, 2014). equality is a commitment to having the same position, not feeling higher and dominating among others. openness is related to international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 18-29 24 the teacher and parent's recognition of their strengths or weaknesses. mutual benefit is a synergy in achieving common goals. by practicing the principles of this partnership and establishing good cooperation between teachers and parents, a harmonious relationship in improving clean and healthy life behavior in children will be established. maintaining hand hygiene habits the act of maintaining hand hygiene must be done by all teachers, education personnel, and children in an educational institution. hand washing is a small activity but has a large impact. this activity can prevent several diseases including coughing, colds, diarrhea, food poisoning, hepatitis a, e. coli infection, and impetigo (kemenkes, 2017). it also can prevent the transmission of chickenpox (varicella), diphtheria, measles (rubeola), mumps, hepatitis b (marni 2016). one way to prevent influenza is by diligently washing hands as it can minimize the transfer of viruses and bacteria through hands. if rarely washing hands, the transfer of viruses or bacteria will trigger the ease to get colds. besides, another health problem that goes through a similar process is diarrhea. one disorder of the digestive tract is caused by the transfer of viruses or bacteria from and through our hands to enter the digestive tract by the food we hold. food poisoning can also be prevented by washing hands. hands contaminated with bacteria, germs, and viruses will make food poisoning and then end up with acute abdominal pain, vomiting, or diarrhea. prevention of hepatitis a can be prevented by washing hands. hepatitis is a disease caused by a viral infection that is very contagious to the liver. one of the processes that trigger hepatitis a is that viruses and bacteria enter and infect our body if we rarely wash hands. besides, hand washing can also prevent e. coli bacterial infection. escherichia coli is a bacterium that spreads from one person's feces to another. the absence of washing hands after using a public toilet will make it easier to get infected by this bacterium. impetigo is a contagious infection that usually occurs in children who rarely wash hands. this disease is characterized by reddish skin which then develops into small blisters. washing hands is a very simple activity to do. however, if we are lazy to do so, there are many risks of illness and health problems which will certainly be very harmful to us. to avoid health problems due to the transmission of viruses and bacteria, frequent hand washing is absolute, and it is better to wash hands with soap. although it is simple, handwashing habit is very effective to ward off various kinds of health problems. hand hygiene in children is a small step that will have a very big effect in preventing disease transmission. hand hygiene is done by washing hands using soap and running water when hands are dirty or exposed to bodily fluids or using alcohol (alcohol-based hand rubs) if hands do not look dirty. nails should always be clean and cut short. this can reduce the risk of developing germs on the hands. hand washing has been considered as one of the most important measures to reduce the transmission of microorganisms and prevent infection for more jauhari jauhari / strategies for preventing disease transmission at early childhood education... 25 than 150 years. semmelweis' studies (1861), and many other studies, show that transmission of infectious diseases from one person to another may occur through the hands. maintaining good hand hygiene can prevent the transmission of microorganisms and reduce the frequency of infections (kemenkes, 2016). handwashing with soap and water must be done as follows: wet your hands with clean running water, pour 3-5 cc of liquid soap to lather the entire surface of the hands, flatten with both palms, rub the back and between the fingers of the left hand with the right hand and vice versa, rub the palms and between the fingers—the inner fingers of the two hands lock together—, rub the left thumb spinning in the grip of the right hand and do the opposite, rub by turning the tips of the fingers on the left palm and vice versa, rinse both hands with running water, dry with a disposable towel or tissue towel until it is completely dry and use a disposable towel or tissue towel to close the faucet (this procedure is carried out 40-60 seconds) according to figure 1(kemenkes, 2017). figure 1. ways clean hands with soap and water, adapted from who guidelines on hand hygiene in health care: first global patient safety challenge, world health organization, 2009. providing hand hygiene facilities activities to maintain hand hygiene will be successful if the facilities for washing hands are available. the main means for washing hands is running water with an adequate drain or sink. with the splash of flowing water, microorganisms that are released due to mechanical or chemical friction when washing hands will be dispelled and no longer exist on the surface of the skin. the flowing water can be from a tap or by flushing with a dipper, but the way to flush with a dipper has a substantial risk of pollution, either through the dipper handle or splash of used washing water back into the reservoirs of clean water. tap water does not have to be costly international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 18-29 26 but can be made simple with a tank top using a bucket given a faucet placed in an easily accessible position to teachers and students who need it. in addition to running water, there are two types of handwashing materials needed: soap or detergent. soap is a material that does not kill microorganisms but inhibits and reduces the number of microorganisms by reducing surface tension so that microorganisms are separated from the skin surface and easily carried by water. the number of microorganisms decreases along with the increasing frequency of washing hands, but on the other hand, by using soap or detergent frequently, the skin fat layer will disappear and make the skin dry and cracked. this can be overcome by using soap that does not contain softener on the skin. practicing cough ethics cough ethics and respiratory hygiene must be practiced in all parts of the education institution, community, and even at home. this important action must always be taken to control potential sources of infection to prevent transmission of respiratory infection in early childhood education institutions. cleanliness of the respiratory tract and cough ethics must be a fundamental part of healthy behavior. if possible, it is recommended for people who cough to sit at a distance of 1 meter from the others (kemenkes, 2017). respiratory hygiene and cough ethics are two important ways to control the spread of infection at the source. all children, teachers, and employees in educational institutions should be encouraged to always adhere to cough ethics and respiratory hygiene to prevent respiratory secretions. prevention and control of the spread of pathogens from infected students (prevention and control of sources) are the keys to avoiding transmission due to unprotected contact. for diseases that are transmitted through saliva splashing (large droplets and/or nucleic droplets), respiratory hygiene or cough ethics should be applied by everyone who indicates symptoms of respiratory infection. all people (teachers, students, and employees) who have signs and symptoms of respiratory infection must adopt a cough ethic. one cough ethic is that when coughing or sneezing, cover the nose and mouth with a tissue or handkerchief or upper arm then throw the tissue into place and then wash hands. if in a state of continuous coughing, teachers, students, and employees use masks to prevent transmission to others (kemenkes, 2017). practicing clean and healthy life behavior clean and healthy living behavior is a set of health behaviors that are based on one's selfawareness, so he can help himself and his family in the health sector and has a role in the surrounding community. clean healthy living behavior is an activity to convey experiences about undergoing a healthy life through individuals, groups, and the surrounding community environment through communication media to convey health information. the information about health education is provided to improve knowledge, attitudes, and ways of living a clean and healthy living behavior (kemenkes, 2016). jauhari jauhari / strategies for preventing disease transmission at early childhood education... 27 the clean and healthy life behavior movement aims to improve the quality of health through awareness process as the beginning of the contribution of individuals in living clean and healthy daily life behaviors. this movement is useful to create a community that is health-conscious and has the knowledge and awareness to live behaviors that maintain hygiene and meet health standards (kemenkes, 2011). the clean and healthy lifestyle behavior at school is an activity that empowers children in schools, teachers and the community of school partners to be willing to adopt a healthy lifestyle so that a healthy school can be created. this clean and healthy life behavior has benefits to make schools able to create a clean and healthy environment, increase teaching and learning activities and make children, teachers, and the community around the school healthy (kemenkes, 2011). healthy schools can prevent the transmission of various diseases. the healthy and clean life behavior indicators at school are: washing hands with soap before and after eating, eating healthy snacks, using clean and healthy latrines, doing regular exercise, eradicating mosquito larvae, disposing the trash in its place and doing community service with residents of the school environment to create a healthy environment (kemenkes, 2011). clean and healthy life behaviors in schools require sustainable efforts to improve health and play an active role in creating a healthy environment. the indicator of clean and healthy life behavior in school becomes a measurement tool to show a condition or tendency of clean and healthy life behavior carried out by children at school. clean and healthy life behaviors carried out by children at school should be practiced optimally. ideally, the overall eight indicators of clean and healthy life behavior at schools are well implemented. however, factually, that the clean and healthy behavior program is still not optimal indicated by a case of illness that occurs due to unhealthy living behavior. indicators of clean and healthy life behavior in an educational institution environment are the optimal growth and development of early childhood depending on the healthy behavior performed. healthy behaviors observed in this study were eating and drinking behavior, personal hygiene behavior, environmental hygiene behavior, behavior towards illness and disease; balance behavior (regular exercise, adequate rest, and sleep) (astuti, a.k, 2016). conclusion prevention of disease transmission in early childhood education institutions can work well if there is a harmonious collaboration between teachers, education personnel, and students' parents. this collaboration can establish children's behavior in maintaining hand hygiene, practicing cough ethics, and improving clean and healthy living behaviors. for this reason, support from the management of an educational institution is needed to provide educational facilities and facilities that meet health standards. besides, support from the community around the school is also needed to create a clean and healthy environment. the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 18-29 28 implementation of this disease prevention strategy is expected to minimize the risk of disease transmission between children and children, children and teachers, children, and the surrounding environment. the purpose of this strategy is to improve the health status of children and the community around the school, one of which is indicated by success in minimized absence from school due to illnesses. references anderson. e.t & mcfarlane.j. 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( 2014). wong and whaley’s clinical manual of pediatric nursing. mosby: year book, inc article 03-44_layout international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 94-107 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.44 i ssn 2 6 5 59 9 86 (pr int), i ssn 2 6 8 54 0 74 (o nline) article history: received june 27th, 2019 ; accepted november 11th, 2019; published november 30th, 2019 improving the memory through singing method of children ages 5 6 years in kindergarten insan pandhega meta br ginting universitas sari mutiara indonesia, indonesia metamunthe31@gmail.com abstract the problem in this study was that 48% of children had difficulty remembering their parents 'full names, 72% of children did not remember the full address of their residence, and 100% of children did not remember their parents' telephone numbers. this study aims to develop children's memory of their important personal identity through singing methods. this type of research is classroom action research by model kemmis and mc. taggart. this research was carried out in the kindergarten insanpandhega with a total subject of 25 children, consisting of 11 girls and 14 boys. the object of this research is the singing method. the technique of collecting children's memory data is done by nonformal test techniques, namely writing important information that describes the child's memory. furthermore, the data is processed to obtain a memory percentage value of children categorized into: undeveloped, developing, developing well, developing very well. this study was successful if the memory of children who reached the criteria of developing well and developing very well reached more than 75%. the study was conducted in two cycles. overall, the average memory of children in the first cycle which is in the well-developed and developing category is 36%. whereas in the second cycle the average memory of children in the well-developed and very well-developed category was 80%. keywords: memory; singing method this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction in the process of learning, the functions of memory have a very important role. memory plays a role in every psychological function. learning requires memory. every thought happens by relying on memory. learning also provides new knowledge in memory. information is given in various forms such as visual, auditory, text or multimedia, tend to be "summarized" to outline when stored in memory (carter & seifert. 2014:277) clark (in sujiono 2010: 49) states that when children are born their brains have brought the potential contained in 100-200 billion cells of neurons stored in the brain. each neuron cell is ready to be developed to process several trillion information. during the child's development period, the brain continues to changes in accordance with stimulation received through all the five senses, this will also affect the level of intelligence, personality, and quality of life of a child. that is, children have the ability to remember or store information obtained. in the process of learning memory functions have a very important role. if the memory is good, the academic achievement of the child will also be good otherwise if the memory is not good it will have meta br ginting / improving the memory through singing method of children ages 5 6 years... 95 an impact on the child's achievement which can lead to a low self-confidence. to achieve good memory, the optimal brain integration process is needed. there are various ways to optimize memory including learning, playing, and the use of learning methods that support the workings of the brain (sarwono. 2009: 115). cognitive development is closely related to remembering information received by the brain's ability to rely heavily on memory through the process of building, interpreting, storing, changing and retrieving information. information enters memory through an encoding process that occurs automatically (unconsciously) or consciously (with effort) that requires attention, or focuses mentally on certain information. (carter & seifert, 2014: 279).learning in early childhood requires the ability to remember. remembering information that is useful for safety and honing children's life skills. one of the information that is important to remember by children is knowledge of their information, such as: the name of the parent (nuclear family), the telephone number of the parent and the address of the residence in full. the child's memory of this important information is one of the basic safety measures proposed by bharadia raksha (2013: 86). interviews with researchers with early childhood children in the pandhega elementary school, out of 46 children there were 12 people or 26% of children who remembered their parents' names in full, and 3 children or 6.5% of children who know their home address well and no child (0%) knows the telephone number of one of their parents meanwhile these memories of this information are important to safe children.santrock (2007: 288) stated that children's memory increases rapidly after passing infancy. the long-term memory of preschoolers seems erratic, but young children are able to remember a lot of information as long as they get the right signals and evidence. so it can be concluded that in fact children have the potential to remember important information in themselves. talking about memory, just like talking about brain function. adree (in sujiono 2010: 49) states that in essence the brain determines behavior, the brain that determines personality, and the brain stores memories of experience. the law of brain development states: "if the brain is given stimulation through stimuli that enter through the five senses, the memory will continue to work. conversely, if the brain is not stimulated, the memory will be destroyed. (sujiono.2010: 50) in this regard, brain stimulation in early childhood refers to the work process of the brain, which senses everything in the environment through seeing, smelling, tasting, touching or listening. the senses then go through the brain fibers into electric waves and are stored in the brain into memory or memory which can then be reappeared as the original. the results of brain research conducted by paul mclean (in megawangi et al. 2010: 25) explain that one part of the brain, the limbic system has several principles, namely; (1) the limbic system is very influential in the human learning process. this system controls memory abilities, human learning international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 94-107 96 abilities, and responds to all information received by the human senses; (2) these system controls every information that enters, and selects only valuable information. valuable information will be stored, while valuable information will be forgotten. that's why the brain's limbic system determines the formation of long-term memory; (3) the brain does not pay attention to all information that is not interesting, boring, and does not cause emotion; (4) the aspects of physiology, emotion and memory have important implications for the learning process, namely a pleasant learning atmosphere, involving all sensory aspects of human beings (five senses), relevant and contextual, and most importantly the learning process must provide a sense of happiness; (5) fun learning atmosphere can provide positive emotional experiences, so as to maximize children's attention and memory. frank wood, argues that music is the first language of the brain, and singing is the earliest type of music. music including singing has an effect on the brain by way of intellectual and emotional stimulation. the results of the abdolmanafi et al (2014) study entitled "the effect of background music on vocabulary recall and retention of children learning a foreinglangunge" concluded that the experimental group that received treatment with the singing method had a better ability to remember and save. vocabulary from the control group. the results of the study are in line with ludke's article, et al. (2013) entitled "singging can facilitate foreign language learning" concluding that listening and singing can facilitate in terms of remembering words to speak foreign language phrases. in line with the results of the above research, risaldy (2015: 88) says that the singing method is one method that is very popular with early childhood. hidayat (2014: 4.27) states that the singing method is an approach to learning that is actually able to make children happy and happy. children are directed to psychological situations and conditions to build a happy soul, love to enjoy beauty, develop feelings through words and tones, and rhythmic expressions that beautify the learning atmosphere. so that the singing method can be applied in building children's memory. harianti (2008: 17) states: "information that is combined with the rhythm will be more remembered by the brain, because one of the principles of memory is rhythmic". in other words when entering elements of a song or rhythm into an information will make the information easier to remember. it can be concluded that the singing method is one method that can affect children's memory. because singing is an activity that can create joy and cheerful atmosphere. based on the background described, the formulation of the problem in this study is "does the singing method affect the memory of children aged 5-6 years in insanpandhega of kindergarten medan helvetia?". this study aims to prove the influence of the singing method on the ability to remember children. as well as an effort to develop the ability to remember children of important information. theoretical perspectives meta br ginting / improving the memory through singing method of children ages 5 6 years... 97 memory remembering is the ability to reproduce information contained in memory (hapsari 2016: 215). furthermore, femi olivia (2007: 55) argues that memory is the ability to remember the subject matter obtained after the learning period has passed.tan& seng (2005: 230) states: "memory encompasses the encoding, storage, of and retrieval of information from the previous experience, and is critical to learning". this opinion is supported by carter colleen (2014: 276) who states that memory is a consequence that remains in the mind about our experiences in the world. based on some of the opinions above, the researchers concluded that memory or what is usually referred to as memory, namely the ability to store, process and revive information absorbed by the brain. according to semiawan (2017: 35), the part of the human brain consists of the brainstem and cerebellum, the limbic system (mammalian brain) and the neocortex, each of which is independent but interrelated in its function. the limbic system, often referred to as the mammalian brain, has a brain component called the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus and hupothalamus. the basic part of the brain in learning and maintaining new information is a small area whose shape resembles a sea horse called the hypocampus field (from the greek hippocampus meaning seahorse). the hippocampus acts when someone actively learns something new. even after information is well mastered, the storage is in a different location, another part of the brain called the celebral cortex. so, someone who is reminded of the things that have happened a few years ago got them back from the cerebral cortex. (mc.khann. albert 2010: 32).the hippocampus as part of the limbic system is in the left hemisphere and the right brain. this structure manages all information and sends it to memory. this hippocampus is very susceptible to stress hormones called cortisol. while the role of the amygdala, which is the smallest almond-shaped structure in the medial temporal lobe, plays a role with both positive and negative emotions. however, besides that the amygdala also influences emotionally in learning that involves someone's cognition, especially in the aspect of memory. even interesting and fun lessons will be longer and more memorable. also important decisions can not be separated fromthe role of this emotional brain (semiawan, 2017: 44.45). according to wijanarko and setiawati (1998: 35), amygdala is part of the ganglia ward and part of the limbic system which has a role in processing memory, emotional reactions, and decision making with functions of forming and storing memories related to emotional events and regulating consolidation. memory in other brain regions. meanwhile some researchers have considered that the hippocampus is part of the memory system of the medial temporal lobe responsible for general declarative memory. the hippocampus functions are: a. forming new memories related to events that have been experienced, be it episodic or autobiographical memory by detecting new events, places and stimuli; b. role in forming spatial memory and navigation. so it can be concluded that from the three parts of the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 94-107 98 human brain, more memory is processed and stored in the limbic system, the amygdala and hippocampus. based on the study above, the researcher concluded that memory is a work process of the brain, where memory / information is stored properly when implanted with excitement through an impressive activity in the child.in this study the memory that will be tested is the child's memory of the full address of the house, memory about the full address of the school, full name of nuclear family members and memory of self-identity. singing method the singing method is one method that is very popular with early childhood (risaldy 2015: 88). singing gives children fun, fun and fills their day with songs. furthermore, risaldy (2015: 91) states that through singing activities the learning atmosphere will be more fun, exciting, make children happy, eliminate feelings of sadness, entertain children and be more excited. by singing the potential of the right brain hemisphere can be optimized, so that the messages we give will settle longer in the long-term memory of the child, so the child will always remember the words that he receives. this statement is in line with the opinion of hidayat (2014: 4. 27) which states that the singing method is a learning approach that is actually able to make children happy and happy. children are directed at psychological situations and conditions that build a happy soul, love to enjoy beauty, develop a sense of expression through words and funds, and rhythmic which beautifies the learning atmosphere. satibi (2006) revealed that singing activities for early childhood cannot be separated from daily activities. in kindergarten singing is an activity that can be integrated in learning and cannot be separated from the daily activities of children in school. songs or songs are music (part of music) which are expressions of one's thoughts / feelings through tones and data that contain an idea (idea), are mindful of beauty (widiastuti (2017: 29). this opinion is in line with kamtini's expression (in risaldy 2015: 90), thatsinging is a means of expressing thoughts and feelings, because singing activities are important for children's education besides singing is a fun activity that gives satisfaction to children. children enjoy almost every type of song, especially those concerning themselves and their days (seefeldt et al. 2008: 310). from the statement above it can be concluded that singing can be applied as a learning method for early childhood. learning with the singing method has a strong connection in the learning process of children at an early age, in addition to fostering high motivation, singing also increases focus power optimally. thus, singing activities can be used as a method of learning (widyastuti 2016: 72). based on the above opinion it can be concluded that the application of the singing method is appropriate to the principle of how the brain works in developing a child's memory. because when a child sings, unwittingly builds a happy, happy soul, enjoys beauty, develops feelings through words and tones, and rhythmic expressions that beautify the learning atmosphere, besides the singing method is meta br ginting / improving the memory through singing method of children ages 5 6 years... 99 inseparable from the day-to-day activities of children in school.the application of the singing method according to risaldy (2015: 40) consists of the following steps:(a) planning stage: (1) determination of learning objectives. (2) determination of learning methods. (3) establish learning methods and techniques, and (4) determine learning evaluation.(b) the implementation phase, in the form of implementing what has been planned, which consists of: (1) the initial activity, the teacher introduces the song to be sung together and gives an example of how the song should be sung and gives direction to the applause that accompanies it. (2) additional activities, children are invited to dramatize songs, for example my two-eye song, which is by making a gesture of pointing to the organs designated in the song lyrics. (3) development activities, teachers help children to recognize high and low tones with musical instruments, such as pianika.(c) the assessment phase is carried out using observation guidelines to determine the extent to which the child has developed.the application of singing methods in early childhood can be described in the table below. research methods this research was carried out with a classroom action research approach. the study was conducted collaboratively between classroom teachers and researchers. collaboration is realized to equalize understanding, agreement on problems, make decisions and give birth to similar actions aimed at improving children's memory. this research was conducted in the kindergarten of insanpandhega. the subjects in this study were children who in the age range of 5-6 years with the number of students 25 children consisting of 11 girls and 14 boys who are in one class. the object in this study is children's memory.the research design used in this study is the kemmis and mc taggart model (in suwarsih madya, 1994: 25), which includes activities for planning action, acting, observing, reflecting, and designing subsequent actions. the research of kemmis and mc taggart's model can be explained in the form of figure 2 as follows: figure 1. kemmis and mc taggart model of classroom action research this classroom action research is carried out in two cycles, each cycle consisting of six meetings. the data collection technique in this study uses interview / question and answer techniques related to children's memory that will be represented non formal test through interview relates to the child’s memory that be represented through the skill to communicate it back the information from the song international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 94-107 100 not only in oral communication but also in written communication . the research design was carried out in two cycles, explained as follows: 1. planning. a. researchers and classroom teachers discuss developing a scenario for applying the singing method that contains information related to the full name of the parent, the full address of the child's residence and the personal telephone number of one of the parents of the child. the implementation of the singing method is carried out every day with different memory achievements. cycle i was carried out for six days. b. the application of the singing method to improve memory of the full name information of parents is carried out on the first day and second day of cycle i. c. the application of the singing method to improve memory of the full address information of the child's residence is carried out on the third day and the fourth day of the first cycled. d. the application of the singing method to improve memory of information on parents' telephone numbers was carried out on the fifth day and the sixth day of cycle i. e. the researcher prepared a child's memory test instrument 2. implementation of action the steps in implementing the singing method actions are as follows: table 1.the procedures of applying the singing method. stages activity teacher child preparation • the teacher tells the theme and the contents of the song that will be sung by the teacher. • the teacher sings the song from beginning to end • the teacher sings songs using expressions and movements • children also mention the theme of the song. • children hear the song sung by the teacher. • children follow the teacher's movements meta br ginting / improving the memory through singing method of children ages 5 6 years... 101 implementation • the teacher speaks the song lyrics. • the teacher invites the children to sing together. • the teacher invites the children to sing by muttering. • the teacher does not participate in singing but still moves in singing. • the teacher tells the child to sing with movement. • the child follows the lyrics of the song spoken by the teacher. • children sing with the teacher. • children join in singing with mutter. • children start singing without the teacher's guidance using gestures. • children sing with movements together evaluation • the teacher tells the child to sing solo or duet in front of the class. • the teacher asks for information contained in the song • children sing solo or duet in front of the class • children answer questions according to information obtained from the song orally and writtenly. 3. observation observation is done by observing and recording all the things that occur during the action, which includes the child's behavior, as well as weaknesses and strengths found. 4. reflection the researcher reflects after taking action. researchers and collaborators discuss and evaluate learning activities. the results of the deed test are reviewed then evaluated to perfect the next action. the following are the things done at this stage, namely: (1) identifying the difficulties and barriers to learning in cycle 1. (2) improving actions based on the difficulties and obstacles found to carry out the next cycle. in this study the instrument used was a test instrument which was carried out by assessing the writing containing information about the child's full name, the full address of the child's residence and the telephone number of the parent. this research was conducted in even semester, april 2018/2019 academic year. so, children have been able to communicate their memories through writing. the grid used by researchers in the test guidelines is illustrated in the table below. table 2. grid of child memory test instruments variable indicator description skor kriteria international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, december 2019, pp. 94-107 102 memory children are able to write down the full name of one of their parents children are able to: mention / write their first name, the middle name of their parents 'surname and their parents' nicknames children are able to write / write their nickname and clan name children are able to write down their parents' nicknames children are unable to write down the names of their parents 3 2 1 0 very welldeveloping (vwd) well developed (wd) began to develop (btd) undeveloped (ud) children are able to mention / write down the full address of their residence children are able to mention / write down the name of the street, number, village / city address of the child. children are able to write / write down two child address statements. children are able to write down one address statement 3 2 1 developing very well (dvw) well developed (wd) began to develop (btd) meta br ginting / improving the memory through singing method of children ages 5 6 years... 103 children are not able to mention / write the address description 0 undeveloped (ud) the child is able to write / write down the telephone number of his parents the child is able to correctly mention / write down the parent's telephone number children are not able to write down / write down a parent's telephone number 3 0 developing very well (dvw) well developed (wd) the data obtained were analyzed quantitatively to determine the improvement of children's memory. in this study quantitative descriptive analysis techniques were carried out to analyze data obtained from the results of memory tests. analysis of test results is calculated by looking for the percentage average. overall the value of each cycle is calculated in number. in this study, the singing method can be said successful if the average of child’s memory are in the category of well-develop and very well-develop that is 75% or more than it. data analysis conducted by researchers is the result of research in each cycle. the researcher made a comparison of the percentage of children's values before action and after action with the application of singing methods to improve children's memory. to find out the percentage of children's memory, the data collected was then analyzed using statistics using the formula from ngalimpurwanto (2006: 102), as follows: information: np : the percent value sought or expected r : the raw score obtained by the child bc : ideal maximum score from the test in question after the data is analyzed, it will then be interpreted into five levels. these five levels according to suharsimiarikunto (2005: 44), namely as follows: 1. if you have 81-100% suitability: very good 2. if it has a match of 61-80%: good 3. if you have a suitability of 41-60%: enough 4. if you have conformity 21-40%: less 5. if you have a 0-20% suitability: very less np = 𝑹 𝑩𝑪 𝑿 𝟏𝟎𝟎 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, december 2019, pp. 94-107 104 the average percentage percentage result is an illustration of the improvement of children's memory. after that, the difference in the percentage of the average pre-action results to cycle 1 is calculated and the difference from the percentage of average cycle 1 results to cycle 2. results discussion research result pre-cycle data on memory of parents' names. the address of the residence and telephone number of the parent can be illustrated through the table below: table 3 child memory pre cycle data memory indicator ud btd wd vwd parents' full names 12 9 4 0 percentage 48% 36% 16% 0% full address of child residence 18 5 2 0 percentage 72% 20% 8% 0% parent's phone number 25 0 0 0 percentage 100% 0% 0% 0% from the data above, it can be explained that the memory of the full name of the master and the complete address of the child's residence in the well developed category is 8%, the undeveloped category is 73%. whereas the categories of begin to develop are amounted to 19%. pre-memory of the child's cycle is depicted in the stem digram below. figure 2. child’s memory diagram in pre cycle this diagram illustrates that the highest bar diagram is a category of undeveloped diagrams (ud). so that efforts need to be made in improving children's memory of their parents 'full names, complete residential addresses and parents' telephone numbers through the design of learning by applying the singing method. cycle i the following is the achievement of the development of children's memory as a result of applying the method of singing in the kindergarten of insan pandhega. table 4. child memory pre cycle data meta br ginting / improving the memory through singing method of children ages 5 6 years... 105 memory indicator ud btd wd dvw parents' full names 3 13 6 3 percentage 12% 52% 24% 12% full address of child residence 8 11 4 2 percentage 32% 44% 16% 8% parent's phone number 14 0 0 11 percentage 56% 0% 0% 44% through the application of the child's memory singing method to the full name of his parents who reached the well-developed category and developed very well 36%. memory of the full address of a child's residence with a well-developed category and developing very well reaches 24%. while the child's memory of the telephone numbers of parents who developed with a well-developed category and developed very well reached 44%. the improvement of child’s memory in cycle 1 was drawn by the following diagram. figure 3. child’s memory diagram in first cycle the child's memory achievement has not yet reached the expected number of percentages so the research is continued in cycle ii. cycle ii this following is the table which can be drawn the improvement of child’s memory in cycle 2 as the result of the use of singing method. table 5. child memory pre cycle data memory indicator ud btd wd dvw parents' full names 0 4 13 8 percentage 0% 16% 52% 32% full address of child residence 0 5 12 8 percentage 0% 20% 48% 32 % parent's phone number 6 0 0 19 percentage 24% 0% 0% 76% the child's memory of the full name of his parents who reached the well-developed category and developed very well 84%. memory of the complete address of a child's residence with a welldeveloped category and developing very well reaches 80%. while the child's memory of the telephone numbers of parents who developed with the category of well developed and developed very international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, december 2019, pp. 94-107 106 well reached 76%. the child’s memory in cycle 2 was drawn in this diagram as follows: figure 4. child’s memory diagram in second cycle the achievement of the child’s memory in welldevelop and verywell-develop are improved from 36% become 80%. the improvement of child’s memory from pre cycle until cycle 2 was drawn through this graphic as figure 5. figure 5. the improvement of child’s memory from pre cycle until cycle discussion child memory preliminary data represents that the child has difficulty remembering important information about the full name of the parent, the full address of the place of residence and the telephone number of the parent. there were 16% (4 people) of children who were able to name their parents in a complete and straightforward manner. two of the four children were children who were able to say the address of the house where they lived very well. this ability is obtained from the parenting style instilled by his parents. the parents of the six children have an awareness of the importance of instilling knowledge about fundamental identity in children. one parent instilled this important information by repeating it even in a non-serious environment. for example, when parents put on their children's school clothes while saying: "dino (pseudonym) is frans imran sihombing's child". the repeated words are stored in the child's memory. based on the results of the conversation of the researcher towards one of the parents of the child who knew his home address completely. information was obtained that the child was usually picked up by his mother in a pedicab public vehicle. the child often hears the address mentioned by his mother when transacting with a pedicab driver. it can be concluded that the child's memory is formed due to repetitive patterns. actions carried out through the application of singing methods to develop children's memory in the first cycle to the second cycle occur a high increase in leaps. this shows that the singing method which in its application is able to please children, builds a happy and cheerful soul which influences the brain's performance in storing memorable things for the child. harianti (2008: 17) states: "information that is combined with rhythm will be more remembered by the brain, because one of the principles of memory is rhythmic". in this study there were 6 children (24%) who could not remember the telephone number of their parents. many things set the background for this. some factors include health meta br ginting / improving the memory through singing method of children ages 5 6 years... 107 factors, age factors, factors of interest & motivation, and genetic factors. conclusion children's memory of the full name of their parents with a well-developed category and developing very well from the first cycle to the second cycle increased from 36% to 84%. the child's memory of the complete address of the residence with the category of developing well and developing very well from the first cycle to the second cycle increased from 24% to 80%. meanwhile, children's memory of their parents' telephone numbers with a well-developed category and developing very well from the first cycle to the second cycle increased from 44% to 76%. there is an increase of 36%, so that the average overall indicator of memory of children that is developing well and developing very well reaches 80%. it can be concluded that the singing method can improve the memory of children aged 5-6 years in the kindergarten of insan pandhega. references carter, kenneth & colleen m.seifert. 2018. psikologi umum. jakarta: penerbit buku kedokteran egc. bharadia. raksha. 2013. roots & wings 3. india: rupa publicatoin. hapsari, iriani indri. 2016. psikologi perkembangan anak. jakarta: indeks laksana, hari. 2015. bikin ingatanmu setajam silet dengan senam otak. yogyakarta: araska. olivia, femi. 2007. membantu anak punya ingatan super. jakarta: elex media komputindo. ___________ 2011. good memory building. jakarta: elex media komputindo. risaldy, sabil. 2014. bermain, bercerita & bernyanyi. jakarta timur: pt luxima metro media. santrock, john w. 2007. psikologi pendidikan. jakarta: kencana pranada media group. sarwono w. 2012. pengantar psikologi umum. jakarta: pt raja grafindo persada. seefeldt, carol. dkk. 2008. pendidikan anak usia dini. jakarta: pt indeks semiawan, conny.r. 2017. strategi pengembangan otak. jakarta: elex media komputindo. sujiono, yuliani nuraini. dkk. 2009. bermain kreatif berbasis kecerdasan jamak. jakarta: pt indeks. sujiono, yuliani nurani. 2009. konsep dasar pendidikan anak usia dini. jakarta barat: pt indeks. tan, oon-seng & alice seok-hoon seng (2005). enhancing cognitive functions. singapore: mcgraw-hill education widiastuti. 2017. modul senimusik. universitas muslim nusantara. widyastuti, andini.2016. seabrek kesalahan guru paud yang sering diremehkan. bandung: diva press. wijanarko, jarot& ester setiawati. 1998. maksimalkan otak anak anda. jakarta: keluarga indonesia bahagia. microsoft word 528-article text-2139-1-4-20210517.edited by le.docx available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 4 number 1 (2022): 23-28 corresponding author srihilmawatirostika@student.upi.edu doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i1.528 research synergy foundation educate children on early age based on the values of sunda in islamic perspective rostika srihilmawati1 1universitas pendidikan indonesia abstract the purpose of writing this article is to describe how to educate children based on sundanese values from an islamic perspective. the method of explanation is written based on a review of several literature. the result is that educating children based on sundanese values from an islamic perspective is needed thorough understanding. that is, educating children based on the sundanese-islamic perspective is very much determined by the important role of a mother who must be a role model in educating her sons and daughters, teachers, and even the school to make children devoted to allah and have noble character. keywords: educating children, sundanese values, islamic perspective this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction values , if applied in education according to (lovat and toomey, 2008) can take the form of character education, ethics, or specifically considered value education. the implementation of educational values is a challenge for educators. educators in the family environment or in the formal environment (teachers) can study phenomenology or see based on what is happening in their environment, modify it and then implement it at home or school. it is very important to instill values or knowledge related to values in education in all places/levels of school. this is according to suyatno, et al. (2019, p. 608), the application of these values can be sustainable in the lives of children/students. the application of values makes children/students accustom themselves to living with educational values and positive values. the efforts to introduce value to children and their success will have been seen in a concrete form in their behavior or morals. this is because values are closely related to emotions and thoughts. according to suyatno, et al. (2019, p. 609), the values of education, especially the values of faith and piety, are efforts that are widely carried out by schools to achieve the 2013 national goals and curriculum. in this regard, it is not only parents and teachers who contribute, but schools also contribute to the inculcation of educational values. educational values will be closely related to the culture that lives around it. regional culture is open and dynamic. cultural implementation will adapt to the environment (even though the environment is easy to change). culture will form a pattern/system of a plural society so that it can coexist. culture comes from the sanskrit buddhayah (plural form of buddhi), which means mind and reason. culture is a collective aspect of a systematic activity that is passed down from previous generations from the overall mind of society. then reason and mind appear to be the characteristics of the community. according to brata (2018, p. 2), culture is managed and formed so that a certain way appears to describe the environment in which the whole community lives, forming systems and patterns that are shared. the sundanese have very strong ties to islam (brata, 2018, p. 1). the jargon emerged "islam téh sunda, sunda téh islam " or moslem is sundanese, sundanese is moslem. this illustrates that the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 23-28 educate children on early age based on the values of sunda in islamic perspective rostika srihilmawati 24 sundanese is synonymous with islam. in fact, according to sumpena (2012, p.109), it is stated that the existence of islam in the sundanese region can be compared to sugar and the sweetness or “jiga gula jeung peueutna". islam is easier to interact with systems and culture until they are dissolved. that way, it is considered an anomaly if there are sundanese people who are non-moslem or don't adhere to a religion. the sundanese people have strong ethics and culture; this culture was rooted in society long before islam entered the sundanese region. this strong culture that underlies islamic values were easily accepted in society when islam came to the sundanese region. islam entered when the people had a belief that was passed down from generation to generation from their ancestors. according to sujati (2019, p. 38), this legacy of belief is a moral guide and guide in every aspect of sundanese life. islamic and sundanese aspects and patterns become systems that shape culture, one of the concrete examples is how to educate children. research method this paper uses a qualitative approach as well as a descriptive method. techniques for data collection in this paper use literature review. this technique is an activity of observing, analyzing, and deepening the meaning contained in the data as values that can be taught to children. this is done by examining sources that are relevant to the writing. findings and discussion the patterns and systems of society that merge islam and sundanese can be reflected in various spheres of life. the concept of al-islam and sundanese can be seen in various aspects, especially from the guidelines of muslims, namely the al-qur'an and hadith. suryalaga (2009, pp. 73-95) explained that sundanese originates from a sundanese word (sanskrit) whose root word 'sund' means' shining brightly; from kawi 'sundanese' means 'water'; from javanese 'sundanese "means" composed, concurrently, unified ". the way to educate children based on the sundanese perspective is expected to be able to refer to the essence of the sundanese concept, which is defined as: (1) the condition of a man who always gets the emanation of divine light (noor). this concept means that the sundanese perspective is expected to be able to make humans understand the journey of their life (understand the vision and mission of their existence in the world as a creature created by allah swt), humans whose lives are beneficial to others and their environment and have a firm stand in achieving their goals and objectives the purpose of his life to have a quality of oneself; (2) awareness to maintain the balance and preservation of the environment, both human resources and the environment; (3) a character that shows a passionate life spirit, high work ethic, ethics, courage to defend justice, and has high loyalty to the nation, state, and self-confidence; (4) human nature that is proactive, confident, entrepreneurial, and able to take advantage of time; (5) human character, whose heart is pure and clean, keeps away from deceiving and harming others, has a balanced logic, and always keeps close ties with anyone; (6) human beings who are able to improve their spiritual quality of their to the quality of humans who are always aware of increasing their faith and piety; (7) people whose lives are always careful, use balanced thoughts and feelings, and are able to predict situations; (8) an orderly condition in accordance with their respective functions and duties. positional, proportional, and professional; international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 23-28 educate children on early age based on the values of sunda in islamic perspective rostika srihilmawati 25 (9) the ability to harmonize inner and outer life and the willingness to share love, and nurture with fellow beings; (10) quality of life that is ethical, moral, has good character, has good manners, manners, and aesthetics that imply a sublime taste of beauty and is beneficial to dignified humanity; (11) human beings who are able to trust and be grateful in treading their life journey, capable of competing in kindness; (12) the physical condition of a man who is healthy and has a face that creates sympathy for others and has a strong masculinity character; (13) the condition of a woman who is physically and spiritually beautiful; awareness of the environment that is well ordered; (14) human beings who are capable of spreading compassion, mutual respect among human beings, loving their environment, maintaining harmony, prioritizing tranquility and peace, and submitting to submission to the almighty creator; (15) the state of the superior quality of a human being physically and psychologically, both physically and mentally, namely at the level of (a) iq luhung elmuna, (b) eq jembar budayana or a piece of culture, (c) sq pengkuh agamana or a religious enhancer, and (d) aq rancage gawena or good at work. sunda—’nu nyusun jeroning dada’ (which is composed in the chest, means strong faith and devotion). sunda, along with the sundanese language, is a universal life consciousness. thus, the sundanese language is not only a marker for sundanese people but far more broadly; it can be used as a marker for anyone, any ethnicity, any nation, as long as it has sundanese characteristics, character, and behavior, he said, is a sundanese human. however, it should not be ignored; the role of the sundanese people as an ethnic group that is destined to live and is assigned the welfare of the sundanese region is a sacred divine duty. educating children in the sundanese islamic perspective is guiding children based on the sundanese view of life, which is based on al-islam. the concept of the sundanese breath-taking view, which is closely related to al-islam in educating children, is reflected in several aspects and concepts. the ethics used by each ethnic group will be reflected in the behavior of their daily lives. thus, we know sundanese ethics, javanese ethics, balinese ethics, batak ethics, etc. all ethnic groups have their own characteristics that, if we pay close attention, will be obvious or become a picture of the patterns of daily life for the people. the sundanese ethnic group has a way of life, customs, and culture, which are acculturation and integration with other cultures that come from outside. for example, in the community, there are netes salvation ceremonies, womb salvation ceremonies, baby salvation ceremonies, land subsection ceremonies, hair shaving salvation ceremonies, circumcision, and gusar salvation ceremonies. this is clearly a vestige of cultural religion. for this reason, as a muslim sundanese, i do not follow a culture that is not in accordance with the guidance of al-islam, and insha-allah i will try to straighten out people's understanding so that i do not follow everything that is made up. apart from the concept of life, which directly influences the way of educating children, the sundanese perspective passed down from previous generations can be in the form of spoken words contained in sundanese language manners, expressions, and proverbs. tatakrama basa or undak usuk basa sunda (tata = rules, norms, customs; krama = polite, respect, behavior), undak usuk basa sunda aim to respect each other, respect each other among community members, so that people can live calmly and peacefully toward a happy society physically and mentally. the present-day sundanese steps include (1) kecap ragam loma (generous pronouns) (2) kecap ragam hormat keur ka sorangan (respectful pronouns for oneself), and (3) kecap ragam hormat keur ka batur (respectful pronouns for others). example: (a) ieu buku keur manéh (“this is a book for you). (b) nu hiji deui mah kangge abdi. ("another one for me"). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 23-28 educate children on early age based on the values of sunda in islamic perspective rostika srihilmawati 26 (c) nu ieu mah haturan pa ustad adé ("this one is for mr. ustad ade"). babasan, or 'expression,' is a combination of words whose meaning is not the same as the combination of the meanings of its members (dictionary compilation team, 2005, p. 1247). the phrase 'proverb' is (1) a group of words or sentences that are in a fixed order and usually tell a specific purpose (etc. proverbs include thimbles, expressions, parables) or (2) short, compact expressions or sentences containing comparisons, parables, advice, principles of life, or rules of behavior (dictionary compilation team, 2005, p. 858). proverbs are a reflection of how to educate children from a sundanese perspective, especially proverbs that contain orders to do good and prohibit mistakes. rusyana (1982, pp. 4-35) explains that the contents of the proverb are divided into three: (1) wawaran luang (experience news), (2) pangjurung laku alus, dan (3) panyaram lampah salah. examples of proverbs that contain (1) wawaran luang, (2) pangjurung laku alus, dan (3) panyaram lampah salah can be seen as below. a. wawaran luwang (tellig experience) 1. asa ditonjok congcot (= accepting something that has long been coveted unexpectedly, so that he becomes very happy). 2. asa kagunturan madu (=got a lot of fortune; very happy). 3. ati mungkir beungeut nyanghareup (= to do something forcibly). 4. balungbang timur, caang bulan opat welas, jalan gedé sasapuan (= a pure heart condition; without grudge). 5. banda tatalang raga (= do not be too fond of our property for the safety of the soul). 6. batah kapok anggur gawok (= in doing good, we should not give up, but must be sincere). 7. batok bulu eusi madu (= something simple on the outside, but very good inside). 8. béja mah béjé (= to be careful if you receive news that is not necessarily true). 9. bedog mintul mun diasah, laun-laun jadi seukeut (= even though at first you don't understand, if you are diligent in studying, there must be results). 10. bonténg ngalawan kadu (= unfair; weak against strong). 11. the bad things about teak boards (= the worst with the siblings will not be too bad). 12. hadé ku omong goréng ku omong (words can be good or bad; so be careful). 13. halodo sataun lantis ku hujan sapoé (= goodness that has been ingrained for a long time can be completely lost due to one bad deed). 14. hunyur mandéan gunung (= want to resemble someone who is richer or of higher status). 15. indung tunggul rahayu, bapa tangkal darajat (= parents who are the cause of their child's safety and prosperity). 16. 16 kabeureuyan mah tara ku tulang munding (= don't be indignant; humans are generally wretched because of small things; not by big things). 17. kaduhung tara ti heula (= before working, think carefully; don't regret it later). 18. kujang dua pangadékna (= words or actions that mean two forms) 19. lamun keyeng tangtu pareng (= if we are diligent, we will succeed). 20. leutik-leutik ngagalatik (= even though it is small but brave and has a good job). 21. lodong kosong ngelengtrung (= people who lack knowledge usually just talk). 22. manuk hiber ku jangjangna (= the living must use their intelligence). 23. milik teu pahili-hili, bagja teu paala-ala (= each human being has his own sustenance; the important thing is he is willing to work hard). 24. mun teu ngakal moal ngakeul, mun teu ngarah moal ngarih (= if you don't try, there will be no results). b. pangjurung laku alus (command to do good) 1. ari diarah supana, kudu dipiara catangna (= if you want the result, you have to maintain what produces it). 2. élmu tungtut dunya siar (= do not overlook to seek knowledge and wealth). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 23-28 educate children on early age based on the values of sunda in islamic perspective rostika srihilmawati 27 3. kudu babalik pikir (= must change; from bad behavior to good behavior). 4. kudu bibilintik ti leuleutik, babanda ti bubudak (= must be diligent in saving since childhood; when we are adults, we can enjoy it). 5. kudu bodo aléwoh (= if you don't know or don't understand, you must ask). 6. kudu dibeuweung diutahkeun (= before doing something, you must think carefully to be safe). 7. kudu dipikir pait peuheurna (= you have to consider the risks). 8. kudu hadé gogog hadé tagog (= both speaking and behaving must be good). 9. kudu ka bala ka balé (= must be dexterous, whether working hard or lightly). 10. kudu leuleus jeujeur liat tali (= we have to be wise; gentle). 11. kudu ngadék sacékna nilas saplasna (= to speak truthfully and as needed). 12. kudu béak déngkak (= must try as much as possible). c. panyaram lampah salah (prohibition of doing wrongly) 1. ulah bahé carék langsung saur (= must be able to refrain from speaking; speak truthfully and as needed). 2. ulah bengkung bekas nyalahan (= don't let it happen; when you were a child, you were good; when you were big, your temper was bad). 3. ulah bentik curuk balas nunjuk (= don't just command, but have to start doing it yourself). 4. ulah biwir nyiru rombéngeun (= don't like to talk about other people's badness) 5. ulah geledug cés (= don't make a fuss at first, but there's no proof). 6. ulah gindi pikir belang bayah (= don't have bad prejudice). 7. ulah haripeut ku teuteureuyeun (= don't be tempted by uncertain food and profits so that we forget to consider the pros and cons). 8. ulah jati kasilih ku junti (= natives do not be defeated by newcomers). 9. ulah kabawa ku sakaba-kaba (= don't be carried away by an unkind stream). 10. ulah kawas cai dina daun taleus (= advice or teaching must really be kept in mind, don't just pass by). 11. ulah kawas seuneu jeung injuk (= don't be quick to fight every time you meet) 12. ulah marebutkeun paisan kosong (= do not fight over what is not useful). 13. ulah sok beurat birit (= don't be difficult in doing order). 14. ulah sok élmu ajug (= don't just be able to teach others while ourselves do indecent). the parental education system has a special role that is positive in the survival of children, especially in the realm of academic achievement (wang et al., 2020, p. 1). parents are obliged to take care of their children by educating, making their character, teaching them noble morals, and avoiding friends with bad character. it is the parents who make their children tend to accept good or bad things because a child is born according to his nature. gender does not have a tendency in the relationship between education and whether or not the relationship between children and parents is strong, but all children have their respective portions in the context of their lives (jiang and kaushal, 2020, p. 1). the bond between children and parents is very close to the attention that is created between the two. a mother's concern for her child begins when her child is still in the womb. a mother must pay attention to the food she consumes during pregnancy, namely by consuming foods that are suitable for herself and the baby in her womb. she must not neglect the nutrition she needs, which as a result, will endanger the baby in her womb. when the baby has come out of the mother's womb, automatically its natural nutrient supply is cut off, and it becomes the duty of both parents of the baby to handle the breastfeeding. the mother breastfeeds her baby from the milk that allah created on her so that the baby can easily digest it. meanwhile, the father is obliged to provide for the mother and fulfill all her needs. every mother is obliged to breastfeed her baby, whether she likes it or not. a mother is to breastfeed her children for fully two years, that is, for those who wish to complete her breastfeeding international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 23-28 educate children on early age based on the values of sunda in islamic perspective rostika srihilmawati 28 unless she is already divorced. she should not be forced to breastfeed her baby from her divorcing husband, except on her own accord. furthermore, mothers and fathers are obliged to educate and provide guidance to their children until adulthood. educating and providing guidance is the best possible gift and jewelry given by parents to their children with a value that is far better than the world and everything in it. conclusion to foster sundanese islamic education for children today relies on the role of parents. it is the parents who will color the lives of their children. for this reason, the role models of parents are very important in fostering sundanese islamic education. because the role of parents is so big and important in educating their children, the theological ethics, philosophical ethics, and social ethics adopted by parents also color this education. for this reason, parents who adhere to islam must truly be all islamic in good body, conscience, spirit, and taste so that education for their children can truly create an islamic personality. glossary babasan : conversation; groups of words or word combinations that express special meaning. ethics : one of the sciences that studies the principles of human behavior. islam : the religion taught by the prophet muhammad was guided by in the qoran which was revealed to the world through the revelation of allah swt. paribasa : proverb; expressions or short, solid sentences that contain comparisons, parables, advice, principles of life, or rules of conduct. tatakrama: rules regarding the human customs behavior that are polite in the environment. references brata, y. r. (2018). aspek hukum islam dalam kebudayaan sunda. jurnal ilmiah galuh yustisi: fakultas hukum universitas galuh, 6(1), 1-11. tanpa doi. jiang dan kaushal. (2020). how children’s education affect caregiving: evudence from parent’s last years of life. elsevier: economics and human biology, 38, 1-17. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2020.100875. lovat, t. & clement, n. (2008). quality teaching and values education: coalescing for effective learning. journal of moral education, 37 (1) 1-16. doi: 10.1080/03057240701803643. rusyana, y. (1982). pedaran paribasa sunda. bandung: gunung larang. sujati, b. (2019). tradisi budaya masyarakat islam di tatar sunda (jawa barat). ishlah: journal of ushuluddin, adab and dakwah studies, 1(1), 37-51. tanpa doi. sumpena, d. (2012). islam dan budaya lokal: kajian terhadap interaksi islam dan budaya sunda. jurnal ilmu dakwah, 6(19), 101-120. tanpa doi. suryalaga, r.h. (2009). kasundaan rawayan jati. bandung: yayasan nur hidayah. suyatno, dkk. (2019). strategy of values education in the indonesian education system. international journal of instruction, 12(1), 607-624. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2019.12139a. tim penyusun kamus. (2005). kamus besar bahasa indonesia. jakarta: balai pustaka. wang, dkk. (2020). the effect of parent’s education on the academic and non-cognitive outcomes of their children: evidence from china. elsevier: children and youth services review, 117, 1-11. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105307. 216_ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 45-57 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i.216 issn 2655-9986 (print), issn 2685-4074 (online) article history: received (may 5th, 2020); accepted (may 20th, 2020); published (may 29th, 2020). perceived learning strategies employed by preschoolers in learning english zuraina ali centre for modern languages, universiti malaysia pahang, 26600 pekan, pahang zuraina@ump.edu.my abstract learning strategies are plans that learners use to achieve their learning goals. the current study investigates the perceived uses of learning strategies among preschoolers, namely basic rehearsal strategies, complex rehearsal strategies, basic elaboration strategies, complex elaboration strategies, basic organizational strategies, complex organizational strategies, comprehension monitoring strategies and affective and motivational strategies among preschoolers in learning english. the study employed 23 preschool teachers as the samples having semi-structured interviews as the research instrument. the data collection period took four (4) months. content analysis was employed to analyze the data in the current study. the obtained data was validated by the members of the faculty. findings from the study showed that the learning strategies were implemented by the preschoolers in the course of their learning. yet, the degree of the usages of the learning strategies varies from one to another. the study implied that deciding on learning games, teaching aids, and asking appropriate questions during lessons are essential to maximize the learning strategies among children in their early learning. keywords: preschoolers; learning strategies; english this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction learning strategy is vital for the success of learning. it assists learners in knowing the appropriate strategies that may be used in their learning. on a different note, the literature showed that children learn. at the same time, they play (healthychildren.org, 2019), and in a study, it was demonstrated that primary school children employed various learning strategies, for instance, retrieving words learned from drawing and using thematic contexts as well as code-switching (coyle & valcarcel, 2002). another study on the use of learning strategies concerned with elaboration strategy employed by teachers in that they created internal and external links with the information received (bayram, 2013). it can be stated, therefore, that previous studies of learning strategies have not dealt with investigating their usages in a more focused nature or, in other words, in what aspect is the learning strategies are examined. in the current study, preschool teachers were employed to obtain perceived learning strategies developed by weinstein and mayer (1983) among preschool students. in particular, the objectives of the study are to identify the eight (8) learning strategies namely basic rehearsal strategies, complex rehearsal strategies, basic elaboration strategies, complex elaboration strategies, basic international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 45-57 46 organizational strategies, complex organizational strategies, comprehension monitoring strategies and affective and motivational strategies in learning english as a second language among preschoolers. theoretical perspectives definition of learning strategy. learning strategy concerns with behaviors and thoughts demonstrate by a learner when they are engaged in learning and assist him/her in his/ her encoding process (weinstein & mayer, 1983). further, they redefine the term in that learning strategy relates to the behavior of a learner that gives impact to the way the learner processes information. they categorized learning strategies into eight (8) categories. (1) the basic rehearsal strategies concerns with repeating the names of items. for example, asking students to remember the order of the planet. in (2) complex rehearsal strategies, tasks include copying, underlining, or shadowing the material presented in class. an example of a task in this category is asking students to underline the main events in a story, or they can be asked to copy portions of a lesson about a particular topic. (3) basic elaboration strategies deal with forming a mental image or sentence-relating an item in each pair for a paired-associate list of words. teachers can ask students to form a phrase or sentence relating the name of states or creating a mental image of the scene described in a poem. (4) complex elaboration strategies relate to paraphrasing, summarizing, or explaining new information with that of existing knowledge. the example of the task includes creating an analogy between the operations of the computer versus the post office. (5) basic organizational strategy relates to requiring students to group or order items they need to learn from a list or a section of prose. students may be asked to organize vocabulary they learn into parts of speech. they may also be asked to create a chronology of events in the history class. (6) complex organizational strategy concerns with outlining a passage or creating a hierarchy. teachers may ask students to draw to show relationships. (7) comprehension monitoring strategies deal with asking oneself on his/her understanding of the things learned. selfquestioning is one of the examples used in this strategy. (8) affective and motivational strategies are the strategies that are used that help students being alert and relaxed to help overcome test anxiety. a common task is to avoid external distractions by studying in a quiet place or using thought stop to prevent the idea of doing poorly in the exam. on a different note, since the research deals with the use of language among the preschools, a definition of learning strategies concerning language needs to be highlighted as well. montaño (2017) defines learning strategies as tactics that a learner uses to gain control in the process of learning a language. in this learning, the role of the teachers is to facilitate learning among their learners and make this process visible. for zuraina ali/ perceived learning strategies employed by preschoolers in learning english 47 learning to be successful, teachers, therefore, need to examine the needs and biographies of the learners. jean piaget's theory of cognitive development the theory developed by jean piaget suggests that children learn when they interact with the environment. piaget argues that children construct meaning or the things that happen around them when there is an understanding of the discrepancies between what they already know with what they discover in their environment (mcleod, 2018). in particular, the theory proposes three (3) main components of the cognitive development of the children. 1. schemas – it is a building block of knowledge. it concerns how children organize their knowledge in that they relate one aspect of the world that includes the meaning that receives from the objects around them, actions that other people are demonstrating, and the abstract knowledge they gain. 2. adaptation process – it involves assimilation, accommodation, and equilibrium. assimilation involves using the existing schema to deal with a new object/ situation. accommodation occurs when children need to change the way they deal with a new object/situation due to their existing schema does not work at that particular time. equilibration is the force that makes children move development throughout learning. 3. stages of cognitive development. the stages involve sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. these stages involve children's learning from birth (sensorimotor), toddlerhood (preoperational). also, learning occurs among children between the ages of 7 to 11 years (concrete operational) until their adulthood. research method the study uses qualitative data inquiry in collecting its data for the current study. it is due to obtaining an in-depth of the preschool teachers' way of imposing the learning styles among their preschoolers. moreover, the method is used as it enables the researcher to understand and analyze the interaction between her and the preschool teachers involved in the current study. hatch (2002) states that such can be done when a researcher uses an audio recorder (or video recorder) and later understand as well as analyze beyond the specific words of the recorded conversation. research instrument an interview protocol was used to gauge the preschool teachers' method of imposing the learning strategies among the preschoolers. it consists of four (4) open-ended semi-structured international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 45-57 48 interview items, namely the approach of teaching in general, the activities employed in the four language skills, the kind of tools used to assist learning, and the module used by the preschoolers. the instrument was validated by the researcher's colleague. comments were made accordingly after the revision of the instrument was written to the researcher. after the data was collected, reliability checking, i.e., a peer-review, was conducted by another colleague. it was carried out to seek any comment on the findings that emerged from the data for credibility and trustworthiness of the data collected (merriam & tisdell, 2016). research sample the samples in the current study were 23 preschool teachers teaching in preschools in three (3) districts of pahang (east coast of malaysia), namely cameron highlands, pekan, and kuantan. besides, data saturation is essential to be addressed when conducting an interview. in the current study, since there was no new data emerge having to interview 23 preschool teachers, it could be stated that the collected data has reached a saturation point. burmeister (2012) argues that the depth of the data rather than the number of respondents per se is more important in justifying the attainment of data saturation. concerning their ages, they are from 21 to 50 years old and have been working in the early childhood education (ece) industry from two (2) to 20 years. in terms of their academic qualifications, they obtained a diploma, degree, or master in that their majors were in ece, accounting, operation management, social sciences, music, english, building surveying, information technology, business administration, and biomedical. the levels of education of the preschool teachers various, yet they have one common characteristic in that they are interested in teaching children. since they are degree holders, it can be argued that they can teach the preschoolers of basic reading and calculating. furthermore, they went to the training and short courses about ece that were conducted by the education ministry of malaysia for preschoolers and their respective franchisers. data collection and analysis procedures simultaneous processes are practiced when collecting and analyzing data in qualitative data inquiry. it is misleading to collect the data and later analyze them as the qualitative design is emergent (merriam & tisdell, 2016). in the current study, the researcher did not know ahead further questions she would be asking or where the next preschool would be unless data were analyzed while they were being collected. in the action research, as in the present study, merriam and tisdell (2016) state the interview protocol was prepared as an official guide for the researcher to ask questions during interviews only. in doing the content analysis, he hunches direct a researcher in refining and confirming them (merriam & tisdell, 2016). thus, every time the data was collected, the data analysis was ongoing as the researcher planned, zuraina ali/ perceived learning strategies employed by preschoolers in learning english 49 acted, observed, and reflected the data that was being collected. also, coding of the data and presenting initial themes started from the beginning in that it required the researcher to arrange codes and formulate themes at various stages to show how the process of analysis has extended. literature review learning through playing the concept of 'learning through playing' is synonymous with children. yet, often it is overlooked by the cognitive views of how children play while learning (alcock, 2016). in asking them to memorize days of the week, for instance, learning does not merely give them a piece of the list to be memorized. instead, they need room for learning while playing. the healthychildren.org (2019) outlines that children at the age of four (4) to six (6) years old learn when they : a) can sing and dance b) listen to stories c) are given time and space to act out d) are allowed to move between makebelieve and reality e) can interact with peers f) have the chance to try a variety of movements (hopping, climbing, etc.) g) have limited access to screen time, and h) are provided playful learning approaches versus structured learning approaches (reading and memorization) learning strategies employed by children learning strategies demonstrate by children can be observed by the way they elaborate, organize, memorize, and answer the questions that are asked by the teachers. in learning english as a foreign language (fl) among children, coyle and valcarcel (2002) found that they learned the language using these learning strategies: a) anticipating to answer the teacher's questions b) recalling vocabulary from drawing and pictures c) recalling vocabulary with the thematic context d) code-switching to overcome the limitation in fl knowledge e) using prior knowledge when they are engaged with games/ stories using a mixed-method research design, gunning and oxford (2014) investigated the effects of strategy instruction on oral instructions among six (6) graders. the study showed that the success of learning strategies among the children could only be enhanced when they were aware of them. the children could be mindful of the strategies and use them when the teachers enhance the strategies in their instructions. findings and discussion main theme: basic rehearsal strategies in the strategies, learners seem to parrot the input given by the teachers. they rehearse by international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 45-57 50 repeating the things they learned according to the use of appropriate materials. sub-theme 1: playing flashcards for the lesson learned. teacher 5 states, "students were asked to play flashcard and poison box first before they were asked to rehearse on the things they learned. then, we give a little bit of revision before asking them to do exercises in the book". teacher 2 did the same procedures in that flashcard were used to rehearse students' understanding of the contents they learned. she said, "we use flashcards depending on the suitability of the lessons. later, we use read easy, and that book is used to rehearse the learning they had before doing exercises in the book". sub-theme 2: 15-minutes rehearsal rehearsal also is conducted if a class session ends 15 minutes early. teacher 2 further said, "if the lesson ends much earlier, let say 15 minutes. so we used that time to rehearse the words, phrase, or lessons they learned". rehearsing is important to enhance the preschoolers' memories. in the current study, flashcards and poison boxes were used before letting students write in their books. also, rehearsal may always take place if teachers had additional time to recall the lessons the preschoolers learned on a particular day. the results of the study corroborate with that of a study that found that rehearsal training improved recall among children aged five (5) to nine (9) when they were assigned to be in either cumulative rehearsal group or interactive imagery group (miller, mcculloch, & jarrold, 2015). the former method in their study was used to retain information in short-term memory. in the current study, the teachers required the preschoolers to rehearse by playing flashcards and poison boxes. hence, when they do the exercises in the workbook, they repeated the lesson learned while they were playing the games in the previous session. main theme: complex rehearsal strategy since the students are still at the early stage of schooling, there are not many writing activities as in asking students to copy or underline materials they have learned. the only activity is asking students to copy the letters they learned in a conventional writing exercise book. sub-theme 1: use of conventional writing book teacher 3 used an ordinary writing book in asking students to copy letters they learned. she said, "we use the conventional writing book ... that double line writing book and ask students to copy the letters they learned". sub-theme 2: reciting do' a to shadow lesson learned. the complex rehearsal strategies also involve asking the preschoolers to recite prayers (do' a) in english to shadow the need for reciting it before they begin eating. teacher 21 described zuraina ali/ perceived learning strategies employed by preschoolers in learning english 51 the strategy that her preschoolers practiced in this excerpt: researcher : so, all the prayers are recited in english? teacher 6 yes and the do' a that they recite the fastest is the one to begin eating. the preschoolers manage to recite the do' a before going to sleep. but they are still not able to recite the do' a before entering toilet in learning english, complex rehearsal strategy concerns with adding personal meanings to a lesson learned (tay, unal, & kafadar, 2016 ). in the current study, preschoolers were required to recite the do 'a and utter its translation in english so that they realize its meaning. the complex rehearsal strategy, therefore, took place when the preschoolers not only were required to memorize the do' a, alongside it was necessary for them to understand its meaning in english (and not their mother-tongue, i.e., malay). main theme: basic elaboration strategies in these strategies, the uses of thematic learning enable the students to form a mental image of the concept they are learning. sub-theme 1: use of weekly themes an example of weekly themes is demonstrated by teacher 22, "we based the learning of english according to themes. for example, according to food and vehicles. sub-theme 2: use of themes with songs teacher 18 gave her opinion on the use of themes to gauge students' basic elaboration strategy to visualize the learning on that day. "when we have reading activities, let say the theme is part of a body. we will let the students listen to songs: head and shoulder, knee, and toe. then we teach them spelling". teacher 2 also combined thematic learning with songs. she asserted, "we use the kindergarten's module. for instance, if we want to teach about a particular theme, we have the songs already". sub-theme 3: use of themes with arts and crafts meanwhile, teacher 11 used thematic learning to introduce occupation to the students. for 4-year-old students, she asked them to do arts and crafts according to what they have learned. she explained, "after we taught the preschoolers about the theme occupation, we then have craft activities with 4-year-old students". sub-theme 4: use of themes with posters for teacher 6, the students' ability to understand a material using thematic learning makes them paste wall posters for a quick demonstration of the basic elaboration strategy. she said," we arrange the wall poster according to themes. we let parents know the theme we are learning this week and ask parents to contribute pictures or photos. then we paste them on the wall". teacher 5 added in that she clarified, "if we learn about the classroom, we paste vocabularies international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 45-57 52 that are related to the theme. we paste on the wall for five (5) days only. so, in learning english, we have two (2) weeks to learn one (1) theme. we put down all the pictures/photos when the children have learned about the theme". in elaboration strategy, preschoolers use and expand what they learned. in the current study, the uses of themes enabled them to learn the target vocabulary and associating it with pictures. the preschoolers then discussed the theme with their teachers in the class. besides, they expand the target words by listening to songs, doing arts and crafts, and pasting posters on the walls. that being said, showed that the findings of the current study corroborated with the study by willoughby, porter, belsito, and yearsley (1999) in that creating a mental picture was a powerful strategy in learning among young learners. the strategy works even though they have limited background knowledge of what they are currently learning. (meniado, 2016) main theme: complex elaboration strategies in this strategy, students need to demonstrate the ability to paraphrase, summarize, or describe new information with that of existing knowledge. sub-theme 1: relating new vocabulary with mother-tongue the preschoolers showed this strategy by understanding the new vocabulary and related it to the first language they used. such was the kind of task that was suitable for the group of age as they did not learn writing essays in the preschools. teacher 26 described this strategy, "the preschoolers watch dd & friends. if they know the song in malay, we will then teach the english version of the song. like the song head and shoulders, knee, and toe. so in that song, dd uses the word 'faster' to call her friends. so they learn that 'faster' is 'cepat.' sub-theme 1: use of translation teacher 16 added that translation enabled her preschoolers to understand simple english. she repeatedly used the word to allow them to pick up and use it in the preschoolers' conversation. she said, "we communicate in english. so, when the preschoolers did not understand, we translate it (the vocabulary they did not understand) in english. for example, when we say the word 'silent, please.' they do not understand what the word is. so we let them know. for preschoolers, we just need to communicate using simple english. another example we teach students simple english is asking permission to go to the toilet. they always say, "teacher, i want to toilet." findings from the current study showed that the preschoolers demonstrated a comparison type of complex elaboration strategy. they compare the vocabulary they were learning with their existing knowledge of the vocabulary. bayram (2013) argues that the techniques allow learners to create internal and external links among various information that they obtain. they construct and reconstruct knowledge by inferencing the zuraina ali/ perceived learning strategies employed by preschoolers in learning english 53 knowledge they are learning with their previous ones. the learning demonstrated by the children in this regard is in line with piaget's theory whereby children used existing knowledge to deal with the content they were learning. this assimilation process requires the children to make new knowledge fits in with their understanding of the world (cherry, 2020) main theme: basic organizational strategy the strategy teaches preschoolers to a group or arranges items they need to learn from a list or section. sub-theme 1: use of list to teach new vocabulary in implementing this strategy, teachers used a set of lists to teach preschoolers new vocabulary they needed to learn. teacher 20 asserted that the list was used in the language classes, i.e. arabic, malay, and english. she explained, "for arabic, malay and english, we list out 100 words the preschoolers need to learn. the teacher has to teach these words to them in a year. the target vocabularies are according to the theme in that particular week". the basic organization strategy demonstrated in the current study enabled the preschoolers to organize the vocabulary they learn by listing them according to themes they learn on a particular week. they compared similarities and dissimilarities of vocabularies that can be categorized into a theme (neer, 2016). smith and weinstein (n.d.) state the use of list enabled learners to make connections between the theme and vocabulary they are learning. such was shown by the preschoolers in the current study in that they were able to think of the vocabularies that could be categorized under the same theme. main theme: complex organizational strategy the strategy concerns with outlining a passage or creating a hierarchy. teachers may ask students to show a relationship among items they are learning. sub-theme 1: grouping words to learn compound words teacher 6 taught compound words using the complex organizational strategy. she required her preschoolers to show the relationship of two (2) words that can be made to structure compound words. she elaborated, "among the examples of language games is compound words. we will introduce the word family first to the preschoolers. for example, wheel and chair … so they become wheelchair. finger and nail so they become fingernails. jelly with fish, so they become jellyfish. to do this, we use word and picture cards. so, the preschoolers will arrange the cards to structure a compound noun". in the current study, the grouping is the strategy that was used to structure compound words. the effectiveness of the strategy can be compared to the study conducted by elsayed (2015). the use of grouping in his study enabled the primary students to link information to each international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 45-57 54 other. his findings demonstrated that in learning mathematics, participants were able to organize mathematics content in their minds. as a result, they developed their critical thinking and improved their academic achievement. nevertheless, he proposed that a proper lesson plan needed to be prepared for the success of the strategy. main theme: comprehension monitoring strategies they are the strategies that a learner use to check his/her understanding of the things he/she has learned. it deals with asking oneself of his/her understanding of the things he learned. selfquestioning is one of the examples used in these strategies. furthermore, they are metacognitive strategies that require learners to establish learning goals and access the degree to which they are being met – and, if possible, improve the strategies if they are not able to meet the goals (weinstein & mayer, 1983). sub-theme: ask-aloud to test comprehension teacher 20 explained that she asked-aloud whether the preschoolers understand or otherwise the lesson that they were learning. she said: they don't have a problem when i ask them to show which is yellow in the exam. but when i ask them to spell, they can't. so, when they get the correct answer they are probably just guessing". in the current study, the preschoolers were able to identify yellow as a color. yet, their comprehension of the concept of yellow was not able to take them to the next level when the teacher asked them to spell the word 'yellow.' these results reflected the study conducted by meniado (2016) concerning the learners' setting of learning english as a second language and their orientations to the language. since the majority of the preschoolers in the current study did not use english as their first language at home, at a time, they were unsure of their meaning in english but comprehend what the word is. it is recommended, therefore, that teachers need to be ready to use comprehension strategy in their teaching more effectively (meniado, 2016). main theme: affective and motivational strategies. the uses of affective and motivational strategies enable preschoolers to be relaxed and to overcome their learning. also, the uses of the strategies help them to lower their anxiety level. in the current study, the uses of the strategies were not directly concerned with exams. instead, they were used to make the preschoolers became comfortable in learning the lesson that was taught by the teachers. sub-theme 1: use of affective strategy to avoid confusion teacher 12 employed the strategies to prevent her preschoolers' confusion in learning pronunciation in english versus malay. she described, "as long as they did not finish reading all the eight (8) books in malay, we'll not going to zuraina ali/ perceived learning strategies employed by preschoolers in learning english 55 introduce them to english phonics. the reason being they'll be confused because the letter 'c' is pronounced [c] in malay, but the pronunciation of the letter in english is [kei]. sub-theme 2: use of persuasive techniques for two (2) preschool teachers teaching in the same school, persuasive techniques were used to overcome the situation when preschoolers were not comfortable answering a question in class although he/she knew the answer. this was due to he/she learned a different technique in his/her previous preschool. he/she was afraid that he/she gave a wrong answer when, in reality, it was just a matter of different techniques. to resolve this, the teachers let the preschooler take his/her time and introduced the new technique use in the existing preschool. the excerpt below narrates their experiences. teacher 5 : there is this five-year-old preschooler that came from preschool a. he/she learned the different (reading) technique in the previous school. so, when we ask him/her to read, he/she just keeps quiet. teacher 6 sometimes he/she knows, but he/she just does not want to express him/herself. he/she is afraid to read because he/she thinks when he/ she reads using different techniques, it'll be wrong. teacher 5 : for this type of student, usually, it'll take time for the preschooler to adapt to the new technique. perhaps in a month up and to three (3) months, we persuade him/her to use the new technique (that is used in the preschool), slowly then he/she can use it. the results of the affective and motivational strategies employed by the preschoolers in the current study could be associated with their behaviors in learning. such finding supports the work of wijirahayu and dorand (2018). their study found that unless a good attitude was observed among learners, only then that the affective strategy could be achieved. in the current study, the preschoolers were not able to show selfencouragement in learning as they were still young and, therefore, with the assistance of the teachers, they showed a good learning attitude when they tolerated the new reading techniques taught by their teachers. the encouragement in learning demonstrated by the teachers and was obliged by the preschoolers as in asking the latter to complete one task at a time was another good attitude shown by the preschoolers. such learning mirrors piaget's adaptation process, particularly the accommodation process. children need to be able to change the way they deal with objects/ actions/situations around them. however, to ensure learning can take place, accommodation, and assimilation processes need to work together to make the cognitive-developmental possible among the children (bormanaki & khoshhal, 2017). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 45-57 56 conclusion the present research aimed to examine perceived learning strategies demonstrated by preschoolers in learning english. since the interviews were not conducted among the preschoolers, it was, therefore, argued that the data in the current study were the kind of learning strategies shown by the preschoolers in learning english as a second language through the observation made by the teachers. this study has identified the learning strategies that were used by weinstein and mayer (1983) among the preschoolers when they are learning l2. yet, the degree of each learning strategy varies from one another. nevertheless, the roles of teachers are paramount in ensuring the success of the learning strategies. the current study implied that playing the appropriate games, using the right teaching aids and asking proper questions to engage students in learning, enables the preschoolers to enhance their self-learning. the study contributes to our understanding of assisting preschoolers in using various learning strategies to maximize learning. yet, being limited to interviewing the teachers, this study lacks listening to the preschooler's voice of how to they use the learning strategies throughout the learning of english. this would be a valuable area for further work. last but not least, it is recommended to examine a particular learning strategy, and further investigate on it rather than all the learning strategies to be discussed at once. acknowledgment this research work is supported by the fundamental research grant scheme frgs/1/2018/ssi09/ump/02/4 (rdu190188) references alcock, s. j. 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(1999). use of elaboration strategies by students in grades two, four, and six. the elementary school journal, 99(3), 221-231. article 06-32_layout international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 128-141 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.32 i ssn 2 6 5 59 9 86 (pr int), i ssn 2 6 8 54 0 74 (o nline) article history: received june 1st, 2019 ; accepted november 11th, 2019; published november 30th, 2019. educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam fatchullah zarkasia, ¹ auniversitas gunadarma, indonesia 1fatchullahzarkasi@gmail.com abstract the majority of javanese which many called "abangan" has its own perspective on the major religions in the world. for niels mulder in his book, the javanese tend to view islam as a religion is arab, so that islam seemed to fizzle placed as the basis of life for the javanese belief. however, virtually no muslims in indonesia who have never heard the name walisongo, collective unit 9 guardian. sunankalijaga better known than all eight other guardians with various famous work. puppet world is said to be the work of these guardians, as sekaten, which has been called, is a tradition of the prophet's birth day celebration that is celebrated officially the kingdom of yogyakarta and surakarta, until today. sidi gazalbarevealed that: "value is something that is abstract. value is not a concrete object, not a fact, not just a question of right and wrong that demands empirical evidence, but rather a matter of appreciation that is desired, liked and disliked.while educative education comes from the word that means pendidikan.sedangkan education question in this case is the islamic education. so according to prof. dr. omar m. taomy al pendidikaansyaibany in his philosophy of islam, it can be concluded that: "islamic education is an attempt to change the behavior of individuals in the life of their community and also in the surrounding environment through the education process. the changes are based on the values of islam.” keywords: mysticism; values; educative; sunanbonang this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction suluk as sufism patterned bouquet delivered in the form of song, has a major influence on the spiritual life of society jawa.sebab contained therein many piwulang processing or spiritual soul of man to achieve perfection. this was done through communication with the almighty god in unity and readiness of the soul. on the other hand the emergence of this great influence because the relationship between the java community with the mysticism literature so closely that creates a tribal identity that they are proud of. denying the role of literary mysticism is to deny the reality of javanese culture.1 the majority of indonesia's population is javanese with distinctive traditions, like other communities, which gives a distinctive color pattern development of understanding and practice of islam in this country. typical javanese islam was often called islam kejawen, kebathinan, or abangan.2 1haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang, (bantul: media insani, may 2012,) h.73 2abdul munir mulkhan, bird of paradise and science makrifatkasampurnan sheikh siti jenar ... h. 108 fatchullah zarkasi / educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam 129 the majority of javanese which many called "abangan" has its own perspective on the major religions in the world. for nielsmulder in his book, the javanese tend to view islam as a religion is arab, so islamtampak failed placed as the basis of life for the javanese belief. however, virtually no muslims in indonesia who have never heard the name walisongo, collective unit 9 guardian. sunankalijaga better known than all eight other guardians with various famous work3.dunia puppet said to be the brainchild waliini, as sekaten, which has been called, is a tradition of the prophet's birth day celebration that is celebrated officially the kingdom of yogyakarta and surakarta, until today. ornaments puppet, for example, is believed to depict the monotheistic belief, allah and muhammad's letter as well as the shahada. puppet is the most popular folk art. in it reflected belief systems and rituals in the life of javanese people who have already lived. the same thing is also reflected in the gamelan drumming used the trustees as a means to call on people to come to the mosque to listen to the story of the birth of prophet muhammad. puppet, sekaten, gerebeg, selametan, and various forms of the mosque, is one form of which may be commonly referred to syncretic, as the result of a process of dialogue islam and local traditions are long4, 3abdul munir mulkhan, bird of paradise and science makrifatkasampurnan sheikh siti jenar ...h. 106 4abdul munir mulkhan, bird of paradise and science makrifatkasampurnan sheikh siti jenar ...h. 130 sheikh ali mahfouz stated, if you want to follow the example of the prophet, the call must be nurtured four fundamental basis, namely: 1. al hujjajbalagha (a good reason) 2. al asalibulhakimah (wording filled wisdom) 3. al adabussamiyah (courtesy or good manners and noble). 4. as siyatulhakimah (tactics wise).5 sunankalijaga proposed that the customs of java such as salvation, bersaji and others not directly challenged because the javanese people will flee if menjahui scholars strongly opposed. it is proposed that the customs of color or element on a proposal islam.sunanampelsunankalijaga ask it. "is it customary long -istiadat will not worrisome when considered in islam? and that should not exist in islam6, does not this would be heresy? " sunanampel question is answered by sunan kudus. "i agree with sunankalijaga, because there are some buddhism similar to the teachings of islam, that the rich should help the poor and the concerns kanjengmiskin.adapunsunanampel, i have faith that later on there will be muslims who will improve . " supporters sunankalijaga five people, while supporters of sunanampel support only two people sunangiri and sunandrajat, the proposal received 5haqzaairul, sulukkatentramansunanbonang soul ... h. 67 6ar. mb. rahimsyah, story walisongo (surabaya: human settlements, 2011,) ... h.93 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 134-150 130 sunankalijaga. colored javanese customs of islam, among others, salvation, mitoni, salvation send prayers for the dead (usually called tahlilan) and others that are essentially not contrary to islamic faith. in suatau when the trustees gathered after forty days of the death of sunankalijagaampel.sunan suddenly burning incense. the trustees others consider sunankalijaga action is too excessive for burning incense is a habit people are un-islamic javanese.7 sunan kudus said, "burn this incense is usually done by the javanese to summon the spirits of the mati.ini not exist in islam." sunankalijaga said, "we are going to invite the javanese conversion to islam, we should be able to approach the burning incense them.we not to call the spirits of the dead, but merely scent a room, because people mostly only know java incense as a fragrance, not fragrant perfume lainnya.bukankah it disunnatkan prophet? " "but it does not have to burn incense!" said sunan kudus.8 "is there anything in the hadith mentioned ban burning incense as pemgharum room?" answer sunankalijaga. other guardians only silence. while the actual sunan kudus more inclined to side with 7ar. mb. rahimsyah, story walisongo ... h.93 8ar. mb. rahimsyah, story walisongo ... h. 94 sunankalijaga this time somehow-feel uncomfortable on actions sunankalijaga. sunankalijaga really like weird, "said sunan kudus. "but do not debase sunankalijaga as a guardian to wear clothes like that." sunankalijaga is more often dressed as ordinary people. long pants and a black or blue shirt with the same color, just a udeng headband or headband. sunankalijaga answered, "before god nothing special. only the levels of taqwa as measure the degree of a person. similarly pakaian.lagi not only the obligations of an islamic teaching his people shut aurat.tidak any mention must wear jubbah or sarung.justru dressed like this i can get along with commoners and i could easily give the teachings of islam to them. " return the trustees confirmed the opinion of sunankalijaga. furthermore sunankalijaga also proposed that folk arts like the musical, songs and puppet can be accepted by the trustees as dakwah.usul media is also by the mayor finally disetujui.demikianlah a little story walisongo teachings of sunankalijaga and sunanbonang.9 based on the description above and the reality that has been especially around people of indonesia, java, the authors are encouraged to conduct a study of scientific then the authors propose the title of this proposal is that the author gave the title "educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam". 9ar. mb. rahimsyah, story walisongo ... h. 95 fatchullah zarkasi / educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam 131 in the book of al arba'in fi usul al din said that perfect happiness is happiness that includes two dimensions, ie the dimensions of the world and the hereafter dimensions. happiness in the world can be felt with a peaceful soul. happiness in the hereafter is happiness to meet and communicate with god (ahmad faizurrosyad, pole: 2004)10, in man's search for meaning, dr. viktor e. frankl, professor of mental diseases at the university of vienna wrote, "human search for meaning of life is a major force in his life and not a secondary rationalization of movement instinct" (j. maurus, love pena: 2005). happiness and peace of mind really is not as simple as we thought. why is that ? for to achieve it required a series of business any time always consider the needs, risks and value of taste that is created. even the natural potential that we have as a psychic and organs organs of our body, also take into consideration.11 theoretical perspectives definition of value sidi gazalba revealed that: "value is something that is abstract. value is not a concrete object, not a fact, not just a question of right and wrong that demands empirical evidence, but rather a matter of appreciation that is desired, liked and disliked.12 10haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h.73 11haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h.74 12chabibtoha, et.al., reformulated philosophy of islamic education (yogyakarta: student library, 1996), p. 22. according to milton rokeach and james banks, the value is a type of confidence that is within the scope of the belief system in which a person acts or something inappropriate about dikerjakan.nilai indicates a criterion or standard to judge or evaluate something as good industrialization is a means of prosperity, understanding there are various types of individual values, social, cultural and religious.13 educative educational is an adjective (object) that is derived from the word educate (educate) means to provide an increase (to elicit, to give rise to), and develop (to evolve, to develop). in a narrow sense, education or training means the act or process of acquiring knowledge act (mcleod, 1989). furthermore, the definition of "education" according to indonesian dictionary is the process of changing attitudes and procedures of behavior or groups of people in human mature business through teaching and training efforts.14while education is referred to in this case is the islamic education. according to prof. dr. omar m. taomy al pendidikaansyaibany in his philosophy of islam, he said: "pendidikaan islam is an attempt to change the behavior of individuals in the life of their community and also in the surrounding environment through the education 13chabibtoha, capita selecta islamic education, p. 60-61. 14muhibbin shah, educational psychology, (bandung: pt youth rosdakarya, 2013), p 10 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 134-150 132 process. the changes are based on the values of islam ".15 so it is educational values is an educational process in which there are values of human change for the better. result and discussion understanding about peace mind myticsm in the hadith the prophet أ وبأ انربخ أ ,نالیغ نب د ومحم انث دح نع ,حلاص ىبأ نع شمعالا نع ,ةم اس ىٮلص هللا لوسر لاق :لاق ةرریرھ ىبأ سمتلی اقیرط كلس نم" :ملسو ھیلع هللا "ةنجلا ىلا اقیرط ھل هللا لھس املع ھیف )ملسملا هاور ) mahmud bin ghailan told us, abu osama told us, from al-a'masy of abi salih, from abu hurairah says: rasulullah saw said: "whoever goes in search of knowledge, allah will make easy for him the way to heaven". (h. r muslim)16 15m. omar al syaibanytaomy, philosophy of islamic education, trans. hasan langgulung (jakarta: bulan bintang, 1976), h.339. 16moh. zuhri dipl. tafl et al, tarjamahsunan at-tirmidhi, the section iv, (semarang: cv ash-shifa ', 1992) p. 274 the word comes from the root word suluk salaka yasluku sulukan ( اكلس كلسی كلس ) from a fragment of a word in the hadith the prophet includes the word "salaka" which was interpreted by commentators agreement is "running", while in another interpretation, namely suluk: sufism patterned bouquet delivered in the form of song, has a major influence on the spiritual life of the java community. for therein is contained piwulang processing or spiritual soul of man to achieve perfection17, so sulukkatentraman soul "tomboati" is a literary creation which sunanbonang in this song contains righteous deeds that are useful for improving heart sick. this means that the song is a masterpiece tomboatiwalisongo that reflect their propaganda methods in spreading islam in the archipelago, especially the island of java.18tomboati song is just one of the many works that aims to provide a living for the muslims who are still "old corn" at the time. in the history say, in java, islamic law starts in earnest is when the reign of the kingdom of demak, the first king raden patah. according to the humanist ws. renda in an oration mention that megatruh, "salokantara" that are composed by king jayalengkara and "jugul young" are from the statute books demak obviously has the foundation of islamic 17haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h.73 18haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang) ... h.59 fatchullah zarkasi / educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam 133 law.19and walisanga as central scholars when it plays a very important role even used to say beyond the king of demak. because they are regarded as the elder person, referenced the islamic sciences, and guardians of god who have achieved a high maqam.20 in other words conceptually sunanbonang own propaganda methods and other walisanga also commonly referred to as 'want' idzatulhasanahwa hiya mujadalahbillatiahsan ". this method is commonly used for the character special characters, such as kings, nobles, rich people, landlords, and local community leaders.21 on the other hand, the purpose of his mission seems also to help the community problems associated with the "defilement of the soul". given that the community faced at that time he was a damaged society. felon, robber, robbers, murderers roam everywhere, and automatically, healthy life is an expensive item that not everyone can afford to have it. or at least, the threat of getting it are very severe and difficult to avoid. from it certainly needed a surefire formula to deal with the crisis this tranquility.22 actually, the various forms of consideration that he did this, also can not be said to have separated 19haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h.60 20haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h.60 21haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 61 22haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 63 entirely from the political content. because basically all of it focused on two basic objectives he now is finding support in order to maintain and develop the existing kingdom of demak islam and to spread the religion of islam itself to all corners of the land of java. even so, it is necessary to be recognized that the propagation of islam conducted by sunanbonang and walisanga was superb. the guardian was very skilled in designing propaganda that want to say to the java community by using various means of media propaganda. and we should be proud of and we are grateful.23 "tomboati" anxiety medicine liver and heart as a valuable asset suluk contents katentraman soul "tomboatikaryasunanbonang” tomboatiiku lima ingwernane kapingpisanmaca qur’an sakma’nane kapingpindho, sholatwengilakonono kapingtelu, wongkangsholehkumpulana kapingpapat, wetengiroingkangluwe kaping lima, dzikirwengiingkangsuwe salah sakwijinesapa bias nglakoni insya allah gustipangeranngijabahi translation: heart medicine there are five things the first read the koran and plumbed the meaning the second night prayer steadfast the third one assembled by righteous the fourth fasted the fifth lingering remembrance night24 anyone who can run pray hopefully one of them will be granted 23haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 63 24haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 4 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 134-150 134 tomboati hum is certainly not foreign to our ears. often we hear this hum sung by religious singers like opick, emhaainunnadjib (cak nun) by kyai kanjeng her, and so forth.25even in many mosques, prayer room, and broken in the countryside too, humming tomboati still often sung as a form of praise in prayer iqama wait. about the history of tomboati, it is said that it was composed by sunanbonang, who lived around the year 1465 up to 1525 ad. aside from being a comforter in times of loneliness, songs tomboati could also provide a valuable lesson to us all. so what lessons can we learn from it? let us refer to the discussion on this matter. to begin this discussion, at least we should ask first, what exactly is the heart? in various studies that have been done by the scholars' "heart" or al qolb has two meanings: 1. al-qalb with the physical sense, it is a piece of meat elliptic located on the left chest, which is medically he has certain functions that are useful for the survival of every human being.26 2. al-qalb with heart in the sense of understanding as subtle unseen divine and the sensory and spiritual, but still nothing to do with the heart in the sense of physical earlier. 25haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 4 26haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 5 in this discussion, liver or al-qalb in the sense that the latter is to be well served. it has been reported, that the heart there are four kinds: a. a clean heart, in which bright as the lights, this is the heart of a believer. b. closed-hearted and binds to its closure, that the hearts of the unbelievers. c. hearts are prone that the heart of a hypocrite d. hearts are layered, in it there is faith and hypocrisy. hujjatulmukhtasar islam imam ghazali in ihya '' ulumuddin explained27, that the heart has two meanings: 1. meat-shaped pine trees located on the left chest. in it there is a cavity that contains a black blood. this is the source of the spirit. 2. luth spiritual rabbani, which has links with this meat. rabbani luthf is to know allah. he knew that was not achieved figment of the mind. he is human nature. here's one to talk. against this meaning is indicated by the word of allah: 27haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 5 fatchullah zarkasi / educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam 135 "verily in this is there really a warning to those who have the intellect or the use of his hearing, while he watched." (qs. qaf 50/37). hearts in meaning as something subtle and divine, then it has a significant potential which, if managed properly will give a very great impact for human beings. because he will be able to easily receive the divine energy in the form of the power of faith. but he would be very dangerous if people no longer notice it. therefore, when the heart is never cared, he would be dirty, hardened, and moss.28 moss is what will be the hijab obstacle in accepting every truth that comes from god.29 let us refer to the words of the prophet the following: اھ اكزاو مكلمع أ ریخب مكئبنأ ال أ ریخو مكتاجرد يف اھعفراو مككیلم دنع مكل ریخو قرولاو بھذلا قافنا نم مكل مھق انعآ وبرضتف مكودع اوقلت نا نم لاق * ىلب اولاق * مكقانعأ اوب رضیو مامإ * ملسم ثیدح( لجو زع هللا ركذ )رازب 28haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 6 29haqzaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang ... h. 7 "in the presence of the prophet, the prophet once said," would you all i tell about the deeds of the most beautiful and the most clean before god to be king you, also the charity of the most highest rank, which is better than nafaqah gold and silver , which is better than thou jihad fighting the enemies of god that causes you cut off their heads or cut your throat? "then, replied the friend," well, charity if it was, yes prophet? "the prophet," dzikrullah: remembering allah 'azza wa jalla . "30 shaikh musleh once quoted sermon by sheikh ali al-murshifi, that of the as-saniyah minah book, which reads: "in fact, the great teacher can be difficult to give medication to students-santrinya that emit their hearts, except with dhikr mendawwamah. thus, dhikr like "millstone" that is useful to polish copper due to the benefits of dhikr can illuminate the heart. while deeds besides dhikr like a dab of soap alone: still difficult to use to clean the rust.31 word of the prophet: ةلاقصو ةل اقص ئش لكل نإ هللا ركذ بولقلا "inasmuch as no cleaner. liver cleanser is being recollection of god ". hearts as a valuable asset how precious is the heart so that the world should pay attention salikthoriqoh a shari'ah 30murtadho h. hadi, three land sufi master java (yogyakarta: lkis-library pesanteren) h.226 31murtadho h. hadi, three sufi master java land ... h 227 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 134-150 136 seriously as well as deeds qolbi (heart) any serious attention. thus it thoriqoh abuya said dimyati: :تافص ثالث اھلو ىلع ركشلاو ء البلا ىلع ربصلا ءاضقلاب اضرلاو ءاخرلا "this thariqoh has three properties, namely: 1). patience when misfortune befalls; 2) i'm glad when it gets spaciousness, and 3) ridho against the "decision" of god. in thoriqoh, patience and gratitude is not the nature, but rather categorized into the station and ahwal (deeds liver). therefore, the real question is abuyadimyati, a students serious in nature taking thoriqoh should have patience, gratitude, and blessing. patience and gratitude as keeping the currency two are inseparable. a slave can be patient if he's gratitude, and to say thanks if he patiently. therefore, including the wisdom divine is that in every ni'mat while a slave is still the world is always hidden "catastrophic" and "test".32 thus, if a slave does not "wait" received test form this favor, he could fall into "kufr ni'mat"33, athailah imam ahmad has said in his book: light is the army of the liver, as well as the darkness into armies of lust. if allah wills helped his servant, he spread the light that will be the army of 32murtadho h. hadi, three sufi master java land ... h 78 33murtadho h. hadi, three sufi master java land ... h 77 the liver, and his severed relationships that will help armies of lust by darkness. explanation of qoyyim and imam ahmad ibn athailah above provide important lessons for us,34that in humans there are several important potential in the form of hidden strengths. these potentials are directly related to the quality keshalihan man in her life, which if managed in the best possible personal contrivances that deserves to be called a "man of god". in this context, the meaning of "servant" not only as beings who simply have an early awareness of the existence of god and provide a mirror of faith that worship is born alone, but further than that, meaning "servant" in the context of this time is a believer who has deceived the potential importance of human beings, namely: physical potential, the potential of sense, and the most important is the potential for liver35, therefore, every human being, however, he was, in any profession, should be able to manage one of its important potential, which is the heart of a (heart). especially for a servant who claims to believe in allah, the most valuable asset of this should really be guarded, nurtured and fed a diet "nutrition" useful. a servant is smart, he will soon find out that the heart has actually has two powers, which if managed well then he will have a heart that 34zaairulhaq, suluk peace soul sunanbonang ... h 37 35zaairulhaq, suluk peace soul sunanbonang, (bantul: media insani) h 38 fatchullah zarkasi / educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam 137 is of quality.36two strengths are: first, the power of science and differentiator. second, the power of desire and love. ibn qayyim has explained that "perfection and kindness can be achieved by using two such powers to the things that are beneficial to her, as well as for the good and happiness in accordance with the path that has been outlined by religion. then shaykh dimyati once said, "the doctors in our time is very little." that, stated in his treatise, entitled hadiyyah al jalaliyah. of course, the intention is not abuyadimyati physical health doctor, but the doctor spiritual. furthermore, dimyatiabuya message, "let the slave (students) run as far away from the place -the leading to defamation of religion." because of places like it is "regional disease" growing pain for the liver, as well as body conceded toxic or rotten food. the pain of the heart is always cause prolonged pain (and hereafter).37 the following message abuyadimyati pleased with the foregoing:38 برھی نا وھو )طرش اھلو( اخی امم رثكا ةمھتلا عضاوم نم ھسفنب ةمھتلا عضاوم ن اف ,ملألا دوجو نم ف بجوت امك بلقلا ىلع مقسلا بجوت 36zaairulhaq, suluk peace soul sunanbonang ... h 42 37murtadho h. hadi, three sufi land of java ... h. 82 38murtadho h. hadi, three sufi land of java ... h. 83 امیسال .ندبلا ىلع مقسلا ةدس افلا ةیدغالا لیلق ء ابط الا "thoriqoh setting the terms (for students follower thariqoh), which is as follows: a pupil facer thariqoh let distanced itself from the" slander region "as far away as fear of the students at the pain caused by it. because, "slander region" is in fact the usual cause suffering to the heart, as the pain of the body because the food was rotten. moreover, the "doctor" in the present is very little ". heart pain similarly, as the human body, there is a healthy body, illness, disability, and death. a healthy liver, as has been explained very simply, it is a very valuable asset, because with a healthy heart the whole body will always do things that are healthy in the sense that according to religious rules. he will be a servant who always sought to draw closer to god, in order to meet the call to be cautious. however, there is also a sick heart, the living heart, but he had a disability. ibn al-qayyim said, that the diseased liver is the liver that circumvents the original creation, ie the team to know god, love him, wanted to meet him, go back to international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 134-150 138 him and put it on all lust semuannya. suppose a servant knows everything, but he does not know god, it is as if he did not know anything. if he gets all the world, the enjoyment and syahwatnya, but do not have love for him, as if he did not get the delicacy, enjoyment, and conditioning the heart altogether.39 as an explanation of ibn qayyim, that the diseased liver is the liver that still keep the two love, that love for god and for lust. in diseased liver, it is often a fight between good and evil. as if deep down inside that there are two people who always try to influence it. the first appeals to the goodness, while the latter called on to perform immoral acts. so sometimes diseased liver was tempted to meet the call of the second caller, there are times when he summons the second caller, sometimes he summons the first caller. thus, this is a test for the liver to prove his faith in god. first, a healthy liver and survived, the heart always accept, love and put the truth. his knowledge of the truth is absolutely perfect, always obedient and fully accepted. he will menjadin impregnable fortress, which is always resistant to raids, and he will continue to prevent the entry of immorality and corruption in his heart, and membentenginya with acts of worship to god. second, a hard heart, that heart that did not receive and obey the truth. third, the 39zaairulhaq, suluk peace soul sunanbonang ... h. 44 heart is sick, if the disease was relapsed then his heart becomes hard and die, and if he beats his heart disease then his heart to be healthy and happy. a diseased liver is often seized with negligence in the remembrance of allah. in fact, sometimes he had trouble remembering allah, because a lot of worldly temptations are not able to refuse. he was always interested in worldly pleasures, and not realize that little by little he lapsed into apostasy valley. he was in pain, but did not feel the pain, because the earthly cradle has given anesthetic that makes the heart become "unconscious". in the unconscious, he often interpret worldly tranquility as essential tranquility that had been ordered to hunt. he is like a lamp whose light looks dim, because it is full of dirt that enveloped him. therefore, the diseased liver should be immediately treated with heart medications (tombo ati), so he would not be dead. because when the heart is dead, there is no medicine that can heal, but the guidance of god. therefore, the heart has to die so he can no longer distinguish between good and evil40. hearts that have died shaykh muhammad has said in his explanation of the book al-hikam, that everything that exists in 40zaairulhaq, suluk peace soul sunanbonang ... h. 52 fatchullah zarkasi / educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam 139 this world is actually completely dark. while giving light to dark was god. anyone who has seen a manifestation of god in the universe, but he has not witnessed al-haq was within this universe, or to himself, or earlier or later (either microcosm or in macrocosm), then surely the light that has menyilaukannya, so that the landscape makrifat unobstructed rays because of fog around it. this description shows that the human heart adrift in worldly pleasures, then it means it has been entered into the dark abyss that is very dense, there is no light at all in it. if he really has been in and enveloped by all the darkness, then he would be a dead heart, which is no longer able to digest the truth as something that is needed, and even he is not willing to accept the truth as true. she will be consumed by lust, and he will be a slave to the accursed devil. dead heart is a heart that really have been away from the faith. he was too far away from the light of faith, until he got lost in the valley of darkness, for there is no iota of light to give instructions to him. like a person walking in the pitch-dark night with no light at all bobbing aimlessly, as well as with those whose hearts are dead. even more than that, he not only cast adrift, but he also felt that it was a true pleasure.41thus, "allah has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and their eyes closed. and for them is a great punishment." 41zaairulhaq, suluk peace soul sunanbonang ... h 53 stated by ibn jarir and ibn ishaq muhammad ibn ikrimah, from said bin jabir, from ibn abbas, that the two paragraphs above down on the jews in medina.42 disbelievers in the paragraph above are the ones that cover the signs of god and the truth that lay very clearly in this universe, who could not believe in allah caused their hearts are really dead. "same thing for them", given a warning or not, they still would not be willing to accept islam as the true religion. this clearly and firmly say, that the heart that has died really have sunk to darkness, so it can not accept the truth again. liver disease city park guards often put up a banner that read: "clean is beautiful!" not much different, teachers thariqoh was always trying to keep the garden is breathtaking. for them, purity, clean, pure (tajrid) is a way of life. shaikh dimyathi order: صرحلا نم يھو ةنط اب ةر اھط اھلو ةرھاظو اھوحنو ربكلاو دقحلاو دسحلاو ن اكملاو بوثلاو ندبلا ةر اھط يھو "in thariqah, clean very stressed. net inward ie net of liver diseases such as greed, hasud, "their emotions have been expressed", pompous and the like. and also clean dzahir, remember the message of personality 'about the cleanliness of the body, clothing, and shelter ".43 42zaairulhaq, suluk peace soul sunanbonang ... h 54 43murtadho h. hadi, three sufi master java land ... h 80 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 134-150 140 the human heart must have felt sick, considering they are creatures who can not be free (infallible) from sin and error. thus, it is every man should keep his heart health of all properties that can make it dark and sick. to that end, it is necessary to understand the various kinds of heart disease, to be treated early, before it makes the heart disease death.44because the diseased liver still has a chance to recover, while the hearts of the dead no longer have the opportunity to cure, but only with the guidance of god. similarly, it is very fortunate people who can figure out any liver disease who are in him, and immediately give the medicine to heal the pain. instead, it lost the person who is unable to detect any disease suffered by her and she was not immediately aware of it. references achmadi, ideologies islamic education: theoretical paradigms humanism, yogyakarta, reader student 2005 ahmadi, "islam as a paradigm of educational sciences", in isma'il sm, eds, islamic education paradigm, yogyakarta: student library and fakultastarbiyah iain walisongo 2001 abrasy, athiyah muhammad, al-tarbiyah alislamiyah, damascus, dar al-fikr, tth arikunto, suharsimi, research approach a practical approach, jakarta: rineka copyright 2002 44zaairulhaq, suluk peace soul sunanbonang ... h. 29 us, asmaran, introduction to the study of behavior, (jakarta, pt. king grafindo), 1994 d. marimba, ahmad, introduction to the philosophy of islamic education, (bandung, al-ma'arif, 1989) danim, sudarwan, become qualitative researcher, bandung: pustaka setia 2002 daradjat, zakiah, ilmupendidikan islam, jakarta: bumiaksara, 2000 hadi, murtadho, three land sufi master java (yogyakarta: lkis-pustakapesanteren) 2012 haq, zaairul, sulukkatentraman soul sunanbonang, bantul: media insani 2012 ghazali, imam, miracle hearts trans. haidar bagir, (bandung, mizan, 2001) ghazali, imam, chemicals happiness trans haidar bagir, (bandung: mizan, 1989) judjito, ahmad, "philosophy of values in islam", chabibthoha et al. eds, reformulasifilsafat islamic education, yogyakarta: pustakapelajar, 1996 kasri muhammad, khafid, et al, fiber daze dewa ruci and suluksunankalijaga (sheikh melaya) jakarta: balaipustaka, 1993. (manuscript transliteration into latin letters) and translation into indonesian) langgulung, hasan, principle the principle of islamic education, jakarta: pustaka al husna, 1992 muammar, siddiq, privileged prophet khidr. (yogyakarta: sinarkejora, 2012) fatchullah zarkasi / educative values of peace mind mysticism of sunanbonang in the view of islam 141 muslim, imam abu al-husaian al-hajjaj ibn annaisabuiriqusyairy, shahihmuslim, volume i, (baerut: da al-fikrkitab al-natural, 1994) nahlawi abdurrahman, usul al-tarbiyahwaasalibuha fi al-islamiya al-bayt al-madrasa wawa almujtana'(damascus, dar al-fikr, 1979) rahimsyah, ar, mb, kisahwalisongo, surabaya: ciptakarya 2011 toha, chabib, capita selecta islamic education, (yogyakarta, pustakapelajar, 1996) taomy omar, syaibany, filsafatpendidikan islam, trans. hasan langgulung (jakarta: bulanbintang, 1976) 213.edited.format available online at: http://journals.rsfpress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 2 number 2 (2020): 73-82 corresponding author sumi@ecampus.ut.ac.id; aini@ecampus.ut.ac.id; sumaji@umk.ac.id doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i2.213 research synergy foundation life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati1, aini indriasih 1, sumaji 2 1 universitas terbuka, indonesia 2 universitas muria kudus, indonesia abstract early child independency spurs creativity improvement. essentially, independency is caused by educational effort by implementing life – reliability education since early childhood. this quasiexperimental research with pretest and posttest design covered learning scenario arrangement to find out the initial condition of children before the intervention. initially, an assessment in the form of behavioral test was done randomly and was observed. self – reliability learning promotion assisted by media and the already prepared real activity through various games which were designed by the researcher and teachers. the subjects consisted of b group students taken by total sampling. it was all population taken into the sample, consisting of 26 children. the data collection was done by using two collecting instruments: observation and documentation. before being tested on the respondent, the data were tested to ensure the reliability of the instruments' functions as well as to check the validity and reliability of the instrument. the data were analyzed statistically by a comparative test. the findings showed there was a difference of creativity improvements between pre and post-intervention and observation during the learning process. there was a strong relationship between pre and post-training and observation, which influenced life – reliability to improve creativity. keywords: life skill, early children, creativity this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. . introduction early childhood child education is important for both family and nation. it is an important investment for the national future and for the sake of a more advanced state. in other words, the future of a nation depends on the obtained education by the children. therefore, early childhood child education is a valuable national investment. to prepare them with life skill education is also important. the skills are useful for their next study and their future mature life. however, the facts show that many children, after they are adults, do not have skills. thus, they have difficulties getting job or to create job opportunities. early childhood education has an important role in later child development because early childhood education is an essential foundation of a child's personality. a child who receives early childhood guidance will have his independency improved, and he could optimize his potency (anik pamilu, 2007). early childhood education is acknowledged as an important period in developing human resources, and it only has one shot and could never be repeated (bredekamp et al., 1997). early childhood or preschool ages are the golden age. it is indicated by quick development in physical, cognitive, social, and emotional developments (nurani yuliani 2012). therefore, to international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) 74 │ undergo this age properly, there is a need for appropriate education for early children. furthermore, various studies stated that early childhood had all intelligence aspects such as intellectuality, emotion, and spirituality developed enormously (agustin, mubiar dan syaodih, ernawulan (2008). along with various development, early children as learners require the teacher to be more creative and less boring, so it could motivate their development (mislaini, 2017). therefore, teachers should find suitable learning for their development. furthermore, the roles of teachers in delivering learning for early children should consider developmental stages and sensitive moments of students. learning early children should be addressed to construct life skills instead of cognition. early childhood education should be addressed to foster life skills instead of cognitive skills (yuni rachmawati dan kurniati, 2012). life skill improvements for children are needed to make them able in coping with all daily needs, such as having a meal, drinking, taking a bath, wearing clothes, using sandals, and using shoes without parents' assistance. the learning process is done to provide a meaningful basic concept for them through real experience, allowing them to show activities and curiosity optimally. then, teachers should put themselves as companion, advisor, and facilitator for them. this educational process could avoid any learning-oriented on teacher's intention dominantly and put the students passively (nurani yuliani, 2011). life skill education becomes a different approach to apply by considering this education has benefits for students, such as academic and vocational skills, and so forth. the problem is how educational institution could apply it so it could facilitate students obtaining useful life skill which is needed in students’ daily life (mislaini, 2017). life skill education is an alternative to active, creative, and joyful learning. studies concerning life skills have been frequently conducted. they are such as cahyaningrum et al. (2014), ajik and soeryanto (2016), and usman (2010). the findings were such as (1) significant correlations were found among personal life, social, academic, and vocational skills of toward the wielding practicum learning outcome of trenggalek 1 public vocational high school learners. (2) the study showed that the personal skills in cycle i obtained a percentage of 51.3%, categorized average based on lower information organization skills. the second cycle obtained a percentage of 79.3%, categorized excellent based on the information organization skill through discussion. in the third cycle, it improved to 90.3%, categorized very excellent as reflected from their collective decision-making to solve problems (ajik and soeryanto, 2016). (3) life skill training could eradicate poverty, especially for those dropouts (usman, 2010). from the results, reviews about life skill education with creativities on important matters were still limited. in fact, having creativity could trigger various ideas and notions. thus, having creativity could facilitate an individual's life in the future after graduating from school and getting into society. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 75 life skill education should be developed as early as possible. there are three life skill categories: social and interpersonal, cognitive, and emotional copying skills (maddaleno and infante, 2001:54). through this mastered life skill, it is expected for them to survive and to have responsibility. life skill learning is purposed to make children being able to manage themselves (self-help) and to help other people (social skill) as care realization and social responsibility as a member of family and society (catron and allen, 1999:205). various efforts are needed to consider by all involved parties in the educational process. they are family, school, and society. at last, by having creativity, an individual could have sufficient preparation to develop life skills (astuti & irene, 2003). life skills are broader than early childhood creativity. habitualizing creativity operationally means to construct a society that sees creativity as "good" and being not creative is "not good." it makes creativity into habit; figures, idols, society, and the youths are creative people; and respecting creativity as an important, meaningful, and useful matter (rake, 1998:8). the educational world on early childhood needs child creativity development because it could be a preparation for them to be more motivated, more independent, and more proactive in facing changing process in developing educational concept oriented to a life skill (astuti & irene, 2003). astuti & irene (2003) explained that creativity is the initial stage in giving basic life skills to children. thus, they will be braver to face life problems and live normally without being stressed. then, proactively and creatively, they could find a solution to reach a successful life. based on the background, the research problem is – does life skill influence early child creativity improvement, and how great does it influence? the hypothesis of life-skill based learning is it influences the early childhood students' creativities in prambatan lor kindergarten. research methodology the subjects were a-group students consisting of 26 children. they were studying in pertiwi prambatan lor kindergarten, kudus municipality. the sampling technique is total sampling. the population is taken as the sample, consisting of 26 children. the data collection techniques apply two main data collection instruments. they are observation and documentation studies. the observation is purposed to observe the students’ activities in joining the learning activity. this quasi-experimental research with one-group pretest and posttest designs was chosen because this research compared pre and post-intervention without a control group. as sugiyono international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) 76 │ (2010) argued, a one-group pretest-posttest design could be done by comparing pre and postintervention conditions. the research variables were life skills and early child creativity education. the subjects of the research were 26 a group of students learning at tk pertiwi prambatan lor, kudus municipal. the technique of sampling was total sampling by taking all population as the sample, consisting of 26 students. this total sample was used because all the population in this study were used fatherly analyzed, out of 26 children, all met the requirements for further analysis. the data collection was done by two main data collecting instruments: observation and documentary study. the observation was carried out by giving the first skill instrument to students, and then students were trained by the teacher after there was exercise, the students were given the second skill instrument. then the researcher sees the difference after being trained and before there is training. documentation studies are conducted by researchers to strengthen the results of research obtained from literature studies and previous research. meanwhile, the measuring scale was rating scale by this calculation: 4 – very well developed (bsb), 3 – expectedly developed (bsh), 2 – beginning to develop (mb), and 1 – is not developed (bb). before testing the data to the respondent, there was a need to test the instrument functions to find out its validity and reliability. the data analysis was done by statistics data analysis through a comparative test. it measured students' creativities between pre and post-intervention and observation. before being analyzed with a comparative test, a hypothesis test was needed with precondition and classical assumption tests in the form of normality and heteroscedastic tests. this test is conducted to believe that the data obtained does not have biased data, which will result in research results that do not reflect the actual conditions. the hypothesis test was done by t-test to find out the partial correlation of independent variable to the dependent variable, f-test to find out the correlation between the variables simultaneously, and multiple linear regression test to find out the contribution of the independent variable to dependent variable. the reason for choosing this type of research and technical analysis is because the researcher wants to know whether there are differences before and after treatment using the training method and to find out how much influence the training method has on children's creativity. in judging the creativity, it was done by filled by teachers and parents by looking at their works during learning at the school. findings and discussion in this research, the used early childhood demography data were ages, genders, and class groups on kindergarten with the data of table 1. there were 26 subjects. the students' creativities were measured by an instrument consisting of 15 questions on the observation. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 77 table 1. respondent profile (n = 26) remarks numbers of students percentage (%) genders m 12 46.2 f 14 53.8 ages 5 21 80.8 6 5 19.2 kindergarten group b 26 100 inquiry, observation, and statement indicators were tested on early childhood children at pertiwi prambatan lor kudus kindergarten for each item on the given observation for creativity variable seen in table 2. the table also presents average changes of pre-and post-intervention and observation on early children who became an observational object in this research. table 2. preand postresults indicators no indicator/observation pretest mean mean curiosity in the classroom k1 frequently asking in the class 1.6923 2.7692 k2 sharing opinion or notion based on the material 1.6154 2.6538 k3 doing the task well 1.9615 3.0769 high originality k4 being brave to defend notion/opinion 1.6154 2.5769 k5 creating outstanding masterpiece 1.7692 2.9231 k6 working with less assistance of teachers 1.9615 2.9231 imaginative k7 telling the already done activities 1.7308 2.9231 k8 expressing new notions 1.4615 2.5385 k9 executing an action 1.6538 2.8077 art appreciation k10 making of various forms of activities 1.8462 2.8846 k11 properly speaking 2.1923 3.1538 k12 having initiation 1.5385 2.6538 being brave to take risk k13 being brave to admit the mistakes 1.7308 2.6923 k14 being brave to accept task 1.8077 3.0385 k15 solving current problem 1.6154 2.8077 0.4915 source: observational question list, 2019 table 2 explains that the number of question items in creative observation consisted of 15 questions with creativity indicators before training and observation. the observation result before international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) 78 │ the training showed that the lowest observation on imaginative nature and sharing new notion indicators had an average score of 1.4615. meanwhile, in table 2, the highest score was on the appreciation art indicator and properly speaking indicator with an average 2.1923. after having observation and training, generally in table 2, all indicators improved significantly. it could be concluded that after intervention and observation, there was a positive influence on training and observation so they could develop as expected in doing the tasks. the observational result after being trained showed the lowest observation was on the curiosity indicator. being brave to defend notion/opinion obtained 2.5769. although it obtained the lowest score, it also showed expected development. the highest observation was on appreciation art indicator with early childhood observation in properly speaking with 3.1538. therefore, it could be known that children had developed as expected properly data validity test the test was done to find the validity of each question item in measuring the variables. the validity test was done by correlating each score of question item addressed for the respondent with the total score for all items. the correlating technique to test the validity of questions in this research was the pearson product moment. if the coefficient of the tested question item was higher than r-critical 0.2746, then it could be concluded that the question item was valid construction. here is the validity result, as presented in table 3. table 3. validity test result of variable question number r-count r-table remarks cre1 1 0.2746 valid cre2 .571** 0.2746 valid cre3 0.281 0.2746 valid cre4 .630** 0.2746 valid cre5 .453* 0.2746 valid cre6 .557** 0.2746 valid cre7 .528** 0.2746 valid cre8 .506** 0.2746 valid cre9 0.382 0.2746 valid cre10 .412* 0.2746 valid cre11 .510** 0.2746 valid cre12 .393* 0.2746 valid cre13 .497** 0.2746 valid cre14 0.304 0.2746 valid cre15 0.326 0.2746 valid **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). as stated in the table, when the correlative coefficient was equal to the critical correlation coefficient (r-table = 0.2746) or higher, the instrument number was said valid. the table shows that international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 79 the correlative coefficient of all instrument numbers of research variables was higher than the rtable. therefore, the instrument was said valid, so the questions of the questionnaires could be used for further investigation. reliability test the reliability test was done for all question numbers were categorized as valid. the reliability test was done by testing the instrument once then was analyzed by using alpha cronbach. the questionnaire was said reliable, positive, and greater than 0.8. here is the reliability test as shown in table 4 table 4. reliability test result of research variable cronbach's alpha n of items .944 30 table 4 summarizes the reliability test. it is known that cronbach alpha on the variable was higher than 0.924. the findings could be concluded that all instruments were reliable and could be used for further analysis. it meant the questionnaire was consistent if it was measured in a different time, model, or design. classical assumption test normality test the use of parametric statistics worked by the assumption that each research variable which would be analyzed should be normal. if it was not normal, then the parametric statistics technique could not be used to analyze, but non-parametric statistics could be used. therefore, before using parametric statistics analysis, it was important to test the data with a normality test to find out whether the data were normally distributed or not. table 5. normality test result creativity n 26 normal parametersa mean 42.4231 std. deviation 5.96773 most extreme differences absolute .192 positive .113 negative -.192 kolmogorov-smirnov z .981 asymp. sig. (2-tailed) .291 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) 80 │ this research used one-sample kolmogorov – smirnov (ks) by looking at the significance level. if the significant level is beyond 0.05, then the variables are normally distributed. the normality test in table 5 for the research variable showed asymp sig (2-tailed) was 0.981 for creativity. it was higher than 0.05; thus, the variables were normally distributed. heterosedasisity test table 6 showed that preand post intervention/observation consisted of 26 data. the average between preand postobservation/trainings was 26.19 and 42.42, respectively. the standard deviation before the training was 4.792, while after the intervention was 5.968. table 6. heterosedasisity test result mean n std. deviatio n std. error mean pair 1 pretest_creativity 26.19 26 4.792 .940 posttest_creativity 42.42 26 5.968 1.170 table 6 shows the average of pretest creativity was 26.19 < posttest 42.4. then, descriptively, there were creativity average changes between pretest and posttest. creativity variable before and after the treatment and observation the data analysis of this research was meant to find out the correctness of the formulated hypotheses. it was to find out the influence of the implementation of life – skill-based learning to improve early child creativity. then, to find out the existence of influences using paired sample ttest. the analysis of paired – sample t-test is a procedure used to compare two variables in a group. it meant the analysis was useful to test toward two correlating or pairing samples. paired sample t-test procedures were used to test whether two-variable differences. the data could be from two measurements of the same subjects or one measurement with several subjects. table 6 shows each preand posttreatment/observation was 26. the average score of preobservation/treatment was 26.19, while post treatment was 42.42. the standard deviation before the treatment and observation was 4.792, and after the treatment was 5.968. table 7. pretest and posttest correlation of creativities n correlation sig. pair 1 pretest_creativity & posttest_creativity 26 .689 .000 the table, paired sample correlation table, consists of data that had a correlation between pre-and postinfluences of life skill to improve creativity. it was 0.689 with a sig score of 0.000. it showed that there was the influence of life skills to improve creativity. by looking at this result, it international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 81 showed that the correlation was 0.689 > 0.000. the correlation was higher than the sig score. it showed there was the influence of life skills to improve creativity. the next step was answering the second problem formulation about how far life skills are influenced to improve creativity. it was done by looking at table 8. the correlation result was 0.689. it showed the correlation of life skills to improve creativity was sufficient. table 8. nilai koefisien coefficient score no correlational coefficient explanation 1 2 3 4 5 between 0.800 – 1.000 between 0.600 – 0.800 between 0.400 – 0.600 between 0.200 – 0.400 between 0.000 – 0.200 high sufficient little bit poor poor very poor table 9 shows the results of the two-sample t-test consisting of t-count and significance with a score of -18.915. the next step was to check the life skill influence to improve creativity. table 9 t-test paired differences mean std. deviation std. error mean 95% confidence interval of the difference t df sig. (2tailed) lower upper pair 1 pretest_creati vity posttest_creati vity -16.231 4.375 .858 -17.998 -14.463 -18.915 25 .000 source: primary processed data, 2019 the data could be concluded that t-count was -18.915 with sig 0.00. since sig < 0.001, it could be concluded that ho was denied. it meant the creativity average of early children before and after observation and training had a significant difference. therefore, it could be stated that the observation and training influenced the creativity of early students of tk pertiwi prambatan lor, kudus, significantly. conclusion based on the life-skill based implementation reflection to improve the early childhood students’ creativities, the researcher found several suggestions to apply this method and for further investigations. first, it deals with difficulties to control the respondents. it happened because the ones that filled the instruments were not the real respondents but the teachers and the students’ parents instead of the kindergarten students. they did it by observing the children’s behaviors. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 73-82 life – skill based learning to improve early childhood child creativity sri sumiyati, aini indriasih, sumaji issn 2685-4074 (online) 82 │ second, this research applies questionnaire. it had bias perception possibilities upon the questions because the ones that filled it were not the students but the parents and the teachers based on their mere observation. further research is expected to apply the experimental method to avoid any perceived bias. third, follow-up research after research, which is longitudinal in nature to measure the students' creativities after the intervention, could be carried out by using other methodologies, such as a direct interview for the kindergarten students or ensuring the further educational party. fourth, based on the findings, it could be seen that the improvement of the investigated students' creativity could be further studied by using other variables, such as student motor skills, etc. references aji, s dan soeryanto (2016). pengintegrasian pendidikan kecakapan hidup (life skills education) di smk pgri 5 surabaya untuk meningkatkan kecakapan personal siswa. jptm. 4 (3). anik, pamilu. 2007. mengembangkan creativitas dan kecerdasan anak. jakarta: buku kita astuti, d., & irene, s. (2003). pengembangan kecakapan hidup (life skill) melalui penanaman etos kerja dan membangun creativitas anak. cakrawala pendidikan, 3(1). cahyaningrum, s. n., sutadji, e., & solichin, s. (2014). hubungan between life skills siswa dengan hasil belajar praktikum pengelasan di smkn 1 trenggalek. jurnal teknik mesin, 21(2). mislaini, m. (2017). pendidikan dan bimbingan kecakapan hidup (life skill) peserta didik. tarbawiyah jurnal ilmiah pendidikan, 1(02), 88-101. agustin, mubiar dan syaodih, ernawulan (2008). bimbingan konseling untuk anak usia dini. jakarta. universitas terbuka. catron, carol.e dan jan allen. (1999). early childhood curriculum: acreative play model, 2nd edition.newjersey: merill publ. hurloch, elizabet (2010). perkembangan anak, jilid 2; alih bahasa meitasari tjandrasa. jakarta: erlangga maddaleno, matilde dan francisca infante. (2004) life skills approach tochild and adolescent healthy. usa: pan american health organization. nurani yuliani (2011) konsep dasar pendidikan anak usia dini. jakarta: pt indeks rachmawati, y dan kurniati, e (2012). strategi pengembangan creativitas pada anak usia taman kanak-kanak. jakarta: kencana prenada media. sugiyono. (2010). statistika untuk penelitian. bandung: alfabeta. wahyudin, dkk, 2007. pengantar pendidikan. jakarta: universitas jakarta usman, h. (2010). model pendidikan kecakapan hidup sebagai alternatif mengurangi angka kemiskinan. (17) 1. 7-14 1-15_ade tutty r rosa_the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through educational_edited international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i1.14 pi ssn 2 6 5 59 98 6 article history: received march 1st, 2019; accepted may 29th, 2019; published may 29th, 2019. the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through educational value system management ade tutty r. rosa a, 1 a universitas islam nusantara, bandung, indonesia 1 adetuttyrosa@uninus.ac.id; rosaatrxnov@gmail.com abstract the development of it in the digital era 4.0 currently provides a considerable and different influence on each user, including children. in general, the problems in the world of education include the quality and quantity of education related to quality and equality in obtaining access to education without any gaps and exceptions. the solution that can be developed is the optimization of the role of information and communication technology (ict) in the world of education. one of the roles of ict in education is realized by the development of online learning (e-learning) or the direct use of icts for children. many changes changes in different new values can have a positive impact on children's growth, especially on intellectual intelligence, intelligence emotional, spiritual, and social intelligence. icts have a good influence on children's intellectual, emotional, spiritual and social intelligence; it brings a bad influence on children's intellectual intelligence; it has a pretty good influence on children's emotional intelligence; it has a pretty good influence on children's spiritual intelligence, it has a good influence on children's social intelligence. importance of parents has a role to be able to know the changes that occur during child development. keywords management of value systems; education ict; children's intelligence this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction there are several studies that discuss the positive and negative effects of it development. susena et al. (2013) and gilang et al. (2017) explain that the development of technology in the form of the internet is having a beneficial impact to help the teaching and learning process and affect the level of children's intellectual intelligence (nikmah, 2013; d'amico, 2018). explain that the development of it in the form of mobile phones has both positive and negative effects depending on the user. further negative impacts can be obtained if students use mobile phones for unnecessary purposes and use that does not know the time limit or excessive (nikmah, 2013; machado & tao, 2007). therefore to reduce the negative impact, the child must be able to minimize the time international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 2 to use and use mobile phones for learning purposes and other positive things (nikmah, 2013; setyowati, 2005). the success in living their lives is not only supported by intellectual intelligence (intellectual quotient). many life problems cannot be solved using a rational approach. the meaning is that other intelligence is needed that is related to attitudes and emotions, namely emotional intelligence developing human knowledge that can provide changes to the patterns of human life. it provides several conveniences that can be used to solve several human problems in terms of work, communication, school assignments, and so on to encourage people to use it (susena et al., 2013). with various kinds of conveniences offered, it does not mean that information technology has no shortcomings. the development of it can be two blades for human development, can have a positive impact on daily life or can be a negative impact if it is not suitable for portions (nikmah, 2013). this study discusses the influence of the development of information technology on intellectual intelligence emotional intelligence of spiritual and social intelligence in children. to find out how much influence information technology has on children's intelligence and know the percentage results in the field of intelligence where information technology can have an influence positive and negative. the data were obtained from questionnaires, whose results were calculated using descriptive quantitative methods. the obtained data gained from the population sample of the study were analyzed using predetermined calculation methods. the descriptive research generated in this study were intended to gain an overview and information about the response of parents or the public regarding the influence of information technology on intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and social for children that are integrated with the management of the value system of education. thinking framework in the effect of children's intelligence on education and knowledge including: (a) education can be used as a serious thought and discussed by all elements. it can also begin and is based on the teachings of each of the people they adhere to. therefore, the child learns/takes during his education and can contribute theoretically and practically to personal development, career, and psychology development to improve the quality of rosa / the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through... 3 education in accordance with national education goals; (b) designing learning systems and teaching systems can construct the psychology pragmatic and mathematic systemic in their thinking patterns automatically and continuity in students; (c) reflecting, appreciating the role and strong lenses of students in developing an intellectual tool characteristic of mathematics can build their culture during the educational process: (d) systematics that reflected in the aspects of the knowledge they obtain, can also be reflected in attitudes or traits that are embedded in students' personalities include thinking patterns that can construct reasoning power for their lives; (e) educators in the teaching and learning process are able to stimulate, motivate, provide experience in diagnosing and overcoming the difficulties of students and evaluating them to foster understanding that is in line with the logic of thinking that will become a ray of life; (f) a student who has emotional intelligence height has an awareness of weakness and strength and oriented towards selfimprovement. such a child is able to manage his emotions, which means being able to restrain himself when his emotions are turbulent, and conversely able to hasten to eliminate negative emotions into positive feelings for his progress. motivate himself to learn well, leave, or stay away from things that are detrimental in learning. theoretical perspectives howard gardner (2006) in his multiple intelligences, states that there are eight intelligences in humans, namely: linguistic / verbal / language intelligence, logicalmathematical intelligence, visual / space / spatial intelligence, musical/rhythmic intelligence, physical kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence and naturalist intelligence. the duty of parents and educators to maintain the traits that are the basis of children's intelligence to survive until they grow up, by providing good environmental factors and stimulation to stimulate and optimize brain function and children's intelligence. the problem is how parents and teachers can increase interest children to educate their brain functions through innovations that exist in the way children think (poulou, 2018). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 4 linkages to the intelligence of children with the development of communication technology and value systems beginning with intelligence (intelligence) is generally understood at two levels, namely: (a) intelligence as an ability to understand the information that forms knowledge and awareness; (b) intelligence as the ability to process information so that the problems faced can be solved with thus knowledge increases. meanwhilehile logical intelligence is the ability of scientific reasoning, mathematical calculations, logical thinking, inductive/deductive reasoning, and the sharpness of abstract patterns and relationships, namely the ability to solve problems related to mindset needs as a solution. children with the ability to form abstract patterns can increase in analytical and conceptual activities. the management system of the level of intellectual intelligence is an interpretation of the results of intelligence tests into numbers that can be a clue about the position of a person's level of intelligence (poulou, 2018; ogden & sorlie, 2018). intellectual intelligence can work measuring speed, measuring new things, storing and recalling objective information, and playing an active role in calculating numbers and others. the use of intellectual intelligence that accentuates the ability of logical thinking to find objective, accurate, predict risk, see the consequences of each decision that exists. genetic factors that play a role in the formation of intellectual intelligence will not change much from time to time without the presence of a catalyst from the environment (martin, 2003). environmental factors encourage an increase in human thinking activities, which then leads to increased intellectual intelligence. increased intellectual intelligence is indeed needed to survive (survival) and answer the challenges of the times. in essence, intellectual intelligence helps plan strategies and tactics. intellectual intelligence (iq) can be defined as follows: (a) the ability to work in an abstract, both using ideas, symbols, logical relationships, and theoretical concepts; (b) the ability to recognize and learn and use the abstraction; and (c) the ability to solve problems includes new problems (lonn & teasley, 2009; scaini & caputi, 2018). thus intellectual intelligence is the intelligence of thinking and brilliant reason that manages the right brain and left the brain in a balanced manner, lonn & teasley (2009) as cognitive abilities globally that rosa / the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through... 5 are owned by individuals to act in an orderly manner and think logically. moreover, intellectual intelligence, according to lately (2010) is as follows: (a). related to the skills of using a coordinated limb, someone's interests, such as: having (b) a wide range of interests, keen observation, being able to remember quickly, imagine, have various hobbies, and mechanical skills; (c) related to an impulse to create, find new (innovation); (d) related to intellectual function. this study will show how much change occurs in children after they use information technology and whether the influence of information technology has a positive or negative impact on the level of intelligence of children consisting of intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and social intelligence in terms of parents. this study uses quantitative descriptive methods with data collection using questionnaires, data processing, data analysis, and data interpretation. management of educational value systems in children's (emotional, spiritual and social) intelligence management in children's emotional intelligence is a more ability of the sociological value system possessed by individuals in motivating themselves, resilience in facing failure, controlling emotions and delaying satisfaction, and regulating mental states (goleman, 2002; cabral et al., 2018). with emotional intelligence with psychological values, individuals can put their emotions in the right portion, sort out satisfaction, and set their moods. individuals who have high emotional intelligence can handle their own emotions psychologically well and pay attention to their emotional state, and respond correctly to their emotions to others. meanwhile, martin (2003) and maryani & ludigdo (2001) conducted a content analysis of seven authors on emotional intelligence issues. they found seven main elements: (a) self-awareness; (b) emotional management; (c) self motivation; (d) empathy; (e) managing relationships; (f) interpersonal communication; and (g) personal style. management of the value system in spiritual intelligence is the intelligence of the soul. they are being in a deep part of the self, related to wisdom outside the ego or conscious mind. not only recognizing existing values but also creatively finding management of values that enable one to unite things that are intrapersonal and interpersonal, as well as bridging the gap international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 6 between self and others (zohar & marshall, 2000). this form of spiritual intelligence is a moral attitude that is deemed noble by the perpetrator. the death of old ethics and the whole underlying frame of mind, provide valuable opportunities to create new ethical teachings based on spiritual intelligence (zohar & marshall, 2000). spiritual intelligence can influence one's ethical attitudes spiritual intelligence; it is possible for someone to know better to do good and do the right actions based on conscience. therefore, spiritual intelligence serves as the basis for considering an ethical move or not because of the spiritual intelligence deemed to be noble by the perpetrator, including management of the value system in social intelligence, which is a set of skills that enable us to interact more (goleman, 2002; gilang et al., 2017). people who have good social intelligence will be able to communicate with other people using their brains and bodies (cowie, 2018). they have the ability to read other people's body language and listen to be able to succeed in broad life. social intelligence will make someone comfortable anywhere with other people who have different backgrounds, ages, cultures, and social backgrounds and can make them feel comfortable. so, based on the definition of the experts above, social intelligence means a person's ability to interact, associate, understand and cooperate with other people in different situations using social skills possessed (buzan, 2002; rosenberg, 2001). effect of management system on the values of attitudes, ethics, and aesthetics on children's intelligence learning is a process of mental activity. furthermore, it is said that to know better or understand more about learning, we need to understand more about brain function as an information processor (buzan, 2002). the brain receives information, provides interpretations of information received, stores it, interprets (transforms), combines with other information to create new information, and includes information that was presented. the data collected by the brain is an object of learning, in general, is knowledge. several researchers, gilang et al. (2017) classifies knowledge into four categories, namely: (a) facts, (b) procedures, (c) concepts, and principles. they states that changes in behavior or new abilities acquired by a person in the learning process are referred to as learning rosa / the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through... 7 outcomes, these opinions also support opinions: “through, lonn & teasley (2009) it is informed that attitudes are expressions of one's feelings that are deep, reflecting agree or disagree, which predisposes to specific objects. attitude is an internal state of a person who can influence his behavior towards an object or event around him. they, machado & tao (2007) states that attitudes: (a) can be learned, (b) more than past experiences. (c) indirectly is a relationship between subject and object relating to groups, problems, specific individuals. (d) can be revealed through a few or many items. (e) have affective motives. they d'amico (2018) also states that attitude has three components, namely: (a) cognitive, is a component of consistent attitudes obtained through trust or individual belief in objects, (b) feeling, is a component of attitudes related to emotional connection individual to object, and (c) action tendency which gives impetus for someone to act from the internet, holmes & gardner (2006) obtained by the attitude component information abbreviated as abc which is a description of affective, behavioral, and cognitive. in general, the components of effective and cognitive tend to be more consistent or fixed while the conative part tends to be inconsistent or not fixed”. attitudes are defined as conative reactions caused by a stimulus that requires a response (establishment). ethical attitudes and behavior are attitudes and behaviors that are generally accepted by social norms related with beneficial and harmful actions (maryani & ludigdo, 2001). thus ethical attitudes and behavior are attitudes and responses that are considered suitable by professional ethics. as we already know, ethics is a discipline that deals with what is good and evil, right and wrong, or with mondy's moral obligations and responsibilities (wayne, 2008; gilang et al., 2017). according to bertens (lonn & teasley, 2009) the words “ethics” and “ethical” are not always used in the same sense; therefore “business ethics” can differ in meaning. ethics are divided into two types, namely ethics as praxis and ethics as a reflection. ethics as a praxis means moral values and norms as far as they are practiced or not practiced. even though they should be practiced, it can also be said that ethics as a praxis is what is done to the extent of appropriateness or not in accordance with moral values and norms. ethics as a reflection is moral thinking. in ethics as a reflection, it tries to give reasoning to think about what to do or not do. ethics as a reflection, highlights, and assesses the bad behavior of people. ethics in this sense, can be run at the popular level as well as (holmes & gardner, 2006; lonn & teasley, 2009). iq is the mental age possessed by international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 8 humans based on a comparison of chronological ages. “there are several factors that influence intelligence, namely: (a) congenital or biological factors, where these factors are determined by the nature of being born. the limits of one's ability or ability to solve problems, among others, are determined by innate factors; (b) typical interests and attributes where interest directs actions to a purpose and is an impetus for that action; formation or environmental factors where formation is all conditions outside one's self that influence the development of intelligence; (c) maturity factors where each organ in the human body experiences growth and development; (d) freedom factor means that humans can choose certain methods in solving problems faced. in addition to the freedom to choose a method, it is also free to choose the problem that suits their needs”. measurement of intelligence levels and the factors that influence it one widely accepted intelligence test is based on psychometric testing or iq. measurement of intelligence is done by using a written test or display test (performance test) or currently developing measurements with computer aids. intelligence test equipment commonly used is a. stanford-binet intelligence scale; b. wechsler scales which are divided into several derivative test equipment such as wb (for adults) wais (for newer adults). wisc (for school-age children); wppsi (for pre-school children); ist; tiki (indonesian typical intelligence test tool); frt; pm-60, pm advance. factors that affect achievement and learning scaini & caputi (2018) describe internal factors are factors that come from within ourselves (students) which encourage a student to do something including: (a) intelligence factors. this intelligence plays an important role in student learning achievement. because of the huge part of intelligence in achieving learning achievements, the teacher must give very high attention to the field of study that many need to reason; (b) factors of interest, interest is a steady tendency in the subject to feel interested in a particular field. students who lack interest in certain issues will hinder learning; (c) growth, physical health, state of the sensory devices and others. psychic state shows the state of stability / mental stability of students because healthy physical and psychological are a very positive influence on teaching and learning activities and vice versa. rosa / the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through... 9 from the results of the analysis of the opinions above, it can be concluded that emotional intelligence in social interactions that affect learning achievement in the classroom is the ability of children/students to recognize and understand emotions,. they, then, will use them and apply emotional strength and sharpness as a source of power, information and influence manifested in forms of behavior fostering relationships with classmates. external factors, external factors are factors that come from outside the student's self that affects student learning achievement. these external factors can be obstacles that come from outside or motivated from outside the students, including teacher factors, family environment factors and factors of learning resources. at this time, learning resources can be obtained from cyberspace. the development of the internet, mobile phones, and other media have a significant influence on student learning achievement. the internet is a technology that provides various information and data needed. internet is an international network that can connect computers in the world. this internet network is connected by telephone networks (electromagnetic networks) (trihandini & meirnayanti, 2005; cabral, et al., 2018). research methods outline planned research designs can be explained as follows: activities carried out by assigning assignments to students to be completed by utilizing internet technology and without using internet technology so that these results will be evaluated to obtain new data as a basis for concluding the results of the study (machado & tao, 2007; rosenberg, 2001). during the study, discussions were always held with senior researchers to maintain the quality of the research results. data collection methods used in this study include: questionnaire (questionnaire). questionnaires are some written questions that are used to obtain information from respondents (machado & tao, 2007; holmes & gardner, 2006). questionnaires are distributed to 60 parents to give statements about the effect of information technology on children's intelligence (intellectual, spiritual, emotional and social). the type of questionnaire used in this study is a closed questionnaire which is a type of questionnaire in which the answers to each international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 10 question are provided so that the respondent needs to choose one of the answers [in 16]. the answers provided from each question use the answers to the likert scale value developed by rensis likert. likert scale is a measurement scale used to measure attitudes, opinions, and one's perceptions of social phenomena (lately, 2010). in this scale, the answers to each instrument item have gradations from very positive to very negative (holmes & gardner, 2006). the scale in this study uses a likert scale with five intervals. the population in this study were parents who had children aged 5-15 years. then the research results are processed using the mean calculation formula. the mean is the average, or more clearly, the mean is the average value that we can get from information. the single data means has the following formula: xi = first sample value n = number of samples xi = count average effect of information technology on intelligence xi = first sample value n = number of samples the sequence of question intellectual aspects x1 how is your child's achievement in school after being introduced to technology information? x2 what is your child's learning interest at home after using a gadget? x3 what is the impact of using information technology on children's learning processes? x4 what is the level of understanding of your child in receiving subject matter at school after using gadgets and social media? x5 how does information technology affect the development of your child's intelligence? emotional aspects x6 how is your child responding when ordered by parents while playing gadget? x7 how often do you know your child is telling lies after using information technology (gadgets, laptops, etc.)? x8 how often does your child carry out optional activities (playing games) watching movies on laptops, etc.) rosa / the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through... 11 after getting to know information technology? social aspects x9 how to associate your child with their peers after being introduced to information technology or gadget? x10 how your child treats his peers after being introduced to information technology or gadget? x11 how about your child's social activities after being introduced to information technology or gadget? x12 how is your communication relationship with your child after he was given a gadget? x13 what is your child's attitude after using social media applications like facebook, instagram, twitter, playing gadget? x14 what is the change in your child's emotions after using a gadget? x15 what is your child's reaction when his friend has a more sophisticated gadget? x16 what is your child's ability to solve every problem after introduced to information technology? x17 after getting to know the gadget, does your child often argue or say rude to parents? spiritual aspects x18 is your child on time in carrying out his worship obligations after introduced to technology? x19 whether when attending security activities, your child can concentrate or instead, focus on the gadget? x20 how often does your child use religious applications in carrying our religious activities? population and sample the population in this study were parents who had children aged 5-15 years. respondents were given a questionnaire containing 20 questions consisting of 5 questions about intellectual aspects, emotional aspects, spiritual aspects, and social aspects. then the research results are processed using the mean calculation formula. results and discussion based on the results that have been distributed, the following results are obtained: intellectual aspects table 1. questionnaire results no rating weight international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 12 1 2 3 4 5 x1 16 2 19 21 2 x2 11 25 30 3 1 x3 22 26 3 8 1 x4 28 11 4 15 2 x5 3 19 22 13 3 emotional aspects table 2. results of the questionnaire no rating weight x6 3 31 16 73 x7 2 22 25 11 0 x8 4 14 21 17 4 x9 0 7 39 12 2 x10 2 12 17 18 11 based on the quiz that has been distributed, (x), the results are as follows: x1 a total of 19 parents stated that it had a good influence on children. x2 a total of 29 parents stated that it had less influence on children's interest in learning at home. x3 a total of 24 parents stated that the impact of the use of information technology had an adverse effect. x4 a total of 30 parents stated that the level of understanding of your child in accepting subject matter after using a gadget has an adverse effect. x5 a total of 24 parents stated that the influence of information technology on the development of intelligence has a pretty good influence. x6 it has a bad influence on a child's response when ordered by parents while playing gadgets. x7 a total of 28 parents stated that it has a pretty good influence in changing children's emotions. x8, x9 that it has a considerable influence on having more sophisticated gadgets. a total of 41 as many as 24 reactions of parents' children stated that it has a pretty good influence on children's ability to solve problems. x10 a total of 16 parents stated that their children often said rudely after getting to know the gadget. quizisoner calculations for the influence of it on intellectuals yielded a value of 49. these results indicate that information technology has an unfavorable influence on children's intellectual intelligence. the development of it can make a child's level of interest in learning decline and can have a negative influence on the level of children's achievement. emotional intelligence is influenced by various factors, one of which is the condition of the environment and habits. after being analyzed from the data obtained, it produced a value of 69.1, so rosa / the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through... 13 that it can be said that the influence of it on emotional intelligence is quite good. child development accompanied by the use of technology, in fact, does not harm emotional level, because parents are still 64.5. spiritual aspects table 3. questionnaire results no rating weight 1 2 3 4 5 x11 2 22 25 11 0 x12 0 00 21 26 2 x13 13 30 19 9 1 x14 7 3 10 26 14 x15 9 15 18 10 8 x16 0 5 21 27 7 x17 0 4 25 25 6 x18 0 6 28 20 6 x19 0 5 30 15 10 x20 1 5 35 19 0 data from the table above (table 3) shows that: social aspects table 4. results of the questionnaire no rating weight x16 a total of 21 parents stated that it had a good influence on child interaction with their peers. x17 a total of 25 parents believe that their child treats friends his age well. x18 a total of 28 parents stated that it has a pretty good influence on children's social activities x19 a total of 30 parents stated that it had a pretty good influence on the relationship between parent and child communication. x20 a total of 35 parents stated that the influence of information technology on children's attitudes have a pretty good influence. the development of it has a significant influence on changes in social relations. the number of existing social media applications gives a change in the way social interaction occurs, so there are some people who can have many friends and some who feel isolated. for this problem, the calculation carried out resulted in a value of 69.1 so that it indicates that the influence of it on social intelligence in children is having a good impact. children are easier to make new friends and relationships with friends around the environment are still well established. children can still spend playing with friends of their age. this cannot be separated from the role of parents in supervising children. emotional intelligence is influenced by various factors, one of which is the condition of the environment and habits. after being analyzed from the data obtained, it produced a value of 63.2 so that it can be said that the influence of it on emotional intelligence is quite good. child development accompanied by the use of technology, in fact, does not harm the emotional level, because parents can still control the use of it in their children's international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 14 activities. it can help individuals to carry out their worship activities, depending on how they can maximize them. from the data obtained and after being analyzed, the researchers got the results of the value 61.1, which means that the influence of it on spiritual intelligence is quite good. the development of it does not have a negative impact that can change the habits of a child; parents are also still able to control the time and limits of it usage by its portion. no results recapitulation x1 a total of 21 parents stated that it had a good influence on children. x2 a total of 25 parents stated that it had less influence on study children at home. x3 a total of 26 parents stated that the impact of using information technology had an adverse effect. x4 as many as 28 parents stated that the level of understanding of your child in receiving the subject matter after using the gadget had a bad influence. x5 as many as 22 parents stated that the influence of information technology towards the development of intelligence has a pretty good influence. x6 a total of 31 parents stated that it had a bad influence on the child's response when ordered. x7 a total of 25 parents stated that it has a pretty good influence on changing children's emotions. x8 a total of 21 parents stated that ti had a good influence on the child's reaction when his friend had a more sophisticated gadget. x9 as many as 39 parents stated that it has a pretty good influence on children's ability to solve problems. x10 as many as 18 parents stated that their children often said rudely after getting to know the gadget. conclusion the development of it has a significant influence on changes in social relations. the number of existing social media applications gives a change in the way social interaction occurs, so some people can have many friends and some who feel isolated. for this problem, the calculation carried out resulted in a value of 69.1 so that it indicates that the influence of it on social intelligence in children is having a good impact. children are easier to make new friends and relationships with friends around the environment are still well established. children can again spend playing with friends of their age. this cannot be separated from the role of parents in supervising children. from the four variables measured in the study, an average value of 64.5 was produced. this shows that the influence of it on children's intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and social intelligence is quite rosa / the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through... 15 good. the role of parents is constructive in the development of the level of intelligence of children. information technology is just a tool and advice that can have different effects for each user depending on how the user uses it. for children themselves, of course, for a wise use of it, supervision from parents is needed so that the development of good it can also be balanced with proper child development. based on the results of hypothesis testing in this study, the following conclusions are obtained: (a) it has a sufficiently good influence on children's intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and social intelligence; (b) it has a bad influence on children's intellectual intelligence; (c) it has a fairly good influence on children's emotional intelligence; (d) it has a pretty good influence on children's spiritual intelligence; (e) it has a good influence on children's social intelligence”. thus, parents are expected to pay more attention to their children when using information technology media so that they can still provide excellent benefits. for further research, it is expected to be able to analyze data using methods other than the purposes in this study. research has not shown about the reasons why information technology can have positive or negative impacts on children, so it is expected that further research can show results regarding reasons and methods of mitigation to be able to utilize information technology properly. references buzan, t. (2002). use your perfect memory: memory optimization techniques, recent findings of the human brain. translator basuki herwono. yogyakarta: teralita icon. cabral, h., denham, s. a., housman, d. k. (2018). building young children emotional competence and selfregulation from birth: they begin to ecsel approach.u niversity of malta. center for resilience and socioemotional health. cowie, h. (2018). coping with the emotional impact of bullying and cyberbullying: how research can inform.u niversity of malta. center for resilience and socio-emotional health. d'amico, a. (2018). the use of technology in the promotion of children's emotional intelligence: the multimedia program “developing international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 1-17 16 emotional intelligence”. international journal of emotional education, 10(1), 47-67. gilang, w. s., rivai, m. a., su'udah, m., wulandari, s. l. g., dewi, t. r., fitroh. 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(2018). students 'emotional and behavioral difficulties: rosa / the effect of communication technology development on the intelligence of children through... 17 the role of teachers' social and emotional learning and teacherstudent relationships. the university of malta. center for resilience and socioemotional health. rosenberg, m. j. (2001). e-learning: strategies for delivering knowledge in the digital age.volume 3.new york: mcgraw-hill. scaini, s., caputi, m. (2018). the interaction between psychopathological symptoms and conflictual parent-child relationship in predicting social skills and coping strategies (university of malta. centre for resilience and socio-emotional health. setyowati, y. (2005). family communication patterns and children's emotional development case studies of the application of family communication patterns and their effects on children's emotional development in javanese families). journal of communication sciences, 2 (1), p. 67–78 susena, et al. (2013). the impact of internet use on high school (sma) student intelligence in rural areas in order to improve the quality of education in rural areas. sainstech journals surakarta polytechnic: volume 1. trihandini, r. a., meirnayanti, f. (2005). analysis of the effect of intellectual intelligence, emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence on employee performance (case study at horizon hotel semarang). thesis. semarang: diponegoro university wayne, m. r., (2008). human resource management. jakarta: bandung publisher. zohar, d., marshall, i. (2000). spiritual intelligence, the ultimate intelligence. london: bloomsbury publishing. microsoft word 1121 rosemary nmadinobi ikie (1-11) available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 4 number 2 (2022): 1-11 corresponding author rosemary nmadinobi ikie, ikienma@gmail.com faculty of teacher training and education universitas terbuka and doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i2.1121 research synergy foundation empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie1, moses dele amosun1, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo2 1 university of ibadan, nigeria 2 kent state university, ohio, united states abstract the characteristics of teacher-child interaction play a paramount role in the cognitive development of children. despite its significance, literature abounds on how these characteristics, such as teachers' actions, words, gestures, and responsibilities, may improve or deter children’s development (grosse, 2022; bartholo et al., 2022). thus, this study was carried out to contribute to the body of knowledge, particularly taking into account preschools from a developing nation such as nigeria. it sought to establish the extent and influence of teacher-child interaction on the cognitive development of preprimary children in the ibadan metropolis. the study employed a correlational survey design. a multistage approach was used for sampling and sampling. the total sample size for the study was 200, which comprised 50 pre-primary class teachers and 150 pre-primary school children. two research questions were raised and answered. teacher-child interaction observation schedule (tcios) ∝= 0.72, child cognitive development rating scale (ccdras) ∝= 0.79, and questionnaire on teacher’s perception of teacher-child interaction on cognitive development (qtptcicd) ∝= 0.80 were the instruments used for the study. data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and pearson product moment correlation. the result of the findings revealed that the extent of teacher-child interaction and level of cognitive development was great with (x ) ̅= 3.41and( x) ̅ = 3.61, respectively, as well as the teachers' perceived influence on teacher-child interaction on cognitive development, was positive (x ̅ = 3.16). although the finding showed no significant relationship between teacher-child interaction and cognitive development (r=0.01; p>0.05), it is recommended that teachers, however, should maintain the positive, quality interaction that characterizes preschool teaching, which may resonate with other uniqueness and educational needs of the child. keywords: teacher-child interaction; cognitive development; social behavior; pre-primary children this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction in order for children to develop holistically, it is essential that they begin developing early in life. as a result of constant interaction with others, children's identities are shaped from their earliest days. this means that the family and the childcare setting are the two most important places for young children to thrive. given the length of time children spend in daycare centers, certain traits may have a significant impact on the development of the child. researchers (cruz-aguayo et al., 2019; yoleri, 2016, nichd, 2006) have found high-quality teacher-child interactions in childcare to be just as important as any other features associated with quality childcare. specifically, the years before a child reaches statutory school age (six years) are among the most critical in life span, which can influence learning. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) 2 │ in this sense, interaction refers to a set of behaviors that develop and maintain closeness and contact with an adult figure who is responsible and sensitive to the needs of the kid (kennedy and kennedy, 2004). for ansari and pianta (2019), the more important component of successful early childhood education is the importance of the interactions between children and their teachers. it is possible to evaluate these interactions by looking at the organizational elements of the classroom (e.g., behavior management) and by observing the degree of social involvement (e.g., how sensitive teachers are). all other facets of classroom management are based on how well the teacher and students connect. however, the teacher is the one who has the most influence on creating an environment conducive to good engagement. whitaker (2014) argues that it is better to create a smooth interactive class that will motivate the children to behave rather than exhibiting behaviours that would not make them concentrate in class. teachers should engage in actions such as listening to them, engaging them in faceto-face interaction, providing warm physical contact, answering all their questions, and acknowledging accomplishments and efforts. rather than not being responsive to their needs, lack of empathy and encouragement, more talking, less doing. quality interaction could determine the classroom climate and culture that will enable or restrict classroom instruction and consequently affect the cognitive development of the children (stewart, 2008). treboux, crowell, and waters (2014) posit that the development of close social bonds in childhood is essential to the cognitive development of pre-primary children, adaptive emotional regulation, and their self-concept. however, literature has shown that inability of teachers to perceive, interpret and react promptly to children's needs and attention gives room for poor interaction between the teacher and the child; this could have negative effects on the cognitive as well as social development of the child. consequently, a less stimulated child that is unable to adequately engage in structured classroom tasks and interaction with their peers may later lead to social difficulties, poorer achievement scores, and poor cognitive development (bulotsky-shearer et al., 2017). poor cognitive development in children has been linked to unhealthy interpersonal relationships between teachers and children. in less effective teacher-child interaction classrooms, opportunities are missed to help children attain meaningful learning because they take fewer active roles and do not engage in activities long enough to explore their physical world. nurturing relationships between children and their teachers has been found to aid the development of children's cognition by enhancing their abilities to reason, remember, give opinions, propose ideas, use language and solve problems without restrictions. however, studies have shown that the level of interaction between teachers and children in many pre-primary schools in nigeria is minute because most teachers spend much time imparting content knowledge to children rather than building relationships that will enable them freely discover knowledge (cadima, 2018). the study, therefore, investigated the influence of teacher-child interaction on the cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state. the study further sought to establish the extent of teacher-child interaction as observed in pre-primary school children in ibadan, the level of cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, as well as the relationship between the two variables. previous research with similar research objectives has mostly employed the use of the classroom assessment scoring system (class); this study, however, adapted a self-developed teacher-child interaction observation schedule (tcios) and the child cognitive development rating scale (ccdras) to accommodate the peculiarity of the sample characteristics in nigeria. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 3 research questions the following research questions were used to guide the study: 1. what is the extent of teacher-child interaction as observed in pre-primary school children in ibadan? 2. what is the level of cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan? 3. is there a significant relationship between teacher-child interaction and the cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan? literature review literature abounds that children's school performance is also facilitated by teachers who provide high levels of instruction support, measured through interactions, both in preschool and throughout the primary grades (burchinal et al., 2014; connor, 2014; johnson et al., 2016). in a qualitative study on the experiences of overage children in pre-primary school, olalowo (2020) submitted that the teacher-child interaction in ibadan preschools is too formal and could be likened to a ‘master-slave’ relationship; with communication between teacher to the pupil being a distant interaction. this state of interaction greatly impedes on what best the teacher can cull out of the child since education, in its etymology, seeks to cull out innate tendencies in the child through the help of a more knowledgeable order (mko), and in this case, the teacher. also, in a study conducted by pianta, belsky, houts, and nichd early child care research network (2007) on the influence of teacher-child interaction on the cognitive development of children, the author found that a positive teacher-child interaction predicted growth in language and cognitive development. howes and ritchie (2009) found that teacher-child attachment predicted children’s social competence and cognitive development. the authors also found that children with secure teacher-child relationships played in more complex ways with their peers. peers were more difficult for children who were resistant, and peers who were avoidant were less likely to engage with them. elementary school children have also been shown to experience similar effects. the national institute of child health and human development early child care research network (2002) conducted a study on hundreds of firstto fifth-grade students and found that emotionally warm; sensitive teachers led to increased mathematics and reading abilities in their students. in another study by the same researchers in 2018, of 827 first-grade classrooms in 32 states, emotionally supportive teachers had children who were more likely to engage in academic activities, experience positive relations with peers, and avoid negative behaviours. according to other studies, children with close teacher-child interactions tend to perform better academically (birch and ladd, 1997). these children score higher on achievement tests, have a positive attitude toward school, engage in the classroom, have lower retention rates in grades, and are referred to special education more often. research method this study utilized a descriptive survey research design. this allows for variable characteristics to be presented without manipulation. descriptive survey research design, according to ary, jacobs, and sorensen (2010), is research that provides an accurate portrayal of the characteristics of a particular individual, situation, or group. however, to accommodate the intention of establishing the significant relationship that exists between the variables of the study, the correlational research design was integrated into this study. creswell (2012) described correlational research as a non-experimental quantitative design in which the researcher applies correlational statistics to measure and describe the degree of relationship among variables or sets of scores. the variables of the study were existing international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) 4 │ variables that did not require manipulation by the researchers. the study population comprised all public pre-primary school teachers and pre-primary school children in ibadan north and ibadan southwest local government areas, nigeria. a multi-stage approach was adopted. a simple random sampling technique was used to select two (2) out of the five (5) local government areas in ibadan metropolis. twenty-five (25) public pre-primary schools were randomly selected from each of the two selected local government areas, making a total of fifty (50). total enumeration was used to select one teacher per school, and three (3) children were randomly selected per school to be assessed, making a total of one hundred and fifty (150) children. altogether, two hundred participants were involved. this encompassed fifty (50) pre-primary class teachers and one hundred and fifty (150) children in the two local government areas selected. the validated instruments used to gather the data for this study were: i. teacher-child interaction observation schedule (tcios) with a reliability coefficient of ∝=0.72. it was designed by the researchers to observe the level of interaction among teachers in pre-primary classes. the tcios was initially presented to experts in the field of teacher education, early childhood education, and sociology of education to determine the content validity of the instrument. unnecessary and unclear items were later reworked and constituted the final draft. the instrument has twenty items with a 4-likert scale format ranging from 'very often' =4 to 'never' = 1. two sample items include: "teacher is friendly with the children" and "teacher listens to the children speak out their thoughts". ii. child cognitive development rating scale (ccdras). the rating scale was designed by the researcher to rate the level of cognitive development in pre-primary children. the instrument was divided into two sections. the first section contains information about the children's language development. two sample items include: "the child can recite a song or poem" and "the child can speak the language of the immediate environment". at the same time, the other section contains items on children's cognitive development. two sample items include: "the child sorts out the living things from a list of items" and "the child mentions objects in the classroom and their uses". it was rated on a 5-likert scale format ranging from 'excellent' (5) to 'poor' (1). the final draft of the rating scale was arrived at after subjecting the initial drafts to a validation process. to validate the instrument, 22 copies of the rating scale were administered among preschool pupils with similar sample characteristics to the participating children, but that was outside the intended sample scope. the data was analysed using an inter-rater to determine its reliability coefficient, which yielded 0.79. (∝=0.79). in analysing the data, frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation were the descriptive statistics that were used to analyze research questions. findings and discussion the population of pre-primary school children in this study was almost the same for both male and female children, with male children being slightly higher by 6.6% when the total population in both ibadan north and ibadan south west lgas was considered. table 1 shows that there are 80 male children, which account for 53.3%, and 70 female children, which account for 46.7% of the sampled population. table 1. gender distribution of pre-primary school children in two lgas in ibadan gender frequency percentage male 80 53.3 female 70 46.7 total 150 100 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 5 the extent of teacher-child interaction in ibadan pre-primary schools table 2. extent of teacher-child interaction as observed among pre-primary school children in ibadan metropolis s/n items vo o r n mean std. d 1. teacher is friendly with the children. 104 (69.3) 45 (30) 1 (0.7) 3.69 .47 2. teacher makes the children laugh 8 (5.3) 102 (68) 39 (26) 1 (0.7) 2.78 .54 3. teacher holds the children’s attention. 117 (78) 31 (20.7) 2 (1.3) 3.77 .45 4. teacher guides the children’s learning activities. 122 (81.3) 27 (18) 1 (0.7) 3.81 .41 5. teacher explains clearly to the children. 142 (94.7) 7 (4.7) 1 (0.7) 3.94 .26 6. teacher is patient with the children. 51 (34) 98 (65.3) 1 (0.7) 3.33 .48 7. the teacher allows the children to speak/ask question. 56 (37.3) 85 (56.7) 9 (6) 3.31 .58 8. the teacher appreciates the children's efforts in answering question. 122 (81.3) 27 (18) 1 (0.7) 3.81 .41 9. the teacher listens to the children speak out their thoughts. 15 (10) 107 (71.3) 28 (18.7) 2.91 .53 10. the teacher listens and follows the children's instruction. 12 (8) 70 (46.7) 67 (44.7) 1 (0.7) 2.62 .64 11. teacher expresses himself/herself to the children clearly. 110 (73.3) 37 (24.7) 3 (2) 3.71 .49 12. teacher is reassuring when children do not understand class activities. 24 (16) 119 (79.3) 7 (4.7) 3.11 .44 13. teacher engages the children in interaction on issues of their interest. 10 (6.7) 47 (31.3) 93 (62) 2.45 .62 14. the teacher is approachable when there is a need to settle disputes among peers. 57 (38) 83 (55.3) 10 (6.7) 3.31 .59 15. teacher shows anger or impatience in the class. 16 (10.7) 8 (5.3) 125 (83.3) 1 (0.7) 2.26 .65 16. teacher shows care, comfort, and love to the children. 115 (76.7) 34 (22.7) 1 (0.7) 3.76 .44 17. teacher is very strict with the children. 20 (13.3) 40 (26.7) 90 (60) 2.53 .72 18. teacher shows a sad or unhappy face to misbehaving children. 26 (17.3) 74 (49.3) 50 (33.3) 2.84 .69 19. teacher is not lenient when reprimanding misbehaving children. 45 (30) 79 (52.7) 26 (17.3) 3.13 .67 20. teacher shows confidence and enthusiasm during class activities. 122 (81.3) 27 (18) 1 (0.7) 3.81 .41 weighted average = 3.41 v=very often, o=often, r=rarely and n=never. numbers in parentheses are percentages of the total number of observed interactions. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) 6 │ the results presented in table 2 above show that, generally, the extent of teacher-child interaction is high (wa = 3.41). specifically, those above the 3.41 weighted average were the following: teacher shows confidence and enthusiasm during class activities ( �̅�= 3.81); teacher shows care, comfort, and love to the children ( �̅�= 3.76); teacher expresses himself/herself to the children clearly ( 𝑋= 3.71); teacher appreciates the children efforts in answering the question ( �̅�= 3.81); teacher explains clearly to the children ( �̅�= 3.94); teacher guides the children’s learning activities (�̅� = 3.81); teacher holds the children’s attention ( �̅�= 3.77); teacher is friendly with the children ( 𝑥= 3.69). the result of this study revealed that the extent of teacher-child interaction is high. the reason for this could be for the reasons related to the recent effort of the current administration to equip teachers across public schools in the state with the necessary resources (books, learning aids, stimulating learning environment) that reduce workplace stress, the teacher, therefore, could engage in the open communication process (giving information and receiving feedback in real-time) and simultaneously considering the emotional needs of the children within the learning environment created. this suggests that the teachers are aware of the needs of the children and attend to these needs by creating an enabling environment for learning to take place. this implication of this is that learning has taken place, and as such, there should be progress in academic performance. this finding corroborates the submission of cadima, leal, and burchinal (2010), who posited that evidence of positive relationships in the 'teacherdomain' is closely linked with the growth of children's academic achievement and that classroom instructional quality benefitted children with low initial self-regulation because of the interaction quality and social field, in turn, leads to even higher academic achievement and better relationships with peers cadima, verschueren, leal, & guedes (2016). level of cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan metropolis table 3. extent of cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan metropolis s/n language development 1 2 3 4 5 mean std. d 1. the child can recite songs or poems. 6 (4) 17 (11.3) 33 (22) 38 (25.3) 56 (37.3) 3.81 1.174 2. the child is able to speak the language of the immediate environment. 24 (16) 18 (12) 36 (24) 52 (34.7) 20 (13.3) 3.17 1.273 3. the child is able to say his/her name. 19 (12.7) 8 (5.3) 9 (6) 26 (17.3) 88 (58.7) 4.04 1.418 4. the child says the name of his/her teacher. 6 (4) 17 (11.3) 23 (15.3) 61 (40.7) 43 (28.7) 3.79 1.103 5 the child greets elders, teachers, and peers appropriately. 14 (9.3) 21 (14) 15 (10) 30 (20) 70 (46.7) 3.81 1.394 6. the child can mention the days of the week. 8 (5.3) 24 (16) 45 (30) 45 (30) 28 (18.7) 3.41 1.124 7. the child can recite the alphabet. 7 (4.7) 19 (12.7) 17 (11.3) 24 (16) 83 (55.3) 4.05 1.266 8. the child is able to read two-letter words. 11 (7.3) 32 (21.3) 30 (20) 52 (21.3) 25 (16.7) 3.32 1.195 9.. the child can identify one-letter words. 7 (4.7) 14 (9.3) 25 (16.7) 63 (42) 41 (27.3) 3.78 1.092 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 7 s/n language development 1 2 3 4 5 mean std. d 10. the child can read short stories. 24 (16) 24 (16) 36 (24) 43 (28.7) 23 (15.3) 3.11 1.303 11. the child listens and answers questions on a story read. 17 (11.3) 31 (20.7) 57 (38) 35 (23.3) 10 (6.7) 2.93 1.079 12. the child identifies letters and mentions the objects they represent. 7 (4.7) 28 (18.7) 34 (22.7) 35 (23.3) 46 (30.7) 3.57 1.234 intellectual development 13. the child can sort out living things from a list of items. 4 (2.7) 34 (22.7) 66 (44) 40 (26.7) 6 (4) 3.00 .851 14. the child is able to group together non-living things from a list of items. 4 (2.7) 37 (24.7) 69 (46) 35 (23.3) 5 (3.3) 3.68 1.076 15. the child mentioned objects in the classroom and their uses. 4 (2.7) 22 (14.7) 28 (18.7) 60 (40) 36 (24) 3.04 .897 16. the child identifies domestic animals. 9 (6) 23 (15.3) 78 (52) 33 (22) 7 (4.7) 2.96 .866 17. the child mentions the non-domestic animals. 9 (6) 28 (18.7) 77 (51.3) 32 (21.3) 4 (2.7) 2.17 1.197 18. child is able to say some characteristics of living things 55 (36.7) 47 (31.3) 23 (15.3) 17 (11.3) 8 (5.3) 3.91 1.217 19. the child is able to identify numbers 1-20. 10 (6.7) 11 (7.3) 25 (16.7) 41 (27.3) 71 (42) 3.86 1.336 20. the child can count numbers from 1-50. 11 (7.3) 20 (13.3) 19 (12.7) 29 (19.3) 71 (47.3) 3.25 1.123 21. the child is able to add up one-digit numbers. 11 (7.3) 28 (18.7) 43 (28.7) 49 (32.7) 19 (12.7) 2.85 1.145 22. child adds up two-digit numbers. 14 (9.3) 54 (36) 38 (25.3) 29 (19.3) 15 (10) 2.81 1.266 23. child subtracts oneand two-digit numbers. 21 (14) 51 (34) 35 (23.3) 21 (14) 22 (14.7) 2.95 1.203 24. child mentioned some basic shapes. 19 (12.7) 38 (25.3) 42 (28) 34 (22.7) 17 (11.3) 3.47 1.014 25. the child is able to name objects in the environment. 5 (3.3) 24 (16) 36 (24) 66 (44) 19 (12.7) 3.21 .909 26. child mentions objects that move in the air. 6 (4) 22 (14.7) 65 (43.3) 48 (32) 9 (6) 3.11 .899 27. child gives examples of sinking objects. 5 (3.3) 28 (18.7) 73 (48.7) 34 (22.7) 10 (6.7) 3.14 .898 28. child is able to say some examples of float objects. 7 (4.7) 21 (14) 75 (50) 38 (25.3) 9 (6) 3.39 .818 29. the child mentions the 2 17 61 61 9 3.24 .857 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) 8 │ s/n language development 1 2 3 4 5 mean std. d means of transportation. (1.3) (11.3) (40.7) (40.7) (6) 30. child is able to give examples of things that move on land. 4 (2.7) 24 (16) 59 (39.3) 58 (38.7) 5 (3.3) 2.34 1.252 31. child can identify parts of the computer 43 (28.7) 57 (38) 19 (12.7) 18 (12) 13 (8.7) 1.86 1.371 32. child knows the simple definition of a computer 96 (64) 21 (14) 5 (3.3) 14 (9.3) 14 (9.3) 3.81 1.174 weighted average= 3.60 5=excellent 4=good, 3=average, 2=below average and 1=poor std. d= standard deviation the higher cognitive abilities (i.e., those above the weighted average of 3.60) were observed for the following language and mental development areas: the child can recite songs or poems (�̅� = 3.81); the child is able to say his/her name (�̅� = 4.04), the child says the name of his/her teacher ( �̅�= 3.79), the child greets elders, teachers, and peers appropriately ( �̅�= 3.81), the child can recite the alphabet ( �̅�=4.05), the child can identify one letter words (�̅� = 3.78), the child identifies letters and mentions objects they represent ( �̅�= 3.57), the child is able to group together non-living things from a list of items (�̅� = 3.68), the child is able to say some characteristics of living things ( �̅�= 3.91), the child mentioned some basic shapes ( �̅�= 3.47), the child knows the simple definition of a computer ( 𝑥 = 3.81). therefore, in response to the second research question, "what is the level of cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan?", the results showed that the level of cognitive development of pre-primary school children among the sample population in ibadan was between average and good. this suggests that the interaction between teachers and the children, which had responses mostly between 'often' and 'very often', provided sufficient stimulation for the children to have high cognitive development (that is, between average and good). this suggests a link between stimulated learning and children's participation in learning outcomes. this goes to show that interacting and teaching are connected, and when used by teachers, it helps children attain their full potential in academic endeavours. this finding resonated with son and chang (2018) in their study of childcare experiences and early school outcomes and submitted that children in groups with higher interaction quality are more likely to have better working memories as well as show less disruptive behavior. also, birch and ladd (1997) earlier established in their study that children with close teacher-child interaction tend to perform well academically, including having higher test scores on achievement tests, more positive attitude towards school, more engagement in the classroom, less retention in grades and few referrals to special education. this corroborates the finding of dornyei and ushioda (2013), who posited that teacher-child attachment has a positive relationship with the cognitive development of children. this showed that teachers carry full responsibility for creating an environment that fosters children's motivation, their academic performance as well as the formation of high cognitive development. the consistent revalidation of this outcome in various regions and among learners of different groups further suggests the importance of developing a more formidable model of teacher-child interaction, especially as we experience a rapidly evolving society that compels education to be delivered more in a way that promotes less social physical interaction. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 9 relationship between teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in two lgas ibadan metropolis. to answer this question, inferential statistics of pearson’s product moment correlation was employed table 4. relationship between teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in two lgas ibadan metropolis variable n mean std. r sig. remark teacher-child interaction cognitive development 150 150 64.88 104.07 3.50 17.09 -0.011 0.90 not significant table 4 shows that there is no relationship between teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan metropolis (r=-0.01; p>0.05). the finding reveals relationship was not established between teacher-child interaction and the cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan. this means that the interaction that existed between the teachers and the children did enhance their cognitive development but not to a significant end that could be reckoned with. this could be that the teachers were after helping the children learn specifics to meet up syllabus or pass examinations as this became a trend that was embraced shortly after the declining death rates caused by covid-19 in many societies due to various preventative measures, including vaccination roll-out programs (frimpong et al., 2022, mennechet and dzomo, 2020) the teacher’s interaction is mostly about rote learning and memorization, which may give high cognitive development. there are factors that could have necessitated high cognitive development without forming relationships, such as genetic factors, home environment, and home lessons. teachers should enhance facilitating interpersonal relations; from a sociological viewpoint, it is important to keep children committed to the educational process as this would have a positive influence on their cognitive development. this finding also corroborated with mashburn et al. (2018) study of four-year-old children and observed that only specific aspects of process quality showed an effect on social and emotional development, but no significant correlation was found between the general quality of the childcare centers and the development of social skills, nor between the quality of the instructional support (as measured with class observation instrument) and the development of social skills. also, the findings corroborate worley's (2007) study, which determined whether there is a link between independent variables of teacher-child attachment on the cognitive development, motivation, low-income status, and academic performance of pre-primary children. the study did not reveal a significant effect of teacherchild relationships on the academic performance of children. the study found that children who participated in the study generally had positive relationships with their teachers. conclusion based on the findings, it showed that though teacher-child interaction may not significantly influence the cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan metropolis, however, when the teachers create a conducive, stimulating learning atmosphere where positive interaction exists between the teacher and the children, they generally would express good cognitive coordination. the following recommendations were made based on this study: international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 1-11 empirical realities of teacher-child interaction and cognitive development of pre-primary school children in ibadan, oyo state rosemary nmadinobi ikie, moses dele amosun, iyanuoluwa emmanuel olalowo issn 2685-4074 (online) 10 │ 1. teachers should create a warm, positive interaction that would stimulate the children's intellectual domain, thereby enhancing holistic development. this means that when learning is child-centered with activities that spur the children's curiosity, their cognitive development will be enhanced. 2. pre-primary school teachers should adopt good teaching styles, such as interactive methods and play-way methods, among others, that would help in the cognitive development of the child. 3. school management should equip and stock the pre-primary children's classes with stimulating and interactive materials such as different types of toys which the children can interact with as this would enhance their domains of learning. pre-primary school teachers should create a warm environment for all the children in the classroom in such a way that the teacher's interactions with the children are peculiar to their needs and interest. children should not be treated unfairly or harshly because this can make children would feel insecure, and their cognitive development is not guaranteed. references ary, d., jacobs, l. c., & sorensen, c. 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(2016). teacher-child relationships in preschool period: the roles of child temperament and language skills. international electronic journal of elementary education, 9 (1) 201-224. 46-60_siti aisyah_development of thinking skills in early childhood international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 51-67 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i1.17 pi ssn 2 6 5 59 98 6 article history: received march 1st, 2019; accepted may 29th, 2019; published may 29th, 2019. development of thinking skills in early childhood siti aisyah a, 1 a universitas terbuka, indonesia 1 sitia@ut.ac.id abstract this research aims to obtain empirical data on the effect of reading method and thinking skills toward intelligence language of early childhood. thus the researchers wanted to investigate the causal relationship between the reading method and thinking skills with the intelligence language of children by giving treatment to the experimental group and compared it with the control group. this study used a treatment design by level 2 x 2 be in the design, each of the independent variables are classified into two sides, includes action variable that is reading methods (a) are classified into the big book methods (a1) and syllables method (a2). whereas moderator variables that is thinking skills (b), are classified based on high and low level into high-level thinking skills (b1) and low-level thinking skills (b2). anova calculation results showed that language skills of children who followed reading activities by using the big book method is higher than the language skills of children who attend reading activities by using syllables method. thus, there is the effect of the application of the big book method and syllables methods toward language skills of children. keywords: big book method; syllables method; thinking skills and language skills this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction children are unique individuals and not adults in small forms. every ability possessed by a child is like a vast ocean that stretches to be excavated and developed. it takes the environment and individuals who can bring about this potential. viewed from development, the period from the time a child is born to the age of 6 years is the most critical period for children's cognitive development. the effort to improve thinking skills is by teaching high-level thinking or in english called higher order thinking skills (hots). as a basis for high-level understanding thinking, one of the learning domains proposed by bloom can be used. in this study the six levels of thinking used the theory put forward by benjamin bloom, which was revised by orin anderson and david r. krathwohl, namely: remember, comprehension, application (application), analysis, evaluation and create. thinking skills are divided into two categories, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 46-60 52 namely lower order thinking skills (lots) and higher order thinking skills (hots). in the institute for early childhood education (paud), training children to think must go through fun activities and not through heavy thinking exercises. one activity that is fun for children and can be used to develop hots children is a storytelling activity using tiered questions. teachers need to provoke children to think higher by raising questions that demand higher thinking children. the general use of storytelling methods is to develop children's language skills. but other abilities can develop along with the development of children's language skills, which are prominent cognitive abilities. piaget argues that cognitive development influences the development of language, so that in understanding stories, children's cognitive develops first, then their language skills. efforts to develop early childhood thinking skills, in this study, are carried out through the use of questions systematic. by observing various phenomena and idealistic realities above, it is crucial to do research related to these multiple things. in positivistic, this study will examine the use of teacher questions that can improve early childhood thinking skills. based on the background description of the problem above, several issues can be identified as follows: 1) children's thinking skills have not been developed optimally, 2) teachers in kindergarten have not used the opportunity to practice children's thinking skills. by noting the extent of the problem, not all issues related to the development of early childhood thinking skills can be answered in this study. therefore, the problem in this study is only limited to the variables studied, namely the aspects relating to children's thinking skills and how to develop them by using structured questions so that children's thinking skills can improve. this research was conducted in south tangerang. anita woolfolk (2004: 53) suggests that the ability to speak of children aged 4-6 years, among others, children can tell stories, retell and continue some stories that have been heard, can communicate or talk fluently with correct pronunciation, can explain something and answer questions about what, who, what, where, why, cause and effect. reading in terms of the whole language concept, carole edelsky et al. (1991: 13) states that are the ability to construct meaning in which there is an interaction between what children read and experience gained. the ability to read aisyah / development of thinking skills in early childhood 53 is essential for children as stated by mary leonhardt (2000: 27) that there are reasons why there is a need to grow love of reading in children, namely: 1) children who love reading will learn well, most of the time is used to read, 2) children love to read will have a higher sense of language. they will speak, write, and understand complex ideas better, 3) reading will provide broader insights in everything, and make learning easier, 4) reading fondness will provide a variety of perspectives to children, 5) reading can help children to have compassion, 6) children who love reading are faced with a world full of possibilities and opportunities, and 7) children who love reading will be able to develop creative patterns within themselves. reading activities are related to (1) the introduction of the letter (2) the sound of letters or series of letters, and (3) meaning or purpose and (4) understanding of meaning or purpose based on the context of the discourse. the most crucial issue in developing reading skills in early childhood is reconstructing the way to learn it so that children think their learning activities are like playing. about the concerns of some circles about teaching reading in early childhood was put forward by jackson et al. (2005: 403) reading before entering formal school does not affect school performance later. children who know how to read when they enter school, remain superior readers at least until the sixth grade. another opinion about how children read is put forward by david f. bjorklund (2005: 400) who says that there are two approaches (1). a bottom-up process, where children learn the components of language (letter recognition, the relationship of letters to sounds) and then interpret it, while the second is a top-down process. this approach refers to a constructivist perspective based on the theory developed by piaget. this approach teaches children to pay attention to the interests of children and the background of the knowledge they have, which is related to the information that will be learned from the text given. a top-down process approach puts forward a meaningful context which is then known as the wholelanguage approach. lesley mandel morrow (1998: 241) writing is one of the media to communicate so that children can convey their meanings, ideas, thoughts, and feelings through meaningful strings of words. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 46-60 54 writing is a process that allows someone to write down the meaning they have to be read by others. the process of writing involves thinking, feeling, speaking, and reading. rita l. atkinson (1997: 66) explains that language development has a major neurological system located “in the left brain (left hemisphere)”. the first major area was broca's territory, related to the language's ability to produce or speak. broca's territory is responsible for (1) the production of language, specifically the pronunciation of words correctly; (2) selection of appropriate and reasonable words, including loose words, affixed words, conjunctions; (3) compilation of complete sentences (not just keywords); (4) storage of articulation codes to determine the sequence of muscle movements needed to say a word; (5) the sender of the articulation code to the lip, tongue, larynx and other utensils in speech production activities. the second main area of language ability is the wernicke area located in the temporal lobe (the area above the ear). this area plays a role in understanding words. thus, this area allows one to listen to the sounds of language while understanding the meaning, meaning, and purpose. in this area, the audit code is stored and the meaning of the word. understanding of this area includes understanding syntax. laurent b. resnick (1987: 44) defines high-level thinking skills as the ability to think when someone associates new information with information that has been stored in his memory and connects it and rearranges and develops that information to achieve a goal or find a settlement of a situation that is difficult to solve. benjamin bloom created a taxonomy which was then revised by anderson and david r. krathwohl (2001: 10) to categorize the level of abstraction of questions that often arise in the world of education. the taxonomy provides a structure that is useful for categorizing questions. the six categories in the opinion of edwards, m. craig & briers can be divided into two categories, namely power order thinking skills (lots) and higher order thinking skills (hots). lots consists of skills in remembering, understanding, and using them. whereas including the higher order thinking skills (hots) include: combining, creating, designing, developing, evaluating, and justifying. according to the opinion of anita harnadek (1980: 56), several strategies can be carried out by teachers in improving the aisyah / development of thinking skills in early childhood 55 high-level thinking skills of their students. the steps are: (a) teach skills in the real-life context of students (b) vary the learning context in using newly taught thinking skills (c) learning is done by optimizing every opportunity to build high-level thinking skills (d) encouraging children to think about the thinking strategies they use. research method the research was conducted in hikari kindergarten and bakti atomica kindergarten in south tangerang's setu district for three months, namely august to october 2013. in this study, the design used was experimental treatment by level 2 x 2. design treatment by level 2 x 2 is an experimental design that involves one dependent variable and two or more independent variables. this design is used to investigate whether there is a causal relationship and how much the causal relationship is by giving specific treatments to several experimental groups and providing controls for comparison. this study uses design treatment by level 2 x 2 because two independent variables affect one dependent variable, namely the reading method and thinking skills as independent variables and the ability to speak as the dependent variable. in design, each independent variable is classified into two sides, including action variables, namely the reading method (a) is classified into the big book method (a1) and the syllable method (a2). while the moderator variable is thinking skills (b), ranked based on the level of high and low into high-level thinking skills (b1) and lowlevel thinking skills (b2). based on this explanation, the design can be seen in the table 1. table 1. design experiment treatment by level 2 x 2 method thinking big book (a1) word (a2) high(b1) a1b1 a2b1 low (b2) a1b2 a2b2 information: a1b1: a group of children with high-level thinking skills who get the reading method with the big book. a2b1: a group of children with high-level thinking skills who get a method of reading with syllables. a1b2: a group of children with low-level thinking skills who get the reading method with the big book. a2b2: a group of children with low-level thinking skills who get a method of reading with syllables. population can be divided into actual population or target population (target population) and population accessible (accessible population). thus, it can be international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 46-60 56 explained that the affordable population in this study is group b kindergarten in setu district academic year 2013/2014. while the population is not affordable, that is, all groups of kindergarten in south tangerang. the research sample was determined in a phased manner as follows: determining kindergarten for the implementation of multi stage random sampling research. determination is done by paying attention to the characteristics of kindergartens that have similarities that can affect language skills, such as teacher quality, curriculum used, reading methods used, infrastructure owned, the social and geographical environment of the school. in addition, it also pays attention to family characteristics, such as parents' educational background, and family socioeconomic status. based on these characteristics, there are seven kindergartens that meet established characteristics of the seven selected kindergartens, based on these criteria two kindergartens were established. determination of the two kindergartens is done randomly, namely by lottery. in this way the tk hikari and the atomita kindergarten were obtained. determine the unit of analysis based on the tendency of children's thinking skills. classifications used for thinking skills variables are high thinking skills and low thinking skills. determination of groups of high and low thinking skills is done by using scores of self-developed thinking skills by adopting the thinking level of the theory put forward by benjamin bloom which created a taxonomy which was later revised aisyah / development of thinking skills in early childhood 57 by anderson and david r. krathwohl. the taxonomy was later developed by barbara fowler, longview community the provisions for sorting many samples of high and low groups by 27%, which were multiplied to 35%, the composition of the samples in each group was 16 children. sampling for the determination of groups having high and low thinking skills is done by observation when the child is carrying out activities. the teacher uses a picture story book. then read it to the students using a sequence of thinking skills. researchers are assisted by other teachers who have been trained before to assess the child's ability at the time of the activity by giving a checklist to the instrument. then group them into categories of children with low and high thinking skills by sequencing so that each of them numbered 16 children per class. thus, overall 64 children were obtained as research subjects from the two schools. results and discussion testing requirements analysis: test for normality with lilliefors test and homogeneity test with bartlett test. the table 1. summary of description of data on language ability thinking skill statistic method keterampilan thinking skill big book (a1) words (a2) high (b1) n 16 16 32 x ̄ 159.44 154.19 156.81 s 3.20 3.56 4.27 s2 10.26 12.70 18.22 xmaksimal 165 160 165 xminimal 154 146 146 low (b2) n 16 16 32 x ̄ 152.50 139.13 145.81 s 4.05 3.61 7.77 s2 16.40 13.05 60.42 xmaksimal 158 146 158 xminimal 146 131 131 total n 32 32 64 x ̄ 155.97 146.66 151.31 s 5.03 8.43 8.33 s2 25.32 71.01 69.42 information: n = number of samples per group x̄ = average score for each group s = standard deviation s2 = sample variance for each group international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 46-60 58 results of the normality test show data is normally distributed. homogeneity testing shows that the same variance or data group is homogeneous. the summary of the results of the normality test can be seen in the table 2. table 2. normality test results data group n lh lt remarks group a1 32 0.1045 0.1566 normal group a2 32 0.1472 0.1566 normal group a1b1 16 0.0802 0.2130 normal group a2b1 16 0.1813 0.2130 normal group a1b2 16 0.0973 0.2130 normal group a2b2 16 0.0881 0.2130 normal table 2 shows that all groups of data tested for normality by lilliefors test give a lh value (lilliefors value for observation) which is smaller than the lt value (critical value l in the table for lilliefors test) thus it can be concluded that all data groups in the study this comes from a population with normal distribution. homogeneity test this test is carried out using the bartlett test. from the calculation of homogeneity test obtained 0.8287 while abel2 table at the significance level α = 0.05 is 7.8147. this number indicates that the null hypothesis is accepted, so it can be concluded that the population is homogeneous. in more detail the calculation results can be seen in the table 3. table 3. homogeneity test results sample group db si2 log si2 (ni-1) si2 (ni-1) log si2 a1b1 15 10.26 1.01 153.94 15.17 a1b2 15 16.40 1.21 246.00 18.22 a2b1 15 12.70 1.10 190.44 16.55 a2b2 15 13.05 1.12 195.75 16.73 ∑ 60 52.41 4.45 786.13 66.68 after the requirements for testing the analysis, the hypothesis testing is done by using a two-way analysis of variance (anava) at a significance level of 5% (α = 0.05). a summary of the results of the calculation of data analysis, can be seen in the table 4. table 4 results of calculation of two-way anava variance db sum square mean square fhitung ftabel learning method a 1 1387.56 1387.56 105.90 4.00 learning method b 1 1936.00 1936.00 147.76 4.00 interaction a*b 1 264.06 264.06 20.15 4.00 error 60 786.13 13.10 total 63 4373.75 based on the results of analysis of variance (anava) two paths can be explained as follows first, testing the first hypothesis, from table 4, obtained fount = 105.90 and ftable = 4.00 at the 0.05 significance level, aisyah / development of thinking skills in early childhood 59 because fcount> ftable then h0 is rejected. this means there are differences in language skills between children given the big book method and the syllable method. because the average language ability of children given the big book method is 155.97 and for the syllable method is 146.66, it is concluded that the language skills of children given the big book method are higher than the language skills of children given the syllable method. second, testing the second hypothesis, obtained calculations = 20.15 and ftables = 4.00 at the 0.05 level of significance, because fcount> ftable then h0 is rejected. this means that there is an influence of the interaction between the reading method (a) and thinking skills (b), on the language skills of early childhood. based on the testing of the research data group, it can be visualized as in the figure 1. figure 1. visualization of interactions between reading methods and thinking skills on language ability because there are interactions between children who are given the big book method and the syllable for children's language skills, then proceed to testing the simple effect with the tuckey test. table 5. conclusion of the tuckey test no range mean qcount qtabl e 1 a1b1-a2b1 µa1b1= 159.44 µa2b1= 154.19 5.25 2.56 2 a1b2-a2b2 µa1b2 = 152.50 µa2b2 = 139.13 13.38 2.56 third, testing the third hypothesis is known from table 5 the value of q count = 5.25 and qtable = 2.56 for the significance level of 0.05, then h0 is rejected. the average language skills of children with the big book method and have high thinking skills = 159.44 and the average language skills of children given the syllable method and have high thinking skills = 154.19. so that it can be concluded that children who have high thinking skills, who were given the big book method obtained higher language skills compared to children who were given the syllable method. fourth, from table 5, the value of q count = 13.38 and qtable = 2.56 for the significance level of 0.05, then h0 is accepted. "the hypothesis is not supported by empirical data". the average language skills of children with the big book method 159.44 154.19152.50 139.13 120.00 130.00 140.00 150.00 160.00 170.00 a1 a2 b1 b2 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 46-60 60 and have low thinking skills = 152.50 and the average language skills of children given the syllable method and have low thinking skills = 139.13 so it can be concluded that children who have low thinking skills are given the big method book obtains higher language skills compared to children given the syllable method. discussion table 6. language ability scores for each group method thinking bigbook (a1) word (a2) ∑ line high (b1) mean 159.44 154.19 156.8 low (b2) mean 152.50 139.13 145.82 ∑ column mean 155.97 146.66 151.31 conclusion based on the table it can be concluded that the average score of language skills that follow reading activities with big book with a tendency to high thinking skills is higher than the group of children who follow the syllable method with high thinking skills (159.44> 154.19). the findings in the field show that by giving the big book method to children who have high thinking skills, they will be more challenged and have the flexibility to think especially when giving meaning to the words taught and their links to the whole storyline. by using descriptive analysis, the average score of the results of language skills obtained by reading activities using the big book method was different from the scores produced by the children who took part in reading activities with the syllable method, which were 155.97 and 146.66, respectively. this is supported by inferential analysis which states that there is a difference between language skills that follow reading activities using the big book method with the syllable method. judging from the magnitude of the average score produced by the two methods, it can be said that the big book method produces a higher language proficiency score compared to the syllable method. the results of anava calculations show that the language skills of children who take part in reading activities with the big book method are higher than the language skills of children who take part in reading activities with the syllable method. thus, there is influence in the application of the big book method and the syllable method to children's language skills. these results reinforce the research conducted by connie and cecilia (2000: 12) who concluded that there were differences aisyah / development of thinking skills in early childhood 61 in the ability to speak children aged 4-6 years, between classes given learning strategies through reading books and opportunities to write more than those that were less read. and the opportunity to write. the standard deviations produced by the big book method and the syllable method are 5.03 and 8.43, respectively, indicating that the big book method produces a smaller standard deviation compared to the syllable method. the big book method has a more homogeneous value variation compared to the syllable method. the same thing can be seen from the interaction between the reading method and thinking skills in improving language skills for children, shown in the results of hypothesis testing where it results in rejecting h0 at the significance level α = 0.05, which means there is an interaction between reading methods and thinking skills towards language skills. this fact is an indication that the grouping of children based on thinking skills has an effect and influence on the effectiveness of the big book method and the syllable method in improving language skills for children in this study. in the picture the results of the interaction in this study show no intersection of lines. in the opinion of douglas c. montgomery (2005: 161) that if the two lines are not in parallel position, and one line is in a supporting position, then there can be interactions. in the group that has high thinking skills, through the descriptive statistical approach provides a difference in the average score of language skills between groups of children who read the big book method with groups of children who were given reading activities with the syllable method. the magnitude of the average score is 156.81 and 145.81 both of these differences indicate descriptively that they can be said to be different. the results of hypothesis testing reinforce the existence of these differences, namely there are differences between the language skills given by the big book method and the children given with the syllable method. thus it can be said that the big book method is better than the syllable method in improving language skills for children by using high thinking skills. the results of testing this hypothesis, shows that teachers who always strive to improve their thinking ability by asking questions while children read books according to their level of thinking ability, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 46-60 62 the vocabulary of children is more than children only read themselves. the fourth hypothesis shows that it has succeeded in accepting the null hypothesis which states that in groups of children who have low thinking skills, the language skills of children who get the syllable method are lower than the language intelligence of children who get the big book method. language proficiency scores given reading activities with the big book method are higher than the syllable method, which are 152.50 and 139.13 respectively. specifically this hypothesis is not proven. the reason is “empirical data is not supportive in testing this hypothesis”. the second difference in the average score is evidenced by inferential testing, which results in differences. these results illustrate the effectiveness of the big book method compared to the syllable method. this illustrates that although given to children who have low thinking skills, the score using big book remains higher than the use of the syllable method. this is in accordance with the theory put forward by graham and woodhouse (1987: 23) who suggested that big book provides an opportunity for children who are slow in reading to recognize writing with the help of teachers and friends. in addition, big book allows teachers and students to share joy and share activities together. because the content of the story is close to the life of the child, so big book was also declared to be liked by all children including those who were slow in reading, because by reading the big book together there would arise courage and confidence as stated by m. woodhouse. all the results of the analysis described, both in descriptive analysis and inferential analysis, are reasonable to say that the use of the big book method is more effective in improving children's language skills compared to the use of the syllable method. this result is consistent with the research conducted by cohran-smith (1986: 12); morrow (1988: 8) which states that the use of the big book method will develop children's basic abilities in all aspects of language, namely speaking, listening, reading and writing. a. there are differences in language skills between children who get the reading method with big book with children who get the method of reading with the syllables. the language ability of children who get the reading method with big book is higher than the language skills of children who get the method of reading with syllables. aisyah / development of thinking skills in early childhood 63 b. there is an influence of interaction between reading methods and thinking skills on language skills, or the influence of reading methods on children's language skills depends on thinking skills. c. for children who have high thinking skills. the language skills of children who get the reading method with big book and have high thinking skills are higher than the language skills of children who get the method of reading with the syllables and have high thinking skills. d. for children who have low thinking skills. the language skills of children who get the reading method with the katadan have low thinking skills, lower than the language skills of children who get reading methods with big book and have low thinking skills. thus in general it can be concluded that, using the big book method can improve language skills. for children who have high thinking skills, the big book method provides higher language skills than the syllable method. however, the results of this study also show that for children with low thinking skills, the big book method provides higher language skills compared to the like method. kata. thus, the big book method for both categories of thinking skills, namely high and low levels, the results are still better than the syllable method. the implications of the research that has been conducted are expected to contribute positively to children's language skills. the implications are described as follows. first, as long as the process of reading in kindergarten is still considered a taboo thing, or is still struggling with the need for kindergarten children to be taught to read and write, it is necessary to continue to study and develop reading methods that are appropriate for children's development. the choice of method must pay attention to the four literacy abilities, namely listening and writing in an integrated and continuous manner, because actually the difficulty of children learning languages is mainly because adults break the unity of language into small pieces so that it becomes abstract. it seems very logical to think that young children can achieve the best learning outcomes, by learning simple little things. thus we need to cut language into isolated parts of words, syllables and sounds. however, if this is done it means that we have eliminated the natural purpose of international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 46-60 64 language, namely “communication meaning / meaning” and transformed it into a set of abstract forms, not related to the needs and experiences of children that should be developed. second, the influence of the interaction between reading methods and thinking skills on language skills indicates that thinking skills need to be considered in carrying out activities in kindergarten. it can be seen from the influence between the application of the big book method and the syllable method to language skills. through the syllable method, children's freedom to develop language skills through reading and expressing their feelings and thoughts through writing, is very limited. whereas through the big book method learning to read and write (in terms of mechanical ability) is a consequence of developing language skills. furthermore, the meaning of the reading and construct meaning that surrounds the child is the result of the socialization of the child with his environment. when contruct means mastery of thinking skills is very influential. third, efforts to train high-level thinking children must go through fun activities. one activity that is fun for children and can be used to develop children's hots is storytelling activities. in the method of storytelling, it is usually equipped with question and answer that is done before, at the time, or after the story has been delivered. this opportunity can be utilized as much as possible by the teacher in training hots children through tiered questions. fourth, by using big book, children will get used to predicting the words that will appear next, when they read. this is a strategy that adults use in reading. thus children are trained to use reading strategies such as those used by adults. so by using big book, teachers are more likely to transmit reading to children than to teach the reading process. read the story by using it under the philosophy of teaching a holistic language. language teaching using this philosophy emphasizes the unity of the introduction of elements of language skills which include listening (listening carefully and critically) to oral, reading, speaking and writing information. thus it is natural, if the child has thinking skills, where his ability to digest what he hears carefully, higher than children who have low thinking skills. fifth, a pleasant atmosphere can be presented during the activities of reading the big book together. the strength of text and illustrations, allows children to be aisyah / development of thinking skills in early childhood 65 involved as active readers. as long as the activity reads the story, the teacher can bring a relaxed atmosphere, full of jokes and laughter. this is possible because big book texts usually contain repetition of words, containing vocabulary with several words repeated, having the strength and simplicity of the storyline, texts that can be sung / sung, and often associated with humor. in addition, big book can provide a very good opportunity for children to be involved in real life situations with all their problems in a way that does not scare children. children are motivated to learn to read faster. children grow up confident because they have been successful as early readers. children learn in a pleasant atmosphere. the culmination of all, naturally the child is very fond of the story of both the different story themes and the same story. the benefits obtained from reading the big book will grow slowly to encourage children to immediately read their own stories. thus it is natural, children who take part in reading activities with the syllable method with a tendency to have low thinking skills, are lower than the group of children who have low thinking skills with the big book method. this is because even though they have low thinking skills, but because they use the big book method that is fun and makes children's self confidence better, the results are still better than the children who follow the syllable method. suggestion based on the conclusions and implications that have been stated, for students 1. development of thinking skills. in accordance with the characteristics of kindergarten-age children, namely the world of play, the process of learning activities cannot be separated from the pleasant atmosphere of play. from the pleasant atmosphere, you can train your child's thinking skills. children do not automatically have this skill. like other skills, children need to repeat thinking skills through practice even though these skills are already part of the way they think. 2. development of language skills in children. children need to be given the widest opportunity to develop their potential and not limit it by teaching reading and writing by understanding teaching systems / mechanisms or how to sound, write and arrange international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 1, may 2019, pp. 46-60 66 letters into sentences given by teachers or reading / writing textbooks. if so, the freedom of the child to develop the ability to speak through existing reading and express their feelings and thoughts through writing becomes very limited. to the school schools need to improve the ability of their teachers by providing insight into the existence of various innovations in learning activities for early childhood. among them is the method of reading, the study of methods that best suit the characteristics of the child as well as the ability of the teacher and available facilities is very necessary. thus, learning activities will always be renewable and on target. teacher teachers need to constantly strive to improve their ability to deliver learning material to their students, by continuing to look for methods that are appropriate to the characteristics of students and not only using one method, but can look for other methods that make children more happy to learn. educational education institution (lptk) based on the results of the study it can be suggested to utilize the results of the study, as one of the references in order to equip students, to be able to use the results of research as an alternative method that can be applied in learning activities. government (directorate of early childhood education, non-formal and informal-paudni). it is expected to be able to take advantage of the results of this study, by disseminating information on alternative methods that can be used by paud teachers, in order to develop the language skills of early childhood. references amstrong, thomas. (2001). multiple intelligences in the classroom 3 rd ed.(virginia: ascd). anderson & krathwohl. (2006). taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assesing: a revision of bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives (complete ed). new york: longman. atkinson, rita l. (1997). pengantar psikologi. terjemahan edisi kedelapan. jakarta: erlangga. aisyah / development of thinking skills in early childhood 67 bjorklund, david f. (2005). children’s thinking. ca: florida atlantic university. bond, guy l. and eva bond wagner. (1990). teaching the child to read new york: the macmillan company. bromley, k. d. (1992). languange art: exploring connections. boston: allyn and bacon. cohen, vicki l. and john e. cowen. (2008). literacy for children in an information age teaching reading, writing, and thinking california: thomson higher education. craig, edwards, m. & briers. (2002). higherorder thinking versus lower-order thinking skills: does school day scheduling pattern influence achievement at different levels of learning? texas: a&m university. edelsky, carol, dkk. (1991). whole language what’s the difference. portsmouth: n. h. heinemann educational. fisher, bobby. (1991). joyful learning: a whole language kindergarten. new hamshire: heinemann. goodman. (1986). what’s whole in whole language?. portmouth, nh: heinemann. harnadek, anita, (1980).critical thinking book two. california: midwest pub. jackson, n.e., donaldson, g.w and mills, j.r dalam robert s. siegler and martha wagler. (2005). children thinking .new jersey: pearson prentice hall. kostelnik , marjorie j, anne k. soderman dan alice p. whiren. (2007). developmentally appropriate curriculum best practices in early childhood education, new jersey: pearson merryll prentice hall. lynch priscilla, a guide fo using big books in the classrooms. (20 desember 2013). from http://www.scribd.com/doc/ 119089338. morrow, lesley mandel. (1998). literacy development in the early years, helping children read and write, second ed. boston: allyn and bacon. resnick, l. b. (1987). education and learning to think, washington dc:national academy press. schunk, h. dale. (2012). .learning theories an educational perspective, sixth edition. boston: allyn and bacon. woolfolk, anita. (2007). educational psychology tenth edition. boston: pearson ed.inc. 207_ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 30-44 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i.207 issn 2655-9986 (print), issn 2685-4074 (online) article history: received (april 30th, 2020); accepted (may 18th, 2020); published (may 29th, 2020). early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in songgom brebes dedi romli triputra universitas muhadi setiabudi brebes dediromlitriputra@gmail.com abstract this research aims to determine the form of foster patterns that parents applied to early childhood in instilling good behavior by the islamic religion in tk. pertiwi songgom village district brebes of central java. the method used in this research is qualitatively descriptive. the results of this study showed that the implementation of parenting patterns in educating religion in early childhood in songgom is carried out by familiarizing the religious behavior by working on the five-time prayers, telling his son to ask, apply the child to behave politely. the factors influencing the foster pattern applied by parents in educating early childhood in songgom village are the background of parenting patterns of parents, gender, culture, socio-economic status, education, family, and living environment keywords: foster pattern, early childhood, islamic education this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction a child is a gift entrusted to every parent by allah swt. thus, with the trust parents are obliged to educate their children to become generations who have character, virtuous, good manners. parents should pay attention to their children's needs. of his religious education needs, his formal education, or other needs. in the view of islam, the child bears the opposite status: not only to be happy but also to harm. the son as the grace of allah the almighty, depends on the attitude of the awarding. grace was able to pass it on to the happiness and salvation of the world of the hereafter, on the other hand can also do it and make it miserable in the world also the hereafter. the family is the first and foremost institution for the early education process for children. families are also a medium to develop and foster the potential that a child has to the development of positive and good self-personality. the essence of the family is a community in the "one roof". the realization to live a life together in a home as a husband-wife and mutual interaction and potential children, eventually formed a new community called the family. from the picture the family can be interpreted as a group formed from male and female relationships, the relationship that goes on to create and raise, and educates the children. thus, the family in perfect shape is a social unit consisting of husbands, wives, and children (djamarah, 2004) dedi romli triputra / early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in... 31 every household should have a desire to create a family that is sakinah, mawaddah wa rahmah. so that each family member must act and run the trust. the husband as the head of the household is obliged to give a good example in carrying out his responsibilities because god ' azza wa jalla will ask him on the day of resurrection. parents have a great responsibility to educate children in families. the functions and roles of parents are not merely to fulfill the physical needs of children, namely the need for eating and drinking, clothing, shelter but also parental responsibilities are far more important than that that is the form, guidance, direction, attention, motivation, and education, and instill noble values for his future. the practices of parenting patterns are closely related to the child's personality after becoming an adult. this is because the character and characteristics of an adult are have been placed into the soul of an individual since it was very early, namely at the time of his childhood. character is also determined by the ways taught him in chilhood when taught to eat, taught cleanliness, taught to play and interact with other children and so on (koencaraningrat, 1998). the primary education in shaping the child's personality is religious education, through formal education in schools, religious education is usually given only 2 hours of lessons, with at least the allocation of time, it is unlikely to be able to form a child who behaves and has good moral. the existence of children in school is only about 7 hours, the rest, children under the supervision of parents, therefore the obligation of parent's role to give religious education in the family after returning from activities at school. as the result of djaelani research stating that islamic education is the basic foundation in the family to form the moral and behavior of children and teach them to know the boundaries of good and bad things, as well as to form human beings who believe and fear allah swt (munawiroh, 2016). if islamic education has transformed into a scientific and natural science, then it will have a function as a medium to maintain the continuation of his life, either as an individual or a part of society. people are to preserve the continuation of their life, trying to bequeath various cultural values from one generation to another, thus the community will be able to continue to live. but not only that the function of islamic education, the function of islamic education besides respecting human beings to realize their culture. the development of the potential of the innate or the potential that exists in the individual aims to be used both by himself and by the public to defend themselves against the environmental challenges of the ever-changing era (baharun, 2016). apart from the foster pattern that should be well planned by the parents to form a good personality in the child, there are some things to be faced that will be the inhibitory factors in the implementation of the foster pattern. these factors can come from internal to the child itself or the condition factor of the child's parents and the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 30-44 32 environmental factors that surround the child's life where the child grows and develops. songgom songgom village is one of the villages in brebes district. songgom village is part of songgom district, the lastest sub-district in brebes district. its location is in the middle of brebes regency which is the coastal sea and mountains. the community of songgom villages, in general, is a religious community. in various places there are islamic dormitories (pesantren) that either directly or indirectly coloring the customs of the islamic dormitory in the community. but on the other hand, economic problems make some of the village community songgom especially mothers choose to work as migrant workers. it certainly affects the nurturing pattern of their children who are the successor generation in the village. from the background, researchers research with the title of "early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in songgom brebes” theoretical perspectives research method this research uses qualitative methods of descriptive. the research was conducted in the tk pertiwi village songom, district songgom, brebes regency. this qualitative descriptive method aims to describe the form of foster patterns that parents apply in instilling good behavior by the islamic religion of early childhood in songgom village. the focus of this research on the essence of wanting to do an exploration of the object of research or gain an in-depth description of the process, the parenting behavior, the factors affecting the implementation of parents ' foster patterns in their children who are still attending kindergarten. qualitative methods are used because of some considerations, the first qualitative method is easier when dealing with double reality. besides, this method is more sensitive and adapts to a lot of joint influences and the patterns of value encountered (lexi and m.a., 2010). while descriptive is research that seeks to solve existing problems with the basic data that is then displayed, analyzed, and interpreted. descriptive research seeks to provide carefully and systematically the latest facts. in this study, i researchers used technical analysis of interactive models (interactive model of analysis) as well as the exposure of miles and huberman. the data collection methods used are observations, interviews, and documentation. the instruments for the use of the data are observation guidelines, interview guidelines, and a list of checklists. the data collected is then processed and analyzed with steps: reduksii data, data presentation, and data verification. the data that has been collected is examined by triangulation methods, both data triangulation and method or source. literature review parenting parenting (danny, 1993) suggests that the typical foster pattern applied by parents to their children can be categorized into five kinds of authoritarian foster patterns, democratic foster pattern, permissive dedi romli triputra / early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in... 33 parenting patterns, threat-raising patterns, and an orphanage with prizes. a. authoritarian foster pattern the authoritarian foster pattern is the behavior of parents in educating children who require each child to be obedient and subject to every will of parents. children are not allowed to ask for everything concerning the duties, rights, and obligations given to him. an authoritarian foster pattern, tends to have false discipline and obedience, because children are obedient to the ground of fear, not based on their consciousness and will. b. democratic foster pattern the democratic foster pattern is the attitude of parents who want to accept the opinion of his son, then deliberation combines the opinions of parents and children, then taken a decision together, without having to feel compelled. in instilling the character of discipline to the child, parents who try to apply this democratic foster pattern will show and appreciate the absolute freedom. with thoughtful guidance between children and parents, they provide rational and objective explanations of the child's wishes and opinions are not appropriate. with the foster pattern, this type will foster a sense of responsibility in the child and they can act according to the existing norms. c. permissive foster pattern the permissive foster pattern is the foster pattern of parents in educating their children by giving absolute freedom to the child to act without direction. parents tend not to rebuke or warn the child and give very little guidance. (lestari, 2008) d. an orphanage with threats threats or warnings that are loudly given to children will be perceived as challenges to their autonomy and personal. he would break it to show that he had self-esteem. e. an orphanage with prizes what is meant for an orphanage with prizes here is that when parents use a material gift or a promise when the child wants to behave as desired. parents will give items as gifts for what the child has done according to the wishes of the parents. islamic parenting pattern parent islamic foster pattern is an interactive process between parents and children, including activities such as maintaining, protecting and directing the behavior or conduct of children during the development of the child with the provisions of the islamic religion or based on the koran and sunnah. if the foster pattern applied to the child early on is right then it will have a good impact on various aspects of children's development since early (yanuarti, 2019). islamic education can be interpreted as guidance on the growth of spiritual and physical international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 30-44 34 according to islamic teachings with wisdom directing, training, teaching, nurturing, and supervising the validity of all islamic teachings. it can also be interpreted as an effort to influence the spirit of the students through the process step by step towards the appointed goal, which is "to instill the praise and chastity and establish the truth so that formed human beings who are moral and virtuous according to islamic teachings" (aryani, 2015). the development of religious value to children is aimed at growing the fundamentals of religious values and developing them so that they become habitual. to that educator in this regard, parents are required to have the ability to choose and determine effective and efficient methods. thus the process of instilling islamic values is ongoing and received faster without the right to seize the child's rights to play. (ananda, 2017). in principle, the fundamentals of education given to children are nothing but only the teachings of islam itself. the teachings of islam can be grouped into three, namely creed, worship, and morality (aryani, 2015). a. education of creed islam puts a grievous belief in the position of the most princivilian in the child's life, then the foundation of islamic creed must be continuously implanted in the child so that each development is always based on the truth or belief. the concept of islamic education in early childhood is to position the creed as a very principle, namely as a pillar of faith and pillars of islam as well as a key differentiator between muslims with non-muslims. daradjat (1995) in (mardiyah, 2017) reveals that the coaching of faith should have begun since the womb, in line with growth and personality. so the parents who have faith and obey worship, have peace in his heart and expect that the child and his descendants believe and fear allah swt. prayers and hopes that fill the niches-the niches, which are sometimes spoken and remembered and taken in his heart, will affect the fetus that is in the mother's womb. in the field of creed, for example, although early childhood has not been able to be thought about the essence of god, angels, prophets, scriptures, the last day, and fasts and qadar, but the child can already be given an initial education about the faith. if a person has a strong religious basis in faith, then he will have a strong fortress of faith. belief and piety to the teachings of islam will always be held high and will break all forms of ignorance on him. early reconstitution of the creed, could be done by the given material in the form of knowing the names of allah (asmaul husna) and his creation that is around the life of the child, the names of angels and his duties, the stories of prophets and messenger, and other basic materials relating to faith or pillars of faith. parents can also take advantage of certain situations to ask the child, such as when walking in the park, about who created water, trees, rocks, and others, to stir the child's attention to the majesty of god. dedi romli triputra / early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in... 35 the basic religious knowledge allows increasing the knowledge they have previously adapted to the target or object of custody given by parents to the their children in the household, especially on how to instill aqidah or trust in god as the creator to the pre-school children, how to worship god and do not join him, and how to love the creation of god to the people and natural surroundings (hadi, 2017). b. education of worship the education of worship is important for the development of children. the comprehensive worship as outlined in the fiqh islam (the rules of worship in islam) should be introduced as early as possible and familiarise in the child from an early age. this is done so that they will grow into a truly righteous people, who obey all religious orders and obey them away from all the challenges. worship as a form of realization and consequence of islamiah creed must remain well-foreseen by each child. according to the islamic religious view, every human being is born in a sacred state, and the religious quality determination factor in the child itself is determined by the role of parents. the foundation gives us an understanding that the family environment factor is the first stage that will provide the foundation for the children's religious values. it can be also said if a child who is still holy and clean and has this potential is not directed and guided optimally in positive ways then they will grow and develop under uncontrolled conditions. therefore, the importance of parents and educators in this regard develops the potential of children from an early age by embedding religious values as an early foundation in their lives. when those values have been firmly embedded in the child they will grow and develop by having the ability to prevent and ward off and fortify them from a variety of negative influences. conversely, if the religious values are not implanted optimally then there will be less good behaviors and tend to deviate from the religious rule of the child. parents educate children should not only rule the children but involve their children when parents worship. if the child is used to teach early, it will continue until the age of adulthood even for life (erzad, 2018). c. sexual education the word moral (arabic: akhlaq) is derived from the khalaqa which means behavior, character, habit, habits, morality, and civilization. al-ghazali suggests that morality is an embedded nature in the soul that will create a variety of deeds spontaneously, easily and effortlessly, without the need for thought and consideration. noting the question, that morality is a manifestation of the image of the soul that is manifested in attitudes, speech, and deeds. of course, earnest action, not a rhetorical game, plays. the activity was done with a sincere heart to his regime. on the other hand, chastity is an attitude arising from the combination of conscience, innate, feelings, thoughts, and habits that mix form a unified act of morality that is lived in the reality of life. from that attitude it was born moral in man as a fitrah, so international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 30-44 36 he was able to distinguish the good with the bad. the application of morality can be seen from two sides, namely vertically and horizontally. as for the vertical morality is the moral of god (hablun minallah), the etiquette of ethics in relation or communication with god as a sign of gratitude for his grace and gifts of various kinds, while the morality is horizontally (hablun minannasi) is the attitude and ethics of self-action, against fellow human beings and towards the natural environment. in instilling a generation of successors who has good manners, it needs to be stimulated and implanted to the child early in the ordinance of morality, both to god, to self and the environment of the family and nature. therefore, so that children are spared from bad morality, sexual coaching needs to be done from the earliest possible, through practice, habituation, and exemplary examples from family members, especially parents. because the child received and experienced early will be attached to him and will form his personality. the parental role of sexual formation is very large. both children's poor will be determined by the way of coaching and supervision by parents. thus, parents should be able to give examples of good behavior in front of their children as a manifestation of their responsibilities in shaping the child's morality (muhtadi, 2017). parents have a very important role in the formation of a child's personality. the value of a person in society is measured not only by the ability of its intellection, but also societal and communication. parents have to establish their children who are not only successful in science but also succeeded in the social field. to achieve this, the fundamentals of ethical and religious education must be applied to children (nuraini, 2013). early childhood orphanage methods parenting is a process, in which there is a unique interaction between parents and children. each parent has an individual foster pattern but has the same goal of forming a child based on good character and education (nooraeni, 2017). several methods can be used for the development of religious values to children, including: a. the play method, for a child, playing in their life. the activities they do throughout the day are playing. early childhood can not distinguish between playing, learning and work. kids, in general, are very enjoying the game and will continue to do so repeatedly wherever they have a chance; thus playing is one of the ways early childhood learns, because through play the child learns about what they want to know so that they can get to know all the events that are happening around him. play can also be used as a means of embedding religious values; like role-playing to abstract the role of prophet ibrahim as. when teaching his prophetic people to seek god that begins with the introduction of celestial bodies or pretend games that can impart moral values, social values, historical values, or religious values, etc. dedi romli triputra / early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in... 37 b. travel method in islamic education, tourism is called tadabur alam. this method of tourism can also be used as a tool to achieve all early childhood education development programs. through the process of natural governance, children are taught about creation and submission to the creator. c. demonstration method in terms of education through the experience, rasulullah saw is the first and foremost islamic educator. the prophet has adopted this method and it is a good result for the development of islam among his companions. in many ways, the prophet always taught them with his training exercises, including; sacred ordinances of wudoo ', tayamum, praying, hajj, and fasting. on this basis, in conducting islamic education, both in adult and early childhood, education through practice and practice is a very important method to apply. the method of learning by doing or by applying the theory and practice, will be more imposition in the soul, to be strengthened in the heart and strengthen in memory. in the development of religious values, the method of learning by doing can be done by parents when explaining the ways of al tahaarah (wudoo ' and chaste of unclean), ways of prayer, food ethics and so on. d. storytelling method one of the fondness kids' fondness is listening to stories. through the method of storytelling, parents can apply religious values to the child. stories that are told should be related to the world of children so they will be more interested in listening. in storytelling, parents should be able to incorporate islamic values that can be exemplary by children. the story should be the stories of the prophets and messenger, and their miracles. the story of the companions in favor of the prophet's da'wah and muslim scholars are not predominantly fable. it is better again, when parents relate to the lives of the prophets and messenger of god as a child. like how the life of the prophet joseph, prophet ibrahim, prophet muhammad saw, and so on. e. good manner (uswah hasanah) method every born man brings his nature (fitrah) to seek the example to be their guide, which guides them and enlightens the way of truth and becomes a living example explaining to them how to carry out the commandment of god. early childhood in its development has a big tendency to self-esteem from outside of him who is certainly the people around him. good exemplar will give a tremendous effect or influence on the child's soul, the child will emulate what parents do. children will always observe and pay attention to his or her parents ' attitudes. likewise, it can be used as a method in early childhood education, which is certainly an example of educators. at this stage the child is in imitation/ emulation, the child will tend to emulate the behavior of those around him. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 30-44 38 in islam, the method of good manners (uswah hasanah) occupies a prime position, especially to build value and good behavior for children. the development of religious values will be more appropriate because the children tend to emulate what they are portrayed or displayed in their example. in providing education in early childhood, education by applying the good examples of educators and parents, will be a factor that greatly affects and scars in the development of the child's psyche, instructs and readiness to continue life in subsequent periods of development. it is therefore necessary for educators to educate with a good example, especially from an early age, to the virtues, glory and social ethics of praise.. (atabik & ahmad, 2015). islamic education periods in islamic perspective educational periodesy in the family that has been delivered by some islamic scholars gives a view to us to always give the best to the child in preparing his life to be a child with knowledge, faith, skill and ethics. the theory of education in the family is similar to the theory of developmental psychology, including the nativism by author schopenhauer, empiricism by jahn lock and the convergence by william stren. it is the first step to prepare the way or method of educating the child, so that the purpose of educating it is appropriate and directing it to the "positive" for himself. when children are only focused on religious education, then the child resulting from such education will only tend to follow the aspect of spirituality alone and is exclusive to the outside life, so he is less prepared with various challenges of life in the community, especially those related to social aspects, economics, and so forth (baharun, 2016). islamic education is educating one by guiding the rules of life that instruct people to live this life well, safely, orderly, and no chaos that leads to anarchist action and instructions to spread the seed of peace, safety, and safety for oneself, fellow human beings (muslims and non-muslims) and to the surrounding environment (rahmatan lil ‘alamin). it can be preceded by steps: a) an introduction to god and beings. develop the potential of emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and social intelligence of children in the golden age of growth in a playful and fun-playing environment. b) the formation of behavior through habituation. the guidance of parents ' foster patterns will determine the social and emotional development of the child. the closeness of parents greatly affects how children interact with others, behave, control emotions. how children do not and behave, solve problems, be self-reliant, responsible, and foster confidence are very useful for their lives in the community. family roles are also crucial to shaping a child's personality. therefore, parental guidance is necessary to guide the child is doing and being (jannah, 2017). dedi romli triputra / early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in... 39 in implementing sexual formation programs or behaviors through habituation, parents should consider the following principles: 1) parents create a good and familiar relationship with the child so that it does not arise the impression that parents are a frightening figure for the child. 2) parents always exemplify attitudes and behaviors that can be exemplary for children. 3) allow the child to be able to distinguish and choose which behavior is good and which is bad. parents as a guide only direct and explain consequences. 4) in giving the duty to the child is sought with the invitation and the commandment to use good language and courtesy. 5) for children to behave according to the expectations of parents, then give the stimulus (motivation) and not compulsion in the child. 6) if the child behaves excessively, it is recommended that parents strive to control without emotions. c) implemented gradually and repeatedly. learning in the care of early childhood should be carried out gradually according to can be exemplary and close contact with the child's life. to be able to achieve the optimal results in understanding the concepts taught, the delivery to the child should be done gradually and repeatedly, not given directly at one time. factors affecting foster pattern juwariyah (2010) in (erzad, 2018) stated that several factors affecting the parent's foster pattern of children include family, educational, and environmental factors. however, there are several factors in addition to the three things including child gender, culture, family economic status and parental work environment. a. gender in this case parents will usually tend to be harder in educating boys than girls. b. culture cultural factors create a difference in the parent's foster pattern of the child. this is related to the different roles or functions between women and men in a culture that is prevailing in the society. c. socio-economic status parents set in low education, the lower-middleclass economy tends to be harder, pushy and fewer tolerances when compared to those of upper classes, but they are more consistent. d. education parents who have a high educational background, in the practice of foster care often look for reference articles or follow the progress of knowledge of children. in caring for their children is better prepared, while parents with a low educational background have limited knowledge and understanding of the foster pattern. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 30-44 40 e. family the family parenting pattern is influenced by the place where the family lives. if a family lives in an environment where the majority of the population is educated and the low level of courtesy, the child can be easily affected. f. parents ' work environment parents who are too busy working tend to leave their children nurturing to their relatives. therefore, the parenting pattern gained by the child also suits the child's parenting findings and discussion foster patterns are the way parents give care and educate their children. based on research that has been done in songggom village sub-district songgom district brebes, the pattern of foster care applied by parents in educating early childhood is based on islamic religious education. religious education is very important, therefore parents are planting it to the child with the hope that the child has a moral and a good personality. for the child to have a good personality, parents can introduce the child to god the creator as early as possible. the way that parents introduce god to the child is as follows: a. adapting how to introduce god to the development of children. the parents in songgom village introduce god to their children according to their development. parents introduce god, since the children in the womb, for example by listening to the holy verses of the qur'an and remembrance (zikir). that can be seen from the ritual of seven months when pregnant with a ritual selametan, reading koran and praying. for children aged 2 years, parents in songgom village teach them with objects or creatures of god and introduce and familiarize the child to pray in every activity he does as islamic education periods in islamic perspective that develop the potential of emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and social intelligence of children in the golden age of growth. in this case parents tend to use storytelling methods and demonstration methods to teach their children. although introducing the objects of god's creations can be done by the method of role-playing, but parents are not accustomed to using this method. they are more likely to choose to introduce them by storytelling and demonstrations b. inviting the children to always be supervised by god for the children to be supervised by god, they teach their children to pray on every occasion, so that they will be embedded in the children that god is the essence to help and be assured of the children that they are always together and guarded by god. in this case parents tend only to use storytelling methods. c. being a good example for children as parents can give a good example to our children. if the parents have a good closeness to god, then the child can feel it and can be exemptible dedi romli triputra / early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in... 41 by the child. parents in songgom village teach their children by being a good example in a good manner (uswah hasanah) methods. they are well-behaved, polite when associating with others and speaking politely. d. inviting the children to be grateful by worship one that parents can do to teach the child is grateful by teaching and inviting them to worship. "i introduce allah to the son through praying fivetime prayers, koran, introducing the prayers of daily activities carried out by the child, teaching the sentence of oneness (tauhid) and grateful for the favor that god has given us, for example we can eat because god gives us the sustenance" (interview result of respondents 2, 28 august 2091). educating children is the obligation of parents. in the muslim family parents have a very important role that makes the foundation of child personality establishing. so also the parents in the village songgom to make his son behave well and be a righteous child and makeup, so that the appropriate foster pattern is needed so that the child can behave well according to islamic "i have never used violence in educating children in the home, if the child does the mistake i do not hit it at all and if i am wrong always remind. if it's time for prayer, i asked her to pray. alhamdulilah my son has a good personality "(interview results of respondents 1, 26 august 2019). the foster pattern that parents apply to educate early childhood in songgom village is the democratic foster pattern. where the democratic foster pattern is a foster pattern that gives children freedom but gives boundaries. to make the children have a good person then the parents must teach the shame to the child, that is through "dressing the cloths politely, my daughter is not allowed to wear shorts, i do not get off the clothes of children in a random place or have to put clothes in the bathroom/bedroom and do not forget to close the door, do not make clothes in front of the opposite gender, do not let the child after bathing out of the house with a towel, should not pee at any place, not allow the child to sit by lifting the leg to the chair, and still many daily activities that parents can teach to his child" (interview result of respondents 1, 26 august 2019). teaching children respecting the older person is one of the important aspects of educating the child. "how to teach children to respect parents, among others: parents should give a good example to the child, namely by the good and polite. when calling his older brother can not by name only be in the word brother. if meeting people we know should smile, say greetings and shake hands. if i make a mistake against the child, i try to apologize to him thus the child can appreciate me and be able to sample my behavior. when the child has done this well then i give appreciation in the form of praise "(interview results of respondents 3, 27 august 2019). for children to be disciplined then parents should teach children about responsibilities as early as possible. children aged 3 years/early in children can be constantly taught responsibilities. "i teach my international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 30-44 42 child to be responsible for what he does, but it can teach me patiently and gradually so that my child can understand. the thing i do is to introduce and make rules, those rules are, when my son is playing, incidentally my son is a girl and have a lot of toys, when he took his toys as much as possible i teach and give an example to the child to make the back of the toy to the place and i give the child a duty to take care of the goods themselves. when the child finishes eating, it should throw a snack wrapper in the trash. if the child finishes eating, i direct the child to put a plate to the dishwasher, because my child is small and yet able to wash his dishes. i also teach the child to do the homework, for example when i was swept away, my son also took a sweep, even though only holding the broom because my son was a kid. that way the child will be aware of their duties and what they do can be accountable "(interview result of 3, 27 august 2019). the factors influencing the foster pattern applied by parents in educating early childhood in songgom village, are: a. background of parental parenting patterns parents in educating their children learn from the parenting pattern methods they acquired before. and they assume that the parenting pattern that has been applied is successful. b. gender older people tend to be harder against girls than boys. for example in a dress way should be polite, socialize and play in the home environment. c. culture parents are always careful to educate their children. parents should keep an eye on the child when playing, because if not the child will fall in the association, for example if the child sees his friend speak rudely, it may be that the child will be inked at home. this culture also includes the rules, customs, and norms prevailing in the community. looking at the development of an increasingly sophisticated era, many outside cultures can be adopted by young and negative youth. for example, if there is a young man returning work from outside the city, and the less polite dressing so that parents should be observant of watching the child when they are outdoors. d. socio-economic status the majority of community livelihoods in songgom village as farmers. so that usually works in the field is their father. while their mother is a housewife who has a lot of time home with her son. mothers usually deliver and wait for their children, so mothers play an important role in daily parenting. e. family the parenting pattern of a family was also influenced by the place where the family lived. if a family lives in an environment where the authority of the population is well educated and the low level of courtesy, then the child can be easily affected. . f. environment of residence dedi romli triputra / early childhood parenting in the review of islamic religious perspectives in... 43 the living environment is influential in parental care. if we live in the good in the flesh, then the child will grow and have a good attitude as well. for example, if our house is close to the mosque, then the child will get used to praying in the mosque, with the invitation of parents. parents also involve their children to participate in religious activities in the community. conclusion from the above discussion, it can be concluded that: a. the application of parents ' foster patterns to educate religion in early childhood in songgom village is carried out by familiarizing religious behavior in children who tend to use democratic foster pattern. the democratic foster pattern is the foster pattern by giving freedom to the child but still providing boundaries. in familiarizing religious behavior is done by familiarizing his children to worship god. by working on the five-time prayers, sending his son to the koran, applying the child to behave modestly, using a subtle language when speaking to the older person and include his children to participate in religious activities in the community. b. factors affecting foster patterns applied by parents in educating early childhood in songgom village are the background of parenting patterns of parents, gender, culture, socio-economic status, education, family and living environment. references ahmad atabik & burhanuddin ahmad (2015) ‘konsep nasih ulwan tentang pendidikan anak’, elementary. ananda, r. 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(2019) ‘pola asuh islami orang tua dalam mencegah timbulnya perilaku lgbt sejak usia dini’, cendekia: jurnal kependidikan dan kemasyarakatan. doi: 10.21154/cendekia.v17i1.1337. 393.edited.format available online at: http://journals.rsfpress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 2 number 2 (2020): 96-104 corresponding author estysusi@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i2.393 research synergy foundation developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno yogyakarta state university, indonesia estysusi@gmail.com abstract this study aims to: (1) produce a cutout paper doll game model to improve the speaking skills of children aged 5-6 years at dharma siwi kindergarten and bhakti siwi kindergarten, which qualify for early childhood play models; (2) to determine the effectiveness of the cutout paper doll game model used to improve the speaking skills of children aged 5-6 years in dharma siwi and bhakti siwi kindergarten. this study uses a research & development approach. this research procedure uses addie development steps, including (1) analysis, (2) design, (3)development, (4) implementation, and (5) evaluations. the subject of the group trial involved 19 children aged 5-6 years and one teacher. the subject of the field trials involved 53 children and four teachers. the data analysis technique used the wilcoxon test with the help of spss 19. the results of this study are (1) the cutout paper doll game model to improve speaking skills of children aged 5-6 years meet the eligibility criteria based on the responses of material experts, media experts, and teachers' responses put it in the good category; (2) the cutout paper doll game model based on the effectiveness test is proven effective at improving children's speaking skills. this can be seen from the calculation results of aasymp.sig. (2-tailed) that is 0.000 less than <0.05 so that there is a difference in the children’s speaking ability score between the initial and the final ability after being given treatment. keywords: paper doll unloading game, speaking skills, children aged 5-6 years this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction early childhood is an individual who is undergoing a very rapid process of growth and development. early childhood development is the mainstay of life for children. early childhood education is an educational forum that has an important role in the development of human resources given to early childhood. in accordance with sisdiknas 2003 article 1, article 14, early childhood education is a coaching effort aimed at children from birth to six years of age, which is carried out by providing educational stimuli to assist physical and spiritual growth and development so that children have the readiness to enter more education. continue. early childhood is often referred to as the golden age period, which is a sensitive period so that all potential development can be maximally developed. all children's potential will be able to develop optimally if given the right stimulation according to the child's level of development. providing stimulation in early childhood education should be carried out comprehensively. that is, providing stimulation must cover all aspects of child development, which include physical motor development, cognitive, language, moral and religious, social, emotional, and art. this development will be optimal if the stimulation process is carried out in a balanced manner. providing stimulation in early childhood education should be carried out comprehensively. that is, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 96-104 developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 97 providing stimulation must cover all aspects of child development, which include physical motor development, cognitive, language, moral and religious, social, emotional, and art. this development will be optimal if the stimulation process is carried out in a balanced manner. providing stimulation in early childhood education should be carried out comprehensively. that is, providing stimulation must cover all aspects of child development, which include physical motor development, cognitive, language, moral and religious, social-emotional, and art. this development will be optimal if the stimulation process is carried out in a balanced manner. facts in the field show that early childhood, especially those aged 5-6 years, emphasize more on reading and writing preparation and pay less attention to speaking skills. it is important that children's speaking skills be developed optimally in line with other skills. vygotsky (wiliam crain, 2014: 342) argues that mastery of speech or language expressions is very important for children to be able to participate in their social life. vygotsky also believed that speaking and thinking with the help of words contributed greatly to one's thinking ability. in learning activities, the interactions that occur between teachers and children are a bridge to transmit information or knowledge. there are various ways that can be done to improve children's speaking skills. one of them is by using play activities. in playing activities, children will be actively involved in learning activities without feeling overwhelmed. play activities in early childhood education can be designed in such a way as to stimulate children's development and growth. these games can also be called educational games. educational games, according to mayke (2001: 81-87), are games that are deliberately designed specifically for educational purposes. one of them is playing a game of loading and unloading paper dolls. according to ismail (2009: 199), the loading and unloading game is a game of arranging an object or image that has been separated into several parts and is useful for training children's intelligence. another opinion expressed by muzalim (2010: 46) comes from the english puzzle, which means puzzle or unloading, which is a game by being dismantled and installed. the assembling game is a game that involves hand-eye coordination. according to nani (2008: 31) continues that unloading pairs are one of the games that children enjoy, and aspects that can be developed through unloading games are cognitive, fine motor skills, language, and social-emotional. dismantling pairs of paper dolls or papper dolls is a game of assembling pairs using paper doll media.. theoretical perspectives experts say that the world of children is a world of play. playing is an activity that is a characteristic that is usually done by children. playing has a very important meaning for children, every healthy child always has the urge to play. playing is an activity that can cause feelings of pleasure. playing, according to hurlock (1978: 320), is an activity that causes pleasure without thinking about the impact it will have. in line with that, according to santrock (2002: 16), playing is a fun activity carried out for the benefit of the activity itself. early childhood need play to start interacting with their environment. ginsburk (2007: 188) says that playing is a valuable part of childhood that provides benefits for children's development. mukherji & louise (2014: 125) also argue that playing provides opportunities for children to develop all skills related to social, physical, intellectual, and language development. papalia (1986: 233) explains that through children's play to grow, they learn how to use their muscles, learn to coordinate what they see and what they do, and they learn to control their bodies, they find out about how the world is. this and how their world is. they acquire new skills and learn to use them. they try various aspects of life. they overcome their emotional conflicts and re-enact them in real life. an activity can be categorized as a play activity if it has certain characteristics or criteria. menutut seifert & hoffnung in harun (2012: 67) interpret play if the game has six elements, namely; (1) benefits children; (2) oriented to the activity process; (3) please the child; (4) different from reality; (5) have flexible rules; (6) children are directly involved. furthermore, harun explained that the concept of play raises two international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 96-104 developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno issn 2685-4074 (online) 98 │ views, namely, playing for fun and playing with win-lose. playing to seek pleasure in the sense of play is an activity to really get pleasure psychologically through physical activity. meanwhile, playing for fun followed by win-lose in the sense of a game means involving other people. ismail (2006: 17) suggests some of the benefits of playing; (1) channeling the excess energy of the child; (2) means to prepare for his life in the future; (3) continuing the image of humanity; (4) build up lost energy; (5) obtaining the compensation that is not obtained, (6) releasing feelings and emotions; (7) provide a stimulus for a personality formation. play activities in early childhood education can be designed in such a way as to stimulate children's development and growth. these games can also be called educational games. educational games usually use tools called educational games (ape). some educational play tools are manipulative tools that can be used skillfully, according to the wishes and imagination of the child. ape is usually designed in such a way as to be used as a play activity that stimulates aspects of child development. according to surtikanti (2011: 103), playing tools are all kinds of means that can stimulate activities that make children happy, while educational game tools are play tools that can improve entertaining and educational functions. so it can be concluded that educational game tools are anything that can be used as a means or equipment for a play that contains educational value and can develop all aspects of child development. according to ismail (2009: 199), the loading and unloading game is a game of arranging an object or image that has been separated into several parts and is useful for training children's intelligence. another opinion was expressed by muzalim (2010: 46) that the unloading comes from the english language puzzle, which means a puzzle or unloading, which is a game by being dismantled and installed. the assembling game is a game that involves hand-eye coordination. furthermore, muzalim (2010: 78) continues that there are various kinds of loading and unloading games, namely loading and unloading construction, unloading floors, unloading letters, unloading pairs of fruits, unloading pairs of paper, unloading pairs of animals, unloading pairs of jiksaw, and many others. the loading and unloading game is one of the educational games because through this game, it can develop various aspects of child development, children are actively involved in games, and are constructive. according to necpeca (2012: 3) states that constructive play is a variety of activities carried out by building and making something, constructing large objects from small objects, and making something that can be reused after the child has finished playing. playing constructing can also be referred to as a game of compiling, dismantling, and installing. the game of dismantling paper dolls or papper dolls is a game of dismantling and installing using paper doll media. the game of unloading pairs of paper dolls is considered to be able to develop children's speaking skills because children can dialogue by playing roles using paper dolls. children can imagine, according to the paper doll they play with. the game of unloading pairs of paper dolls can be adopted in play activities that can be applied in the early childhood learning process. the game of unloading pairs of paper dolls that will be applied in early childhood learning should meet the criteria for early childhood learning. therefore, it is necessary to have an innovation to develop a game of loading and unloading paper dolls, which is usually an educational game of unloading pairs of paper dolls. the game of unloading pairs of educational paper dolls is a game that has an educational purpose. one of the goals that can be achieved is to improve early childhood speaking skills. musfiroh (2017: 15-17) explains his observations about psycholinguistics and divides language acquisition into two processes, namely the language acquisition process, and the language learning process. brooks (2012: 9) states that children will understand knowledge about the environment, culture, and nature through interaction and communication. children seek knowledge by interacting with objects and people around them. one form of interaction or communication is talking. cunningham & edmonds (chris valeska, 2012: 9) states that speaking is more than just producing words. speaking is a more complex skill that involves multiple actions, such as turn-taking, questioning, the use of adequate international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 96-104 developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 99 pressure, and intonation. this means speaking is not just saying a sound of words, but in speaking, activities involve a lot of action. suhartono (2005: 21) states that speaking is a form of human behavior that utilizes physical, psychological, neurological, semantic, and linguistic factors. first, physical factors, namely the tools of speech to produce language sounds, such as head, hands, and facial features that are used in speaking. second, psychological factors can affect speaking fluency. emotional stability not only affects the sound quality but also affects the convolution of the material. third, neurological factors, namely the neural network that connects the cerebellum to the mouth, ears, and other organs that participate in speaking activities. fourth, semantic factors are related to the meaning of a spoken word. fifth, linguistic factors are related to the structure of language. the resulting sound must be arranged according to certain rules to be meaningful. if the words arranged do not follow the rules of language, it will affect the understanding of the meaning by the interlocutor. donoghue (2009), strickland, galda & cullinan, and also burhan mentioned several strategies for teaching children's speaking; (1) discussion; (2) interview/question and answer; (3) telling stories; (4) presentation; (5) drama; (6) conference; (7) speaking with visual, audio, audio-visual stimuli. some of these strategies can be used to improve children's speaking skills. the development of early childhood speaking skills with these various strategies should be packaged in an interesting and fun activity. one of them is packed in playing activities using games. the game that can be done is the game of assembling paper dolls that have been developed so that it can be done by early childhood. djiwandono in (halida, 2011: 6) that speaking ability is a verbal self-disclosure. linguistic elements that can support the effectiveness of speaking, namely (1) clear pronunciation; (2) reasonable intonation; (3) the right choice of words; and (4) applying the correct sentence structure/composition. the non-linguistic aspect is the factors outside the linguistic element that support the ongoing speaking activity, which can be categorized as non-linguistic factors, namely: (1) courage; (2) fluency; (3) body expressions/movements. these aspects of speaking skills are a developmental task that every child must pass and develop. teachers need to provide services that can stimulate these aspects of speaking skills. research method this study uses research and development using the addie model. branch (2009: 2) states that addie stands for analyze-design-development-implementation-evaluation. sezer, et al. (2013: 137) states that: "addie is the system approach implies an analysis of how its competents interact with each other and required coordination of all design, development, implementation and evaluation activities". that is, addie is a systems approach that implies an analysis of its components interacting with one another and requires coordination of all design, development, implementation, and evaluation activities. the addie model development research is an attempt to produce or develop a particular product. this research is focused on developing a paper doll unloading game model to improve the speaking skills of children aged 5-6 years. the addie model uses five stages of development, namely: 1. analysis is a step to analyze needs, identify problems, identify products that are in accordance with targets, and thoughts about the products to be developed. 2. design is the design stage of the product concept to be developed. 3. development is a step to transform the design into a real product. 4. implementation is a product trial as a concrete step in implementing the products that have been made. 5. evaluation is a process to see whether the product is successful or as expected. research is a type of research and development using the addie model. the subjects of the effectiveness test in this study were 53 children aged 5-6 years in tk dharma siwi and tk bhakti siwi. the data collection instruments used interview guidelines, questionnaires, and observation sheets. interviews were conducted to gather information related to the process of developing children's international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 96-104 developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno issn 2685-4074 (online) 100 │ speaking skills, which is usually done by teachers. the questionnaire was used to see the feasibility of the paper doll unloading game model using the likert scale. observations were made to see the child's speaking skills. the effectiveness test in this study used the pre-experimental research method in the form of a onegroup pretest-posttest design only. . one group pretest posttest design (sugiyono, 2015: 111) o1 = pretest value (before being given treatment) o2 = posttest value (after being given treatment) x = treatment with unloading paper dolls. findings and discussion speaking skills are an important skill to develop in balance with other skills in aspects of language development. brooks (2012: 9) states that children will understand the knowledge of the environment, culture, and nature through interaction and communication. children seek their knowledge by interacting with objects and people around them. one form of interaction or communication is speaking. musfiroh (2017: 15-17) explains his observations on psycholinguistics and divides language acquisition into two processes, namely the language acquisition process, and the language learning process. humans not only acquire language, but language ability can also be developed through practice through learning so that there are differences in outcomes or developmental achievements. play and games become one of the activities done in early childhood learning. so that the game can be designed in such a way that it can be used as stimulation of child development, this study develops a model of unloading paper dolls to improve the speaking skills of 5-6-year-olds. development was done using addie model development research. the results of the development of the game model of unloading paper dolls and implementation manuals that have been improved during the development process both during the validation phase up to the effectiveness test, the product specifications developed are as follows: 1. unloading game of paper dolls in accordance with the opinion of experts on how the development of speaking skills concluded that to improve children's speaking skills is by; (a) discussion; (b) interviews; (c) storytelling; (d) presentation; (e) drama; (f) conferences; (g) speak with visual, audio, audio-visual stimuli. based on the opinion of these experts, then the researchers look for some games that are assessed to improve children's speaking skills and adapted to the criteria mentioned by experts. the unloading game of selected paper dolls should meet at least half of the above seven criteria. in the game of unloading paper dolls is assessed to meet the elements: (a) discussion, where the child can discuss with his opponent about the roles that will be performed using paper doll media; (b) interview (question and answer), the child can ask questions with his playmate related to the theme of the profession he plays, for example when playing the profession the pediatrician will ask questions to the patient he examines; (c) storytelling, the child can tell the story in accordance with the dialogue he created himself through the paper doll he played with his teacher and classmates; (d) drama, the child can play a drama or play a role with a dialogue he created himself with his playmate; (e) speaking with visual stimuli, the child will be o1 x o2 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 96-104 developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 101 able to speak or dialogue with several visual stimuli or images that are different from some image choices on the theme of the profession. in the implementation of the game of unloading paper dolls, then it is necessary to plan play activities. in accordance with the syntax of the implementation of games in early childhood learning are: a. designing play activities (planning) in designing play activities, it is necessary to determine the purpose, the purpose of the implementation of this paper doll unloading game is to develop aspects of child development, especially on the speaking skills of children aged 5-6 years. the activity performed is that the child will play unloading using paper dolls with a professional theme with four kinds of professional choices, namely doctors, teachers, chefs, and police. play activities can be done in the classroom by dividing the children into four groups. play activities can be done individually or in groups. the steps are as follows: b. implementation 1) preparation a) teacher prepares classroom or hall for the playground. b) teacher prepares supportive game equipment in play activities. 2) equipment a) paper dolls with a professional theme (doctors, teachers, chefs, and police). 3) game procedures a) pre-play / pre-play activities i) divide the child into four groups. ii) introduce various professions in the game of unloading paper dolls (doctors, teachers, chefs, and police). iii) invite the child for discussion to determine or choose the sub-theme of the profession that will be done in each group. iv) provide initial information about roles in the profession (doctors, teachers, chefs, and police). v) allow the child to play in accordance with the role of the paper doll that the child chooses. b) play activities i) the child plays a game of unloading paper dolls. ii) the teacher observes the child's activities. iii) teachers motivate children. c) closing activities i) the teacher invites the child to rearrange the toys that have been used. ii) teachers dig information about play activities to children. 4) evaluation a) teachers prepare assessment instruments for children. b) the teacher assesses the child's speaking skills. 2. unloading game media install paper dolls the game of unloading paper dolls that have been set to be developed requires supporting media that are considered suitable for use by children aged 5-6 years. paper doll media is a supporting media in the game of unloading paper dolls. according to experts, choosing a child's toy should meet some elements. the elements contained in the paper doll media in this study are: a. a tool that can attract the attention of children, paper dolls in this game of unloading paper dolls can be played by all children (girls and boys) and printed using ivory paper with glossy international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 96-104 developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno issn 2685-4074 (online) 102 │ laminate and with bright colors. the shape of the paper doll is not too small and not too big. paper dolls have several image elements, namely human images, clothing images, and pictures of supporting objects according to each theme. b. paper dolls are multi-purpose materials/media, where paper dolls can be used for entertaining and educational purposes. paper dolls can be used to develop aspects of child development, one of which is to improve children's speaking skills. c. paper dolls can give children the opportunity to use in a variety of ways, namely by unpacking and pairing between professional pictures in accordance with the clothes and tools used, children can also use cardboard dolls to play a role according to the theme on paper dolls. 3. implementation handbook a. the implementation of the handbook is used as a companion in explaining the activities of unloading the paper doll unloading game developed. b. implementation handbook uses language that is easy to understand, so it makes it easier for readers to understand the contents of the handbook. the results of the group test involving one teacher and 19 students at kindergarten songgo buono got eligible categories and showed that 92.10% of 19 children could do and are interested in playing unloading paper dolls. the results of the field test involving four teachers and 53 students in group b. the results of the practitioner test score 63,63,63, and 64 with the conversion result with an average value of 63.25 so as to enter the criteria "very good". the results of the pretest and post-test of students in tk dharma siwi and tk bhakti siwi were then analyzed with wilcoxon test using spss 19. thus the results of wilcoson test: table 1. wilcoxon signed ranks test tk dharma siwi ranks n mean rank sum of ranks post test pre test negative ranks 0a .00 .00 positive ranks 25b 13.00 325.00 ties 0c total 25 the table shows that the value of the negative rank or difference (negative) between the pretest and posttest results is 0. the value of 0 indicates that there is no decrease from the pretest value to the posttest value. on the positive data, rank or difference (positive) between the results of the pretest and posttest is 25. this means that 25 children experienced an increase in the results of pretest and posttest from the application of unloading paper dolls. the average increase is 13.00, while the number of positive rankings is 325.00. ties or similarity of pretest and posttest values is 0, so it can be said that there is no equal value between pretest and posttest. thus the output of test statistics: table 2. test statisticsb tk dharma siwi post test pre test z -3.843a asymp. sig. (2-tailed) .000 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 96-104 developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 103 based on the "test statistics" output it is known that aasymp.sig. (2-tailed) is worth 0.000 less than <0.05. table 3. wilcoxon signed ranks test tk bhakti siwi ranks n mean rank sum of ranks post test pre test negative ranks 0a .00 .00 positive ranks 28b 14.50 406.00 ties 0c total 28 the table shows that the value of the negative rank or difference (negative) between the pretest and posttest results is 0. the value of 0 indicates that there is no decrease from the pretest value to the posttest value. in the positive data rank or difference (positive) between the results of the pretest and posttest is 28. this means that 28 children experienced an increase in the results of pretest and posttest from the application of unloading paper dolls. the average increase is 14.50, while the number of positive rankings is 406.00. ties or similarities of pretest and posttest values are 0, so it can be said that there is no equal value between pretest and posttest. thus the output of test statistics: table 4. test statisticsb tk bhakti siwi post test pre test z -4.695a asymp. sig. (2-tailed) .000 based on the "test statistics" output it is known that aasymp.sig. (2-tailed) is worth 0.000 less than <0.05. based on experiments from product development in the form of the development of a paper doll unloading game model to improve the speaking skills of children aged 5-6 years shows that the paper doll unloading game can improve children's speaking skills. based on the results of the pretest and posttest of both schools involving 53 children aged 5-6 years aasymp.sig. (2tailed) worth 0,000 less than <0.05 so it can be concluded that "hypothesis accepted". this means that there is a significant difference in speaking skills between the value of the child's initial ability and the child's final ability after treatment. conclusion the development paper doll unloading game is a paper doll unloading game model that can be used to improve speaking skills in children aged 5-6 years, so it can be argued that: 1. the need for the development of the game of assembling pairs of dolls is to determine the concept of the game, approach methods, equipment, procedures, and production. 2. the game model for unloading pairs of paper dolls that is suitable for children aged 5-6 years to improve their speaking skills is a game model that children can do directly, can provide opportunities for children to be active in communicating or talking, using appropriate and safe supporting media for children, and has the effectiveness according to the expected goals. for valid material and media experts, the game of loading and unloading the development paper dolls got a good category. whereas in the results of the validation by the loading game, the paper is used to improve the speaking skills of children aged 5-6 years. 3. the results of the test of the effectiveness of developing the paper doll unloading game model are declared effective for improving children's speaking skills. this can be seen international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 96-104 developing a cutout paper doll game model to improvethe talking skills of 5-6 years old children esty susilowati, suparno issn 2685-4074 (online) 104 │ from the calculation results of aasymp.sig. (2-tailed) is 0.000 less than <0.05, so it can be denied that it is "accepted". this means that there is a significant difference in speaking skills between the child's initial ability value and the child's final ability after being given treatment.. references branch, maribe robert. (2009). intructional design: the addie approach. usa: university of georgia. brooks, patricia j. et al. (2012). language development. edition: 1st. wiley blackwell. isbn: 978-14443-3146-2. crain, wiliam. (2014). teori perkembangan (konsep dan teori). yogyakarta: pustaka pelajar. ginsburk, kenneth r. (2007). the importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong parent-child bond. american academy of pediatrics. ismail, andang. (2006). education game: menjadi cerdas dan ceria dengan permainan edukatif. yogyakarta: pilar media. santrock, john w. (2007). perkembangan anak. jakarta: erlangga. mukherji, p. & dryden, l. (2014). foundations of early childhood: principle and practice. london: sage publications ltd. musfiroh, tadkiroatun. 2015. bermain dan permainan anak. tangerang selatan: universitas terbuka. muzamil, misbach. 2010. sejarah indonesia: media puzzle. diunduh pada tanggal 3 juli 2019 dari http://academia.edu/9717051/. nani. 2008. macam-macam media pembelajaran interaktif. jakarta: pt gramedia pustaka utama. rasyid, harun, dkk. 2009. asesmen perkembangan anak usia dini. yogyakarta: multi pressindo. papalia, diane e. et.al. (1986). human development.new york: mcgraw-hill. sugiyono, 2015.metode penelitian pendidikan pendekatan kuantitatif, kualitatif, dan r&d. bandung : alfabeta, cv. suhartono. (2005). pengembangan keterampilan bicara anak usia dini. jakarta: depdiknas. 178_ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 58-72 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i.178 issn 2655-9986 (print), issn 2685-4074(online) article history: received (april 3rd, 2020); accepted (may 26th, 2020); published (may 29th, 2020). enabling environment for early childhood development: a narrative study of preschools in nepal ramila subedi1, milan shrestha2 kathmandu university school of education 1404ramila.subedi@gmail.com; 2 milanshrestha313244@gmail.com* abstract at present, creating an environment for early childhood development (ecd) has been given great emphasis on nepal's educational context. however, several challenges are often narrated by the school leaders and teachers in creating an environment to facilitate the development of the children. hence, this paper aims at exploring what experiences the preschools have assembled in the course of creating the environment for ecd. the paper is based on narrative inquiry where a teacher and two school leaders from three different institutional preschools of kathmandu valley were selected purposively as research participants for an in-depth interview. then, this study explored that school leaders and teachers were having a tough time creating an environment expected to support ecd though they narrated their awareness about the discourse. these challenges were narrated to have been occurred basically because of infrastructural constraints and divergent attitudes of parents regarding how their children had to be learning at school. moreover, a lack of competent human resources to induce an atmosphere for the development of children was also recounted. hence, the study implies a collaborative environment between school leaders, teachers, and parents to be created by school leaders to encourage teachers to adopt instructional strategies for strengthening the atmosphere of ecd. keywords: early child development, cognitive development, school-family collaboration, instructional strategies, narrative inquiry this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction learning is understood as a process that starts as we open our eyes to the earth and continues until we exist. as suggested by the institute of medicine and national research council (imnrc, 2015), children are already learning at birth, and they learn at a rapid pace in their early years. in this sense, the atmosphere we provide to children as supporting mechanisms (wood, bruner, & ross, 1976) facilitates them to learn during their early days which contributes to developing a sense of independence in them (topciu & myftiu, 2015). similarly, as stated by gruber and voneche (1995) the development of a child's cognition starts with reflection they make upon basic units of instruction which serves as the basis for understanding newer experiences (as cited in bhagat, haque, & jaalam, 2018). it articulates the idea that the socio-cultural environment that we construct enables children to confront a newer and diverse set of tasks of questions (lantof, 2000; vygotsky, 1978) which ultimately encouraging his/ her cognitive development. there is great attention paid to creating an appropriate atmosphere for the development of children in conventions in policies. creating playful atmosphere is identified as an essential strategy in teaching-learning (united nations international children's emergency fund [unicef], 2018) while ramila subedi1, milan shrestha / enabling environment for early childhood development: a... 59 assurance of amiable infrastructural and social setting for the development of child's personality, talents, mental and physical abilities has been emphasized by the convention on the rights of the child in 1990 (united nations human rights office of the high commissioner [unohchr], 1990). moreover, in our context, policies have been made by the state to ensure all aspects needed for the overall development of the child including education, health care and nurturing along with social and emotional support for personality development; both from the part of the family and state (constituent assembly [ca], 2015). besides these, the school sector development plan (ssdp) has highly focused on strengthening consolidated effort between facilitators, parents, school and community to create a more amiable and effective atmosphere for early childhood educational development (eced) and pre primary education programs (ppep) (ministry of education [moe], 2016). apart from these, since the year 1948 when ecd began with the initiation of government (koirala, 2014), the number of opened and operating early childhood development centers (ecdc) has been increasing (baral, 2011). despite these initiatives, various barriers to the construction of favorable atmosphere for ecd are noted by researchers which mainly include insufficient educational resources, lack of qualified workforce along discriminatory social behaviors like gender inequality (bhandari, 2018). besides these, my reflection allows me to consider divergent expectations and attitudes of parents regarding the learning atmosphere at school as a constraint to my vision of facilitating ecd. through this study, i wanted to explore the challenges faced by preschools in creating a suitable atmosphere for ecd. the paper tends to unearth how the teacher and school leaders articulate their experiences of creating an environment for the development of early childhood learners. recounting my journey of running a preschool in bhaktapur, i have realized that though promoting the learning atmosphere of children during their early days of development is given huge space in educational discourse, the challenges the schools go while doing so have often remained covered. in our context, while traditional perception about teaching-learning has been replaced by the emerging democratic and instructional norms, infrastructural and socio-cultural barriers are still obstructing practicing the concept of creating a learner-friendly atmosphere. hence, i opine, the subject of teachers' and school leaders' experience of creating an environment for ecd is a topic worth to be explored. delimiting the challenges in the aforementioned discourse, the paper has, hence, addressed infrastructural and attitudinal restrains that might limit the vigor of the pre-schools in stimulating cognitive development of children by ensuring an appropriate learning atmosphere. setting the scene: reflecting on my schooling born as the eldest of the family, grown amidst several expectations of dad and mom, i often recount how i was viewed to be experiencing the most blessed childhood anyone would dream of! international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 58-72 60 residing in the heart of the capital was something wonderful and the wonder was the premises where i used to enter every morning with dreams to make dreams of my mom come true. those lofty buildings, the spacious classrooms, and the well-clad teachers in golden framed spectacles were the things everyone would envy. but it was a journey people had barley figured out; the journey of a curled haired boy of five loaded with bulky books who was struggling amidst expectations of parents and teachers, difficult to find out what he had to be doing actually! today, when i look back to the days, i remember how i could rarely enjoy what it meant to be a boy of five studying in grade two. being in the class for more than eight hours a day, i had started thinking that nothing in the world was more tiring than being in school. i was expected to write beautifully and the teacher from kalingpong, who used to be my grade teacher would evaluate my writing based on her understanding of how something could be beautiful. i had to remember all those multiplication tables and recall hippopotamus which i had never seen! moreover, dad and mom would add to the expectation of the school with their repeated remarks on how i had to grow up! i still recall the day when the most favorite teacher of mine, who used to take us to the garden for storytelling shouted on me! the very day, i couldn't figure out the reason behind her anxiety and just kept sobbing. but as i recall the shouting today, i find it as a result of a gap created between my parents' expectation on me to grow studious and her attempts of keeping me happy while learning at school! i was tired but i tried my best to move on! i tried to adopt all those calligraphies, working hard with my scribbles. i tried to draw the picture of xylophone and grew up thinking, how it is played actually. i appeared to be growing up, but i had been in serious confusion. i started making beautiful writings as my dad had been expecting and for this, i imitated what the teacher from kalingpong would say. however, day by day, i started getting nervous to express my ideas since i could barely think and create something by myself! the nervousness to think and express i cultivated during my early pre-primary days continued and it existed till the day i completed my high school. and today, as i see the children at my school giggling in the field or making apples of dough in the kitchen, i recall how my entire personality had been retarded because of the maturity i had to display that was beyond my understanding. the struggle went on, but it was not the exact struggle that i had to make being a boy of five; rather it was the struggle that i had to make despite deserving something else, something more affectionate, more pampering, and more childish. theoretical perspectives environment for cognitive development in early childhood cognitive development is perceived as the progression of the ability to think and reason (semmar & al-thani, 2015). in this sense, the cognitive development of individuals starts with the ramila subedi1, milan shrestha / enabling environment for early childhood development: a... 61 encounter of an individual with the surrounding with which they move from learning about the surrounding, referred to as 'learning the symbols' to developing to thinking of them logically (piaget, 1952). this concept is even supported by sassure who talks about the linkage between the concept or meaning (signified) and the word (signifier) that ultimately contributes to developing a ‘sign system’ which is connected with how a person acquires language in the theory of structuralism (gough, 2010). it encourages us to realize that the more appropriately the child is provided with the environment to explore, observe and play (ernst, 2014; north american association for environmental education [naaee], 2010), the more inductive contribution we can make for cognitive development of the child. discussing how cognitive development takes place in children, piaget (1936) mentions that children are born with a very basic mental structure providing a base to knowledge and understanding that is developed through schematization and adaptation (assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration) for which adults can play a crucial role as facilitators. similarly, where we think that cognitive development takes place takes place in children with maturation, it is found to have been contributed equally by the cultural surrounding (dasen, 1994) that surrounds them. moreover, as stated by oroujoulu and vahedi (2011), motivation, attitude, and set of beliefs serve in influencing the language learning process which also forms one of the crucial aspects of the cognitive development of a child. similarly, researches made in the united states and western europe indicate the influence of physical infrastructural environment on the cognitive and socio-emotional upbringing of children and adolescents (ferguson, cassells, macallister & evans, 2013). it articulates that the atmosphere we provide to the children determines to what extent he/ she is growing and how the individual is learning. policies and practices for early childhood development in nepal turning the pages of history in nepalese education, nepal education system plan (nesp), 1973 marks the initiation of focus on primary education and facilitation of government (moe, 2010) for ensuring that it reaches the door of each nepalese. similarly, with an adherence to the concept of education for all (efa), strategies for enhancing programs for ecd was further forwarded by the state which included collaborative effort between government and communities to enhance health, nutrition, sanitation and educational activities of the children (ministry of education and sports [moes], 2003). in the later days too, the programs for ecd have been made more rigorous which have been centered towards the aspects of cognitive and psychosocial development of children (united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization [unesco], 2008.). focusing on creating a suitable atmosphere to support ecd, the government of nepal (gon) has developed a framework to guide the schools to impart education based on children's capacity and aptitude (moe, 2010) to make them child friendly. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 58-72 62 further, moe has even defined what childfriendly schools mean by outlining their characteristics as: "(i) children receive a safe and healthy environment, physically, mentally and emotionally, (ii) children's aptitude, capacity, and level are respected and provision is made for necessary environment and curriculum for their learning accordingly, (iii) teachers bear the full responsibility for assessing the learner's achievement in terms of learning, (iv) children are encouraged to enroll in school without any discrimination on grounds of their caste/ ethnicity, sex, financial status, physical and mental frailty, and are treated without discrimination both within and outside school, (v) special attention is paid to their health and security needs, (vi) children, parents and communities take part actively in policymaking, planning, implementation and evaluation of activities in the schools, and (vii) all types of physical, corporal and mental punishment are prohibited, and constant efforts are made to protect children from abuse and harm" (2010, p. 67). coming to the school sector development program (ssdp), strengthening basic education under eced/ ppe programs has been given space which targets to serve children to learn in enabling environment by reinforcing quality standard of the human resources serving in eced, enhancing collaboration between school, parents, and community and increasing the access of program to a diverse group of children (moe, 2016). parallel to the programs initiated by the state, pre-schools which are increasing over the years is seeking for the more appropriate environment for their learning, drifting away from purely textbook instructions (pandey, 2014 june 13) while the statistics of 36,568 community based and 6,120 institutional ppe and ecd schools distributed over the seven provinces in the year 2074 (ministry of education, science and technology [moest], 2017) gives a glimpse of optimism we can cultivate regarding assurance of a more conducive learning atmosphere for the children. despite these, the question that has remained unraveled is, can we be sure about the facilitating atmosphere for these schools with the growth in their number? the next thing that may require strong probing is, is the growing number of children in the ecds synonymous with growing support of parents about the environment for their development? the study, hence, is aimed towards bringing into light the paradoxes the preschool leaders have been experiencing in the course of creating an environment for ecd. research method this study has attempted to explore the challenges school leaders and teachers of institutional preschools in kathmandu have experienced in the course of creating an enabling learning atmosphere for early childhood learners. the entire process of research was guided by my ontological stance that different challenges the school leaders and teachers narrate might be different since their perceptions are influenced by their embodied knowledge, experience, and cultural background (creswell, 2014). ramila subedi1, milan shrestha / enabling environment for early childhood development: a... 63 to understand the realities the teachers and school management had constructed in their minds (guba & lincoln, 1994) about challenges in the creation of a supportive environment in their schools, i involved in the process of narrative inquiry. in this course, purposive sampling was used to choose a teacher and two school leaders from three institutional preschools in kathmandu valley, who, i believed, could align with my research objective (palys, 2008). since i have been collecting experiences of challenges in running preschool as an individual, i wanted to find out what other school leaders similar to my context experience. the choice i made about my research area and participants were also guided the feasibility of time and distance to conduct the research. i generated the knowledge of understanding of school leaders and teachers about challenges in creating an atmosphere for cognitive development of early childhood learners (willis, 2007), for which i involved in the dialogical process that allowed me to make constant and active communication and engagement (karimova, 2014) with my research participants. furthermore, the methodological process of narrative inquiry even facilitated me to generate my understanding which was contributed by the reflection i made over my research participants' insight (seiki, 2014). the major tool that i used in information generation was an in-depth interview while openended questions were used to explore the experiences of my research participants (kvale, 1996). as an interpretive researcher, my entry into the field for finding what is happening, listening to what is said, asking them through interviews, and collecting documents contributed to collecting narrative information (hammersely, 2017). the stories that i collected were restored and reorganized by telling chronologically and coherently (creswell, 2014) which were further analyzed thematically. findings this section of the paper unpacks the experiences of teachers and school administration regarding the creation of an atmosphere for children at an early stage of development thematically. the basic findings made from the research are presented as: teachers as ecd learning facilitators the story of smita as a role model among her students was interesting. as a facilitator, she had entered into academia for about five years ago and since then, she has been engaging in classroom activities, experimenting with newer and interesting ways to facilitate the socio-cognitive development of her learners. as she recalled, ample affection she has been showering has established herself as a loved teacher among the kids while her engagement has brought a great deal of change in the way the students think and act while learning. i still recall the day when i had entered the class with a little anxiety. but as i continued with my journey with affection and enthusiasm, i found myself being adored by my kids. even the learner who was international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 58-72 64 not willing to come to the school the very first day rushes towards his class happily, and, the way he comes with suggestions to me to make paper crafts fascinates me. (smita, personal communication, 2019, april 12). keshav, the school leader who has been running a preschool in the suburbs of kathmandu for about a decade had a similar experience of his teachers' role in the classroom. putting his experience of seeing students being inspired by the classroom facilitator with the story of a daughter who learns from her mom, he acknowledged how encouragement the teachers provide can be magical in enabling students to create new ideas. i have seen the small kids running away from their mom's arms towards our teachers and waving 'see you' to their parents happy. it has been possible only because of the way teachers present themselves in the classroom. while the school manages the resources required for teachinglearning, my experience has enabled me to realize that it is in the hand of teachers to utilize them to create a supportive learning atmosphere in class. since teachers in my school sing, dance, play, and create new things with the students, students also try to come with newer steps. it must be because of the active participation and compassionate treatment of teachers towards students that my school earns trust for its atmosphere for early childhood learners. (keshav, personal communication, 2019, april 13) praneeta, a lady of 37, working as a coordinator at a preschool in bhaktapur had similar acknowledgment of teachers' role but she narrated the different stories of how she had faced obstacles when she entered the field as a teacher. as she recounted, involving in teaching-learning as an instructional teacherleader was not easy when she had attempted as a classroom facilitator. she had to be decisive regarding changes in classroom planning and activities which was not entertained. moreover, at present when she encourages her teachers to be participatory, the parents expect them to be more textbook centered, which, as she recalls is paradoxical to the atmosphere she is trying to create in the classroom to facilitate early childhood development. when i had entered the classroom as a trained ecd teacher at the age of twenty-two, i couldn't execute the activities that i knew could help me create an amiable atmosphere for my learners. i was considered to be breaking the hierarchical norms of the school since the school had a different set of methods to be applied beyond my awareness about ecd. today, when i encourage the teachers in my school to practice learner-friendly methodologies for the children of preschool, i get regular complaints from the parents for engaging them much into playing and ignoring the value of reading and studying! (praneeta, personal communication, 2019, april 13). above mentioned stories presented the instinct of facilitating ecd as a teacher role model. however, the narration of praneeta's story allowed me to rethink upon if it is a teacher who doesn't get ready ramila subedi1, milan shrestha / enabling environment for early childhood development: a... 65 to act instructional all the time, or he/ she is instigated by the circumstances to do so! concerns of resources and teacher retention using resources, either physical or abstract is what i have been doing to help children in the classroom to acquire ideas and reconstruct them. however, though i am pretty aware of the resources that are to be used, getting the resources as per need gets difficult sometimes and it creates a buzz…. (smita, personal communication, 2019, april 12). smita's account of hardships was not the adversity she faced alone in the course of creating an environment for the development of children in different stages. it was the hurdle that keshav as a school principal and praneeta as school coordinator had observed on their way. not only the lack of physical infrastructures but even lack of teachers' retention is a serious challenge in fostering a learning atmosphere for early childhood development, as keshav narrated. last year, in between the academic session, i faced a serious crisis since three teachers whom we had given adequate training left the school for going abroad and still, we are investing rigor in preparing the teachers similar to them, not knowing yet, whether we will be able to keep them motivated or not! (keshav, personal communication, 2019, april 13). praneeta, while telling her story of the challenges she has been going through in creating an environment for ecd added to keshav and smita's remarks in a similar way. as she said, it is difficult to arrange infrastructures for running effective ecd programs. but the more difficult it is getting the teachers willing to continue with the program in the long run. all say, finding a teacher in kathmandu is easy. yes, it might be easy to find a teacher. but getting teachers who are committed to working in this field is the most challenging job i have counted so far. every year we have to think about two things, coming to the end of the academic session. the first one is, are we going to get a good teacher and the next one is what to do with the resources that have been damaged due to reckless use! had the school got a dedicated teacher working for a longer time, the limited infrastructures could also have given a better way of classroom facilitation (praneeta, personal communication, 2019 april 13). the narration made by smita, keshav, and praneeta all give us similar insight into 'infrastructural inadequacy' and 'problem of teacher retention' in a fostering environment for early childhood development programs. moreover, even my reflection allows me to agree with them since having access to these resources and seeing them being managed well have become troublesome many times. parents’ expectations of seeing different children growing alike last night, sitting alone after my works at the office, i pondered at the sky and recollected how i was expected by my mom to grow exactly in a similar international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 58-72 66 way as my buddies had been growing during my childhood. at the same time, i reflected upon how praneeta had sighed, talking about how parents' expectation of seeing their children better than their neighbors'. praneeta had had enough troubles coming to the day as a school coordinator because of over expectations presented by parents. as she narrated, parents came from different social background and they had their strong arguments about how their children should have been growing, which was seriously hindering the development of children. the children, though look similar might have different ways of perceiving ideas which the parents rarely admit. i have often encountered really difficult times, trying to persuade parents about different learning abilities. all want to see their children learning overnight and they come with their fixed approaches which they think we should execute. it is disturbing in creating a learning atmosphere for the early childhood development program we have (praneeta, personal communication, 2019, april 13). the varying but rigid attitude of parents about how their children should have been learning was distorting for smita as well. as she went on unveiling her story, she talked of how parents stress imposing one shoe should fit all at school, though they come with the promise of being supportive to help the child learn as per global standard at first. parents love seeing their children growing mature and more responsible than their age and amidst this, even if we tend to manage different atmospheres for children of similar needs differently, it gets difficult to be executed! parents want their children to learn and even act globally but they are resistant to accept a globally accepted notion of educating a child (personal communication, 2019, april 12). both the stories of smita and praneeta allowed me to think of the learning atmosphere that is often violated because of parents’ notion of school should be imparting like this! i even put together the experiences shared by the teachers of my school which i found aligned with parents varying attitude and their alike expectation about untimely maturity of their children. discussions keshav's experience of starting his career as an academic facilitator and moving towards academic entrepreneur cum leader encouraged him to internalize teachers' potential to influence his/ her peers, contribute to the development of instructional resources and to enhance students' learning achievement (spillane, halverson, & diamond, 2001). teachers in the classroom as a role model, facilitator, and mediator (espania, 2012) were narrated to be influencing the learners to adopt learning and adapt in the learning community by praneeta, smita, and keshav respectively. however, acting as an instructional leader to promote an atmosphere for a child's development, though carries greater significance, was stated to be challenging in the context of the participants. the challenges echoed in the words of praneeta who had ramila subedi1, milan shrestha / enabling environment for early childhood development: a... 67 experienced a great deal of difficulty in her professional career due to structured top-down hierarchical notion, lack of parallel relationship between the school principal and herself as a teacher leader and insufficient opportunities to learn and build a relationship with the outer world to attain global perspective (crowther, kaagen, ferguson, & hann, 2002; espania, 2012; gimbert & nolan, 2000; lortie, 1975; silva,). it even allowed me to recount my own experience during pre-primary school days and say to myself, "the teachers that i had found less motivating in the classroom must have gone through similar challenges!” living in a country where lack of affordability (panthi & belbase, 2017; pierce & ball, 2009) forms an obstruction in each sphere of an individual's life, getting resources as per necessity is more like a dream coming true in many educational institutions. similarly, the lack of supporting mechanisms to facilitate the technological familiarity of teachers (gareage, 2015; panthi & belbase, 2017) was observed as another challenge in fostering the learning atmosphere as per changing scenarios. apart from this, the utilization of natural settings (ernst, 2014; miller, tichota, & white, 2009) was discussed less by the research participants which had added to their adversities. the insecurity about teachers' retention that i observed in the preschool leaders who is not a mere educational discourse; rather it forms an avalanche that is resulting in the springs of the nation to dry up! a study on surging number of nepalese going abroad during 2017 showed the number to be 1750 leaving the country daily ("more nepalis", 2017) while repeated remarks made by many individuals about the queue they see in front of ministry of foreign affairs (mofa) for getting passports can allow anticipation of the number growing even rapidly. furthermore, despite growing demand for the use of information and communication technology (ict) that is even stressed by national policies (moe, 2013) for encouraging the use of instructional methodologies in teaching-learning, it is very less utilized by the teachers who come basically from the rural areas contributing to 80% of the total population (central bureau of statistics [cbs], 2011; rana, greenwood, turnbull, & wise, 2018). they are found to have less access to technical support for enhancing their skills (rana et al., 2018; salehi & salehi, 2012). in this scenario, commitment and innovative expertise of the teachers supported by the appreciation from school administration (qutoshi & poudel, 2014) could serve in enabling the learning willingness of teachers which might help in making the environment for cognitive development of children more empowering. studies have it said that learning takes place as a process, starting with the association mechanism among young children that gradually transforms into internal mediation (kuhn & pease, 2006) as the child starts growing up. as put forward by gardener's theory of multiple intelligences, each individual is gifted with nine varying intelligences which include verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, musicalrhythmic, bodily-kinesthetic, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 2, no. 1, may 2020, pp. 58-72 68 interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist and existential (hajhashemi, caltabiano, anderson, & tabibzadeh, 2017), and according to these varying abilities of individuals, learning atmosphere for a child has to be created. however, varying abilities of the learners to learn and develop remains undermined most of the time due to the parents' assumption of 'one shoe fits all!' which even my research participants recounted. where adoption of learning theories like bloom's taxonomy (1954) and an acknowledgment of socio-cultural diversity where a child grows up (scarino & liddicoat, 2009) is highly advocated to address children's cognitive development, lack of parents' support to this seems to be creating abruption! as coined by episten (1995) and keyes (2000), regular communications between parents and school involving teacher invitations, meetings and conferences can be helpful, not only in knowing about the atmosphere at home and school but also in identifying the gap that may appear due to sociocultural diversity and to solve it. however, the way i longed to be t a child being a child during my school days among the educated community, the complains that i reflect about my parents' lesser visits to the school and the gap it has created in my experience about life has made it explicit, endeavoring demand of accommodating to newer values (bainbridge, 2013) in educational discourse should start with a readiness to adopt the change and then assimilate it for avoiding all sorts of disturbances it might come with. conclusion engagement with the teachers and school leaders running programs for early childhood development revealed that teachers and school leaders are applying more rigorous efforts for creating an atmosphere for early childhood development. for this, the role of teachers in making instructional utilization of available resources was acknowledged by the research participants. however, insufficient resources and the lack of retention of teachers capable of making their effective utilization were narrated as the challenges. moreover, since the teachers and school leaders added about greater expectations of the parents, constructing a playful and child-friendly environment amidst this was recounted to be tough. implication though several theories advocate the significance of creating a friendly environment for early childhood learners, materializing the concept seems to be tough until and unless a collaborative effort is made between school leaders, teachers, and parents. hence, the study implies steps to be taken by the school to induce a collaborative environment where parents and the entire school aligns with a similar vision. similarly, teachers can make utilization of natural settings around them which might help reduce the challenges created due to infrastructural constraints. apart from this, motivating teachers to work as instructional leaders can also help create the atmosphere for early childhood development. ramila subedi1, milan shrestha / enabling environment for early childhood development: a... 69 references baral, r. k. 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(1976). the role of tutoring in problem solving. journal of child psychology and child psychiatry, 17(1976), 89−100. 418.edited.format available online at: http://journals.rsfpress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 2 number 2 (2020): 116-126 corresponding author egbedeyitemitope@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i2.418 research synergy foundation teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifakoijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi national research university higher school of economics, russian federation abstract teachers play a significant role in the process of implementing inclusive lower primary education; however, inclusive education, especially at lower primary, is yet to be fully implemented in nigeria despite the numerous benefits associated with it. as one of the major implementers of inclusive lower primary, it is imperative to study teachers’ knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifakoijaiye, as to provide empirical evidence. descriptive survey research design was adopted with thirty five (35) teachers who were sampled using simple random. the researcher used ‘teachers knowledge of inclusive education questionnaire (tkleq α = 0.92), which was designed by the researcher to collect data. one research question was answered, and two hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance. teachers have an average knowledge of inclusive lower primary education (average percentage = 53.6). regular and special teachers have no significant difference on knowledge of inclusive education (t = 0.50; df = 33; p>0.05). the recommendation was made according to the findings of the study: it was recommended that nigerian government, concerned non-governmental organizations, and scholars should ensure that regular training is organized for lower primary teachers in order to update their knowledge about inclusive education. keywords: inclusive education, lower primary education; teachers’ knowledge this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction the future of any society, group, or nation lies on the shoulders of children, so says an age-long adage, which refers to them as leaders of tomorrow. to assume this position, therefore, they deserve the best form of education, whether informal, formal, or non-formal education, irrespective of their race, gender, colour. it is important to note that education in all ramification is the catalyst of development, thus, since no nation can grow beyond the quality of education delivered to her younger generation, whereas the younger generation is the future of any society (egbedeyi, 2017). education has been viewed from different perspectives, with each scholar attempting a definition to explain a process, which involves the impartation of skills, concepts, and critical information to pupils, with the intention of making them informed and useful to the society they belong to. adedokun and olaleye (2014) submit that the best way any nation or society can advanced is to invest in her citizens or people; this investment is known as education, because it is; therefore, education becomes the tool; which communities can employ for nurturing personal growth, that is children and directly culminates into the development of the community (adedokun & olaleye, 2014). odebiyi (2014) defines education as the transmission of more abstract qualities such as critical thinking skills, healthy living, resilience, and self-confidence that are resident in the older generation to the younger ones. according to the researcher, education can be defined as the transmission of culture, values, and norms of the society to international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 117 the younger generation for the preservation and progress of society's heritage. one of the important things that can be derived from the definition is that education is the right of every child in society.� as part of the efforts of the united nations toward creating a better environment for children, education was rightly recognized as one of the rights of the children. that is, education becomes essential for children to have not to privilege as documented for the first time art.26 of the universal declaration of human rights of the united nations of 1948 (struzik, 2014). also, the convention on the rights of the child of 1989, ratified in poland in 1991, was divided into two parts (arts 28 and 30), and the responsibilities of each section were spelled out. for instance: art.28 targeted free, quality, and equal access to primary education, while art.29 targeted quality welfare of the child as well as understand and appreciate the uniqueness of other children within his/her locality and around the world (szczepskapustkowska, 2009; struzik, 2014). fakolade and adeniyi (2009) believe that nigeria government firstly recognized special needs children between the decades of 1970-1980, which was enshrined in the first edition of the nigeria national policy on education, published in the year 1977. however, omode (2011) discover that inequalities in educational access and achievement, which have contributed to an increase in the number of out-of-school children in nigeria, which the special needs children are affected the most (omede 2011 cited in odebiyi, 2014). the nigeria population census carried out in the year 2006 gave the number of special people like 3, 253, 169 out of which 39% of these people were school-age children, and this number seems to raise over the years due to many factors (vanguard newspaper, 2012). lucy et al. (2015) identify that the nigerian constitution makes provision for a suitable education for all children. it is quite disheartening to note that the percentage of enrolled special needs children is 0.42% out of the 39% of special age children, the percentage is very poor while compared to their regular counterparts is around 67.05% (adetoro, 2014; lucy et al., 2015).� the deprivation has a traditional undertone, that is before the colonial era, there were very few people with special educational needs since the inured, or severally ill persons eventually met with an early death as adequate medical, education, and other support services were not available (silwimba, 2011; odebiyi, 2014). in traditional society, every special needs child is considered sick, which results in reverence and meeting the needs of such children by both immediate and extended family (wnayi, 2012). they tend to overstress the disability, thus given little chance for special needs children to develop positive self-esteem as well as explores the environment; instead, they receive sympathy rather than empathy (odebiyi 2014). one of the ways society sympathies with the special needs children to provide a special school named after the particular special needs (egbedeyi, 2017) struzik (2014) explains that segregation becomes relevant because it helped to educate children with special needs in the right environment, such as curriculum revised and specially prepared teachers. after segregation, integration becomes prominent since it allows both special needs and regular children to be within the same school compound, and the origination could be traced to the 1960s (struzki, 2014). hulek (1997) explains that an "integrated system of teaching and education consists maximum inclusion of children and teenagers with derivations from standards in public available schools and other institutions as well as allowing them, as far as possible, to develop and learn among healthy peers" (struzik, 2014). maheshwari et al. (2015) find out in nigeria, the challenges faced by the children with special needs never change, such as discrimination, segregation, and low enrolment in primary school (nwayi, 2012, odebiyi, 2014). therefore in order to forestall the discrimination against the special needs children in the world, especially nigeria, inclusive education becomes the bride of all the nations. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) 118 │ for achieving education for all, inclusive education serves as an avenue for such because it provides an opportunity for all pupils irrespective of their challenges or needs. adedokun and olaleye (2014), inclusive education provides a premise where the right to education is upheld; because the provision of quality education becomes paramount to all the stakeholders in order to develop holistic children. salami and egbedeyi (2018) believe that inclusive education is necessary for every society that believes in equal and quality education for all citizenry. the implementation of inclusive lower primary education lies on the shoulder of the teachers; being the custodian or facilitator of knowledge and as well the ones who guide the younger generation or pupils to knowledge. many countries, including nigeria are making effort to implement inclusive education, yet inclusive education is yet to gain ground in nigeria (odebiyi, 2014; egbedeyi, 2017). therefore, this study is important as it investigated teachers’ knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state. research question one research question was answered in this study. 1. what is the level of teachers’ knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state? literature review teachers’ knowledge of inclusive lower primary education asodike and ikpitibo (2011) state that “primary education is the foundation of formal education”. primary education becomes important no wonder every nation strives to provide quality primary education for her children. it is worth noting that primary education provides an avenue for the receivers to acquire certain skills, which will be useful to the pupils and society. it is important to note that pupils who attend primary education have a higher chance to complete tertiary education and enjoy a good standard of living (asodike and ikpitibo, 2011). the first three years of primary education is tagged as lower primary education, and it is the last cohort of early childhood education. akinbote (2011) and oduolowu (2011) note that early childhood education covers from birth to eight plus, and it can be accounted for the largest percentage of development in pupils before age eight. hence, lower primary education is very important in the lives of pupils as it provides an avenue to correct, adjust and modify any challenge, prepare pupils for the task in life as well as ensure holistic development of pupils is given a priority. thus, no child should be left behind.� inclusive education is very important towards providing and educating pupils with or without special needs without any iota of discrimination. the term "inclusion" replaced all previous terminologies, such as integrated special education, reverse mainstreaming in hopes that the word would mean more than placing pupils with special needs in the regular education classroom will aid the holistic developments of both the regular and special need such as a sense of belonging, interpersonal relationship with colleague and teachers, learning (odom, buysse and soukakou, 2011). the major aim of inclusive education is to eliminate social exclusion, discrimination, and sympathy society has developed for the special needs children, which form as a result of their attitudes, perception, and knowledge as respect for individual child difference or uniqueness (adetoro, 2014). according to united nations children's fund (unicef), 2007, pupils with special needs face discrimination in various means: cultural prejudices often reflect guilt, shame or even fear associated with the birth of a child with a special need., socio-economic, legislative measures, inaccessible environment to children with special needs. therefore, inclusive education becomes an avenue to tackle all the discrimination, that is, all the educational stakeholders need to work together in order to international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 119 implement inclusive education. one of the most important stakeholders is teachers, the implementer of inclusive education. the teacher is one of the stakeholders and perhaps the most important one for the success of inclusive education (sucuoğlu, bakkaloğlu, karasu, demir & akalın, 2014). maheshwari and shapurkar (2015) state that “a major part of the responsibility for the actualizing of an inclusive system where excellence and equality work in perfect harmony therefore rests in the hands of the teacher”. however, teachers need to be aware of the needs of children with special needs, modified the class curriculum with practice, and extra effort are significantly necessary for teachers to impart knowledge in inclusive lower education. right information, training, and awareness on the concept of inclusive education are passed to the teachers, and it will develop the teachers' self-confidence about the roles they needed to perform in the classroom (burke and shutlerland, 2004; maheshwari and shapurkar, 2015). since lack of knowledge, awareness and skills needed to support children with special needs alongside regular children in a regular classroom is a major barrier as it affect the implementation, influenced teachers’ disposition, perceptive and attitude towards inclusive education (maheshwari and shapurkar, 2015). sucuoğlu et al. (2014), in their findings, report that teachers' lack of knowledge of teaching in inclusive preprimary and elementary classroom, the level of teachers knowledge of children with special needs seemed deficient, thus, their lack of inadequate knowledge is reflected in: assessment and adaptations, supporting language and speech and inclusive classroom management. sucuoğlu et al (2014) advocate that teachers need to have access to training on inclusive education practices, skills and hands-on training opportunities for working with children with special needs rather than focusing on the teachers’ knowledge. also, crane-mitchel and hedge (2007), in their study, emphasize that teachers do not understand the features of children with special needs and as well lack knowledge related to meeting these children's needs. dapudong (2014) reveals that “teachers have moderate knowledge on inclusive education as a way of reducing social discrimination and as integration of special educational needs students in mainstream classrooms yet exhibited partial knowledge on inclusive education as an avenue that can educate all children irrespective of race, creed, gender, and socio-economic status” (dapudong, 2014). inclusive education was introduced in the nigeria national policy on education in 2004, various researchers had carried out studies on inclusive education such as inclusive education in nigeria: the journey so far (salami, 2013), inclusive education in the 21st century: challenges and opportunities for nigeria (garuba, 2003); however, lack of enough or no research studies on the teachers' knowledge of inclusive education; which can serve as the catalyst of ensuring full implementation of inclusive education. thus, this study aimed at providing empirical evidence on the teachers’ knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state. ifako-ijaiye, as the research-based, was premised on the availability of primary school, which has inclusive units but failed to practice inclusive education as it supposes to be. the observation has shown that integration was termed as inclusive education. in addition, there are few such schools in the local government area. however, the results from this work can serve as a guideline on what government needs to do in order to ensure full implementation of inclusive education. hypotheses ho1: there is no significant relationship between teachers’ level of education and their knowledge of inclusive education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state. h02: there is no significant difference between special and regular teachers in their knowledge of inclusive education in ifako-ijaiye local governa ment area of lagos state. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) 120 │ methodology aggarwal (2008) “defines descriptive survey research design as devoted to the gathering of information about prevailing conditions or situations for the purpose of description and interpretation”. thus, a descriptive survey research design was used for this study, with the purpose to observe, record, analyze, interpret and describe the knowledge of teachers on inclusive education at lower primary classes as it exists, without any iota of manipulating any variable. the population for this study covered all teachers (regular and special) of the lower primary pupils in ifako-ijaye local government. the random sampling technique was used to select ten (10) regular primary schools, while total enumeration was used to select the two (2) special schools in ifako ijaye local government area of lagos state. simple random was used to select 3 lower primary school teachers in both the regular and special schools from the first three classes of the primary school. at the end of the selection, 35 teachers participated in the study. the research instrument used for this study was self-designed titled ‘teachers knowledge of inclusive education questionnaire (tkieq)’. the research instrument consisted of two sections. section a focused on the demographic information of the participants, and section b measured the teachers' knowledge of inclusive lower primary education, and it contained 14 items which were derived from the literature on a two response scale. the tkieq was validated with a split-half technique, which yielded a coefficient of 0.92. the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency count, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, while inferential statistics of pearson product-moment correlation and ttest were used to test the hypotheses.� results and discussion data were collected from 35 teachers who fully participated in the study, out of which 29(83%) teach in regular school, and 6(17%) teach in a special school. figure 1: bar-chart showing the school type of teachers� the educational qualifications of the teachers are as follows: 2(6%) were primary leaving certificate holders, 5(14%) were ssce holders, 14(40%) were degree holders, 12(34%) were others (certificate) holders, and 2(5.7%) did not indicate. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 121 figure 2: bar-chart showing the educational qualifications of the teachers research question 1: what is the level of teachers’ knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state? table 1: descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage showing the level of teachers’ knowledge inclusive lower primary education s/n item false true 1 inclusive education is hard to maintain in term of assessment, placing children with special needs in the regular classroom 8 (23) 27 (77) 2 inclusive education encourages teachers to spend quality time with special needs children than their counterpart� 9 (26) 26 (74) 3 inclusive education makes teachers better than any other forms of educational practices 15 (43) 20 (57) 4 inclusive education protect the right of every child irrespective of their needs or interest� 10 (29) 25 (71) 5. proper training, the good curriculum will help teacher to function well in inclusive education� 6 (17) 29 (83) 6 early identification of the needs of special children will guide teachers to plan learning lessons. � 5 (14) 30 (86) 7 inclusive education put unnecessary pressure on the parents of both children with and without special needs 9 (26) 26 (74) 8. inclusive education develop leadership skill in the children 21 (60) 14 (40) 9 learning is easy in inclusive classroom than segregated classroom 22 (63) 13 (37) 10. inclusive education bridge the gap between regular and special teachers since they are working together under the same roof with the same pupils/children� 17 (49) 18 (51) 11. inclusive education provides special training for teachers to cope with the inclusive classroom� 9 (26) 26 (74) 12. inclusive education brings weariness and tiredness at a very fast pace� 11 (31) 24 (69) international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) 122 │ 13. teachers productivity will increase due to inclusive education 13 (37) 22 (63) 14. necessary learning resources, school infrastructure, and finance will make inclusive education run smoothly.� 6 (17) 29 (83) average percentage= 53.6 table 1 shows the level of teachers' knowledge of inclusive lower primary education. the detailed analysis shows that teachers have knowledge of inclusive education that: early identification of the needs of special children will guide teachers to plan learning lesson (86%). proper training, the good curriculum will help teacher to function well in inclusive education(83%), necessary learning resources, school infrastructure, and finance will make inclusive education run smoothly(83%), inclusive education provide special training for teachers to cope within the inclusive classroom (74%), inclusive education protects right of every child irrespective of their needs or interest (71%), teachers productivity will increase due to inclusive education (63%), inclusive education makes teachers better than any other forms of educational practices (57%) and inclusive education bridge gap between regular and special teachers since they are working together under the same roof with the same pupils/children (51%). teachers have no knowledge that: learning is easy in the inclusive classroom than the segregated classroom (63%) and inclusive education develop leadership skill in the children (60%) were stated in positive term while inclusive education brings weariness and tiredness at the very fast pace (31%), inclusive education put unnecessary pressure on the parents of both children with and without special needs (26%), inclusive education encourages teachers to spend quality time with special needs children than their counterpart (26%), inclusive education is hard to maintain in term of assessment, placing children with special needs in the regular classroom(23%) were stated in the negative term. the average percentage of the table is 53.6, which indicates that teachers have an average knowledge of inclusive lower primary education. � this result falls below expectation, which can be deduced as one of the reasons inclusive lower primary education is not fully implemented in nigeria. this might be as a result of little exposure of the teachers to inclusive education, non-sufficient availability of inclusive lower primary schools in lagos and nigeria at large, inaccessible to books on inclusive education, among others. their lack of adequate knowledge of inclusive lower primary education has an impact on their beliefs and attitude toward it, and also on the implementation. this finding is in support of sucuoğlu et al. (2014) in their findings report that teachers’ lack of knowledge of teaching in inclusive preprimary and elementary classroom, the level of teachers knowledge of children with special needs seemed deficient and the study also supports the finding of dapudong (2014) reveals that teachers have moderate knowledge on inclusive education as a way of reducing social discrimination and as the integration of special educational needs pupils in the mainstream.� testing the null hypotheses ho1: there is no significant relationship between teachers’ levels of education and their knowledge of inclusive education international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 123 table 2: summary of pearson product moment correlation showing the relationship between teachers’ level of education and knowledge of inclusive education variable n mean std.d r sig remark educational qualification knowledge of inclusive education 35 2.91 8.23 1.12 2.98 0.288 .094 not significant table 2 shows that there is no significant relationship between teachers’ level of education and knowledge of inclusive education (r= 0.29; p>0.05). therefore, hypothesis 1 is not rejected. this finding reveals that teachers’ level of education has no influence on their knowledge of inclusive education. this could be as a result of the seminar, workshop, and other forms of training which is accessible to the teachers, and also their years of teaching experience might have an impact on their knowledge of inclusive education. this finding support that of sucuoğlu et al. (2013), who finds out that it is no different in the knowledge level of the teachers and also submit that proper training of teachers will increase their knowledge level. also, maheshwari and shapurkar's (2015) findings show that the teachers' knowledge about the meaning of special needs, types, causes, and intervention was more based on what they have seen around them than the scientific knowledge base. most of them were not aware of the term “inclusive education. h02: there is no significant difference between special and regular teachers in their knowledge of inclusive education table 3: summary of t-test analysis showing the difference between regular and special teachers on knowledge of inclusive education variable n mean std.d t df sig. remark knowledge of inclusive education regular special 29 6 8.349 7.667 3.027 2.944 0.502 33 0.619 not significant table 3 shows that there is no significant difference between regular and special teachers on knowledge of inclusive education (t = 0.50; df = 33; p>0.05). therefore, hypothesis 2 is not rejected. this implies that the school type of teachers has no impact on their knowledge of inclusive education. this might be due to a lack of awareness on inclusive education, and little presence of training which will prepare the teachers with the necessary skills needed to implement inclusive education is not public. this result is in line with forlin (2001), who suggests that one of the greatest barriers to the development of inclusion is that primary school teachers do not have the required knowledge, skills, and attitudes to carry out this work. bruns and mogharberran (2009) are of the opinion teachers at the elementary and preschool level lack adequate preparation to teach children with special needs. conclusion efforts have been made by nigerian government in ensuring that inclusive education comes to stay in nigeria, however, various reasons and challenges such as parental belief and attitude, teacher's international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) 124 │ awareness of inclusion have played significant roles in the implementation of inclusive education in ifako-ijaiye and nigeria. as popular axiom "you cannot give what you do not have" this statement is true in nigeria, as teachers are reluctant in implementing inclusive education due to perceiving stress associated with it. thus, this study has established that teachers reluctant to implement inclusive lower education is their lack of adequate knowledge about how inclusive education works. recommendations the following recommendations were made based on the findings of this study: governments, concerned ngos, and scholars should ensure that regular training is organized for the teachers in order to update their knowledge about inclusive education. both regular and special teachers should be exposed to the same level of training via seminars, workshops, and symposium, due to the fact there is no difference in their knowledge of inclusive education. references adedokun, m.o and olaleye, f.o. (2014). inclusive education and the development of nigerian communities. international journal of academic research in progressive education and development. vol 3(1). 8-31 adetoro, r. a. (2014). inclusive education in nigeria—a myth or reality? creative education vol 5. pp 17771781. aggarwal, y.p. (2008). the science of educational research. nirmal book agency. akinbote, o. (2011). issues in early childhood and primary education. national open university of nigeria asodike, j and ikpitibo, c. l. (2011). basic issues in primary education delivery in nigeria. european scientific journal. 8(1) berger, p. and luckmann, t. (1966). the social construction of reality. new york: doubleday bruns, a. d., and mogharberran, c. c. (2009). the gap between beliefs and practices: early childhood practitioners’ perceptions about inclusion. journal of research in childhood education 21(3): pp 229-241. burke, k. and sutherland, c. (2004). attitudes towards inclusion: knowledge vs. experience. education 125(2): pp 163-172 chaula, g. j. (2014). challenges teachers face in implementation of inclusive education in primary schools in tanzania a case study of two primary schools in tanzania. master’s thesis hedmark university college crane-mitchel, l., and hedge, a. v. (2007). belief and practices of in-service preschool teachers in inclusive settings: implications for personnel preparation. journal of early childhood teacher education 28: pp 353-366. dapudong, r. c. (2014). teachers’ knowledge and attitude towards inclusive education: basis for an enhanced professional development program. international journal of learning and development 4(4) fakolade, o. a and adeniyi, s. o. (2009). attitude of teachers towards the inclusion of special needs children in general education classroom: the case of teachers in some selected schools in nigeria. international electronic journal of elementary education 1.3. egbedeyi, t. f. (2017). parents and teachers’ awareness and knowledge of economic and social benefits of inclusive lower primary education and practices in ifako-ijaye local government. unpublished m.ed project submitted to department of teacher education, university of ibadan: ix100 garuba, a. (2003). inclusive education on the 21st century. challenges and opportunities for nigeria. asia pacific disability rehabilitation journal vol. 14 (2). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 125 hulek, a. (1997. pedagogika rewalidacyjna (revalidation pedagogy,), warszawa: pwn. lucy a. e., ezekiel o and john, a. o. (2015). challenges facing implementation of inclusive education in public secondary schools in rongo subcounty, migori county, kenya, iosr journal of humanities and social science (iosr-jhss) 20.4: 39-50. maheshwari, p and shapurkar, m. (2015). awareness and attitudes of primary grade teachers (1-4thgrade) towards inclusive education, international scholarly and scientific research and innovation 9(11): 3873-3878 odebiyi, o. m. (2014). pre-primary and primary school teacher perception of and attitude towards inclusive education in ibadan. unpublished dissertation. submitted to the university of ibadan. odom, s.l., buysse, v., and soukakou, e. (2011). inclusion for young children with disabilities: a quarter century of research perspectives, journal of early intervention 33.4: 344-356. oduolowu, e. (2011). contemporary issues in early childhood education. ibadan: franco-ola publishers. omede, a.a. (2011). reforms in special education for optimum educational attainment by person with special needs for national development. journal of merging trends in educational research and policy studies 2.4:296-300. szczepska-pustkowska, m. (2009). prawa dziecka, w: d. klus-stańska, m. szczepska pustkowska (red.), pedagogika wczesnoszkolna – dyskursy, problemy, rozwiązania. warszawa: wydawnictwo akademickie i profesjonalne (rights of the child, d. klus-stańska, m. szczepska-pustkowska (red.), early school pedagogy discourses, problems, solutions. warsaw: academic and professional publishing house). salami, i.a. (2013). inclusive early childhood education in nigeria: the journey so far. the journal of international association of special education vol 15(2): 118-126. salami, i.a and egbedeyi, t.f. (2018). inclusive lower primary education: parents’ awareness of the economic and social benefits. journal of positive psychology and counselling vol 2 (1) pp 33-45 struzik, a. (2014). different ways to individual success of a pupil – from segregation to inclusion in the paradigm of inclusive education in theory and practice edited by zdzisława zacłona and ivica radovanović. nowy sącz pp 9-17 sucuoğlu, b., bakkaloğlu, h., karasu, f. i̇., demir, ş., and akalın, s. (2014). inclusive preschool teachers: their attitudes and knowledge about inclusion. international journal of early childhood special education (int-jecse) 5.2: 107-128. unicef (2007). promoting the rights of children with disabilities, unicef, florence. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 116-126 teachers knowledge of inclusive lower primary education in ifako-ijaiye local government area of lagos state, nigeria temitope funminiyi egbedeyi issn 2685-4074 (online) 126 │ appendix teachers’ knowledge of inclusive education questionnaire (tkieq) dear teacher, this instrument is designed to obtain information on the knowledge of inclusive education in ifako-ijaye local government. the information collected is purely for academic purpose and such information provided will be treated with utmost confidentiality. therefore, kindly feel free to answer the questions without any reservation. thank you section a: demographic information gender: male ( ) female ( )� educational qualification: primary leaving certificate ( ) ssce ( ) degree/hnd ( ) others ( ) --------� school type: regular ( ) special school ( )� teaching experience: 1-5years ( ) 6-10years ( ) 11-15years ( ) 16-20years ( ) 20 years and above ( ) section b: knowledge of inclusive education practices kindly indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following items by ticking false or true s/n item false true 1 inclusive education is hard to maintain in term of assessment, placing children with special needs in the regular classroom 2 inclusive education encourage teachers to spend quality time with special needs children than their counterpart 3 inclusive education makes teachers better than any other forms of educational practices 4 inclusive education protect right of every child irrespective of their needs or interest 5. proper training, good curriculum will help teacher to function well in inclusive education 6 early identification of needs of special children will guide teachers to plan learning lesson. 7 inclusive education put unnecessary pressure on the parents of both children with and without special needs 8. inclusive education develop leadership skill in the children 9 learning is easy in inclusive classroom than segregated classroom 10. inclusive education bridge gap between regular and special teachers since they are working together under the same roof with the same pupils/children 11. inclusive education provide special training for teachers to cope within the inclusive classroom 12. inclusive education bring weariness and tiredness at the very fast pace 13. teachers productivity will increase due to inclusive education 14. necessary learning resources, school infrastructure and finance will make inclusive education run smoothly. microsoft word 1170 osias kit t. kilag available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 2 number 2 (2022): 42-54 corresponding author osias kit t. kilag, okkilag12@gmail.com faculty of teacher training and education universitas terbuka and doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i2.1170 research synergy foundation ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag1, renan ignacio2, evelyn b. lumando3, geraldine u. alvez4, cara frances k. abendan5, niña michelle p. quiñanola6, john michael sasan7 1,7pau excellencia global academy foundation, inc., philippines 2,4,6department of education, toledo city division, philippines 3department of education, talisay city division, philippines 5ect excellencia global academy foundation, inc., philippines abstract since the pandemic's impact on the world's educational systems, the use of digital platforms has increased significantly. the authors of this research offer useful teaching strategies that can be applied in the classroom and may be employed in the event of a future pandemic or a return to a more conventional learning and teaching environment. considering the cognitive development articulated by jean piaget and its use of and integration with ict. the authors conducted this study using descriptive qualitative research and thematic analysis. the narrative and theme analysis that the authors undertook also enabled them to draw insightful inferences from the study's primary source. the findings show that ict integration is very successful for both teachers and students when seen in the light of jean piaget's theory of cognitive development. additionally, it was found that the teacher's continual ict learning is one of the crucial components of an effective and successful teaching and learning process. the implementation of policies in the classroom and the strategic use of technology by students must be considered and explored in future studies. keywords: ict integration; teaching pedagogy; cognitive development theory; educational technology introduction how important is ict integration in primary school classrooms? the answer to this question has been widely researched and debated over the years. however, a recent study conducted by the university of geneva found that there is a direct correlation between ict integration in primary school classrooms and higher levels of cognitive development in students (yamomoto & yamaguchi, 2019). this study was based on jean piaget's cognitive development theory, which states that children go through four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. the first suspected case of covid-19 in the philippines was suspected on january 22, 2020, and as of march 1, there have been 633 suspected cases (edrada, 2020; sasan & baritua, 2022). the office of the president of the republic of the philippines declared a state of emergency for the entire country (proclamation no. 929). march 16, 2020 (malacanang palace proclamation no. 922). significant barriers prevent the efficient use of ict integration as common proof during pandemics in the philippines due to the country's poor infrastructure and a lack of dependable ict tools utilized in the classroom and by students (collado et al., 2022). the deped provided its teachers with costly laptops that had insufficient specs, which also hampered the delivery of high-quality instruction during the crisis (fernandez, 2022). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 43 the covid-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on education systems around the world. in many countries, schools have been closed due to government restrictions and social distancing measures. this has resulted in children being unable to access their usual learning environments. as a result, teachers have been forced to adapt their teaching methods to ensure students continue to learn effectively. in order to help educators meet these challenges, ict integration in primary school classrooms during the pandemic has been explored in this study. specifically, the focus was placed on how ict integration could be implemented in the classroom environment to enhance student learning. as digital technologies become increasingly commonplace in society, it is important for primary school classrooms to integrate these tools in order to best prepare students for the future. ict integration can support students' cognitive development in a number of ways, according to jean piaget's cognitive development theory (blake & pope, 2008). ict can play an important role in each of these stages of cognitive development. for example, during the sensorimotor stage, ict can be used to help children learn about cause and effect. the purpose of this paper was to investigate how ict integration could be applied in primary school classrooms in order to enhance students’ cognitive development theory (piaget) and learning outcomes. in particular, the study focused on the use of ict tools in teaching concepts and skills. research questions how is the use of ict in primary classrooms affecting teacher autonomy, control, and effectiveness? how can the integration of ict be related to jean piaget's theory of cognitive development? how does the cognitive development theory of jean piaget improve classroom management in the contemporary era? literature review the use of ict technology compared to earlier generations of children, the majority of children today are born with technology. on the one hand, technology is unavoidable in today's educational system. the best way to enhance a child's learning is through technology. the use of technology in the classroom not only encourages active learning but can also ease a teacher's job. technology assistance throughout the preoperative and concrete operational phases not only supports the educational curriculum but also improves the child's linguistic development. a child loves to play and play games when they are in this stage (pre-operational). higher-order cognitive skills are encouraged in children through educational video games (bang luft, 2013). the use of technology in the classroom has a favorable effect on the student and his learning environment. the use of technology can help the teacher foster a supportive and effective learning environment. technology has the potential to help children clearly visualize concepts or goals. the cognitive development of jean piaget has a significant influence on educational teaching methods. according to slavin and cheung (2005), there are four teaching implications that are consistent with jean piaget's cognitive development theory. 1. teaching must place more emphasis on the child's mental process than on its result it suggests that teachers should place more emphasis on how a child thinks about concepts rather than immediately correcting a bad response or looking through his test results. instead of focusing on the end product, education must emphasize the learning process or how the child acquires knowledge. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) 44 │ 2. identifying a child's genuine interests every class is encouraged to learn about themselves and their actual interests in a piagetian classroom. the teacher can simply direct the student toward his progress in terms of cognitive, physical, and emotional development by identifying his interests. 3. placing a focus on practices this implies that repetitive practices and exercises might hasten a child's development, particularly during the pre-operational stage. play-based learning activities can assist a child in learning while also helping him to remember what he has learned for a long time. 4. the teacher needs to emphasize each child's unique characteristics. this suggests that the teacher should use a variety of assessments to evaluate the student. to comprehend the variety of learners, the teacher needs to have effective listening skills. the teaching instruction the teaching strategy should be based on the child's current stage, potential, and/or actual growth. we learn that a child at this age enjoys playing. the teacher should give the child brief instructions using words and actions. it is also preferable to give the instructions in the form of a game or play to grab the child's attention. after giving the instruction, request that the students show the rest of the class how to do it. since children are egocentric, no one should expect the child to view the world from their perspective. seeing the world from the child's point of view is the most effective technique to train the youngster and convey knowledge. never should a teacher give a lesson or instruction that is too disconnected from the student's reality. the educator should speak about the concept in light of the pupil's experiences. research method a qualitative research approach was used for this study. ten teachers in total were interviewed at two philippine schools. the interviews were recorded verbatim and transcribed. reading and rereading the transcripts was part of the data analysis process, which was followed by data coding and classification. the study questions' themes were found using open coding methodologies. the examination of the data revealed three key themes: (a) teacher autonomy; (b) teacher control; and (c) teacher effectiveness. data collection a combination of maximum variety (public school teachers and private school teachers) and criterion (at least 5 years of experience in teaching) sampling procedures were used to select appropriate participants in order to maximize variability and obtain rich data. by using this method, a total of 10 people—5 public school teachers and 5 private school teachers—volunteered to take part in the study. the participants' signatures guaranteed the confidentiality of their information on an informed consent form, and they also received information about their right to withdraw from the study. this study will generate analytical data that is recorded in a descriptive manner using information from data sources. teachers at luas elementary school and south city central school in toledo city, cebu, served as the primary sources for this study. the authors use observational techniques to gather data as they observe the ict integration in primary school classrooms during the pandemic in the context of jean piaget's cognitive development theory. researchers then formulate issues and converse with teachers at toledo city central school and luas elementary school in toledo city, cebu, philippines, in-depth. the findings of international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 45 the interviews with primary school teachers were then documented by the researchers in text, photographs, and audio recordings. data analysis data reduction techniques are a type of analysis that sharpens, categorizes, directs, eliminates superfluous data, and organizes data so that conclusions can be drawn from it. following the compilation of information, the presentation of facts or actions allows for the potential to reach conclusions. in addition to narrative text (in the form of field notes), matrices, graphs, networks, and charts are other ways qualitative data is presented. after that, depending on data reduction and visualization, the study's findings can be used to make decisions. findings and discussion findings ict integration and teacher autonomy technology has become an integral part of our lives. it has become an essential part of our education system as well as our daily routines. the use of technology has made learning more effective and efficient. teachers use various applications in their classrooms to engage their students in meaningful learning experiences. t2 stressed, “i see the positive impact that technology has on the classroom. i find it helpful in planning lessons and monitoring students' performance.” in addition to this, t2 also said, “my students also find it efficient in communicating with their teachers and in recording assignments. i see that there is an immediate morale boost when teachers utilize ict in their classrooms. it positively impacts the teacher's role in the classroom and can have a positive effect on student performance.” ict integration takes a while to show positive results. in the beginning, most of the teachers find it challenging to utilize the tools they are given. this is because there are no proper training materials or guidelines to help them learn how to use new tools. after gaining experience with new technology, teachers start seeing improvements in their students' performance. in fact, t3 claim, “over time, they will start finding ways to assist struggling students and become more autonomous themselves.” there are many benefits for both teachers and students when ict integration is successful. t4 affirms, “i can monitor student performance and make changes accordingly. i can also assist struggling students by using technology in classroom management strategies. in addition, ict usage improves my teaching skills among elementary school students.” teachers find it easy to adopt new technology into their classes when it is helpful to student performance. they know how much better classroom management is when technology is integrated effectively. there are also many benefits for students when teachers are autonomous with technology integration strategies. ultimately, integrating technology in the classroom increases both learning outcomes and teacher autonomy. when it comes to the autonomy that teachers have when it comes to the use of ict inside the classroom, t3 said, “i have found that it is very important for teachers to be aware of the different ways in which they can use ict inside the classroom. one of the ways teachers can use ict inside the classroom is through the use of computer-based tasks.“ she further stated that another way in which teachers can use ict inside the classroom is through the use of multimedia resources. ict can be a great tool to help teachers achieve their goals and objectives inside the classroom. however, teachers need to be aware of the different ways in which they can use ict inside the classroom. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) 46 │ in addition, it is also important for teachers to be aware of the different ways in which ict can be integrated inside the classroom. ict integration and teacher control t8, who is in her late 40s, said, “ …i was not very confident in my abilities to use technology in the classroom. i had never been a very "techie" person, and i was worried that i would not be able to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape of educational technology. however, i quickly realized that integrating ict in the classroom was not as difficult as i thought it would be. in fact, it has helped me to take control of the learning process in several ways.” t7 stated, “for starters, i have found that using ict in the classroom has helped me to better engage my students. when i use technology, my students are more engaged in the lesson, and they are more likely to participate in the learning process. additionally, i have found that using ict in the classroom has helped me to better assess my students. i can use a number of different tools to track my student's progress and to identify areas where they may need additional help.” t3 and t10 both claim that they have found that integrating ict in the classroom has been a positive experience. it has helped them to take control of the learning process and to better engage and assess my students. ict integration and teacher effectiveness a classroom is a tough place to teach; it's distracting, noisy, and hectic. no one wants to spend time in a chaotic classroom. but teachers must spend time in class to teach their students. therefore, they need to find ways to make their classroom experiences productive while minimizing stress. technology has revolutionized teaching and changed the way we approach the challenges of teaching in an unstable environment. classrooms are often noisy and anxiety-inducing environments. in fact, t6 states, “i spend most of my time trying to keep my classes organized and on task. i have to manage my students, equipment, and lesson myself.” this is tough work, but it's necessary if teaching is going to be effective. teachers need quiet time to plan lessons, revise materials, and speak with each other. they also need quiet time to concentrate and learn new things. smart devices allow teachers to do both at the same time without interrupting their students. ict has become an integral part of life for most people; it helps us stay connected with family and friends. t9 states, “my students use ict for socialization and for accessing educational content. i also use smart devices for lesson planning, keeping records, and communicating with parents and students.” technology has changed how teachers teach by making lesson planning easier and more efficient. t1 claim: "as a teacher myself, i can now access lesson plans anytime from any device with internet access. this allows me to access lesson plans without having to bring my students along with them into the classroom.” students can't disrupt lessons when they're in a different part of the building than their teacher. instead of carrying around notes, teachers can now focus on preparing engaging lessons for their students instead of themselves. personalization is another aspect that has drastically improved since icts made their way into schools. t4 said, “as a teacher, i used to spend most of my time teaching new material to different students every day. now i have more time to focus on each student individually, which is much more rewarding personally speaking.” smart devices make it easy for teachers to keep track of individual student progress, international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 47 which allows them to provide personal attention during class sessions. this makes every class session much more effective, as teachers can spend time personally addressing each student's developmental needs. discussion ict integration and teacher autonomy in the past 20 years, computers have become an integral part of life and learning (culp et al., 2005). schools have incorporated computer technology at different stages of development to support learning. referred to as ict, this technology allows teachers and students to communicate, access information, and perform daily tasks. according to girard (2007), this technology is also used in military programs and combat situations to improve strategy and outcomes. in many countries, computer technology has transformed the way people live and learn. ict integration is the use of computers or the internet in school to improve teaching and learning. for example, in pau excellencia global academy foundation, inc. (pegafi), the educational institution uses its learning management system (lms) for class managementkeeping track of each student's academic performance. another instance of ict integration is using computers for lesson planning and the auto-generation of several forms, such as what the pegafi school is doing for their students and teachers. this allows teachers, principals, school administrators, and even students to access information quickly. as technology becomes more advanced, and with the use of pegafi lms, the school has encountered minimal problems in terms of providing students with online courses during the pandemic. with the help of pegafi lms also helped the teachers assess students' learning. furthermore, this allows schools to tailor lessons to meet the needs of individual students. teacher autonomy is a way for teachers to manage their classrooms effectively without interference from administrators or governing bodies. it's about giving teachers the freedom to teach in the way they think best suits their students. at the same time, this allows students to perform at their best when given appropriate guidance from teachers. ict has also made it easier for teachers to interact with parents regarding academic issues. in fact, the use of pegafi lms helps teachers easily contact parents when a student has trouble complying with school assignments and performance tasks. parents appreciate this as they can provide feedback that directly affects student progress through the use of lms. ict has drastically reduced the cost of sending information worldwideno longer do schools have to pay expensive data transfer fees. before ict became popular, schools had to manually retrieve all academic information (aker & mbiti 2010). now this information can be retrieved via the internet. this allows schools to retrieve their students' academic information much faster than before. ict-specialized software has been developed for this taskretrieval rates. ict integration and teacher autonomy have made it easier for schools to implement new learning tools while promoting better classroom management. ict integration has helped increase learners' grades and improve overall school performance, as mentioned by t5. according to piaget's theory, intellectual progress occurs in stages over a lifetime. at each stage, an individual changes his ability to think logically and cognitively (blake, 2015). initially, infants have difficulty understanding new concepts and have poor motor skills. as they grow older, they will gradually gain new abilities through play and experience. this theory asserts that there are also stages involved in emotional development, as well as in self-awareness and physical maturity. it is believed that as children age, they will attain new mental capabilities that will enrich their lives and prepare them for adulthood international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) 48 │ (blake, 2015). when considering how icts can impact future generations of citizens, it is important to consider how these tools can transform teaching methods at different stages of intellectual growth. icts can help empower teachers by allowing them to personalize teaching methods for their students. for example, if a teacher needs students who are eight years old to add up numbers, he can use an app that allows kids this age to do so as well. alternatively, if a teacher needs children who are thirteen years old to write essays, he can use an app that generates high-quality articles for teenage writers. however, there is debate regarding whether computers should empower teachers or become another tool for removing authority from the classroom environment. schools need ict to accommodate the changing nature of education today. well-equipped teachers will be able to transform learning methods for their students at different stages of mental development via these tools. since icts have become a necessity for modern society, educators must consider how these tools can impact the lives of future generations of citizens. ict integration and teacher control computer technology in schools (ict) is an important part of today's world. schools are no exception to the trend of integrating computers into education. many classrooms now have computers used for lesson planning, assessment, and other educational purposes. teachers are now also using computers for teaching. students must learn how to use computers in school. the integration of computers into education is a growing phenomenon. teachers use computers in many subjects, such as mathematics, science, and language (english and filipino) classes (nunan, 2003). this is because these subjects are computer-intensive (nunan, 2003). for example, mathematics involves a lot of calculation, while science and language involve a lot of text processing. using computers in this way saves time and effort while promoting student learning. the nature of ict has made it easier for teachers to monitor their student's academic progress. for example, with the use of pegafi lms, teachers can easily access attendance records and pay records and generate reports on their student's academic performance. this has reduced the time needed by teachers to collect this information, allowing them to focus on teaching. additionally, the pegagi lms also helps teachers organize lesson plans and keep track of their student's progress throughout the day. they also assist them in preparing for daily lessons by accessing lesson notes, worksheets, and other materials required for teaching. ultimately, the integration of ict into education has revolutionized the way schools run and teach. schools can choose to use ict in several different ways. for example, they can plan lessons using computer software (handler, 1993). students can also plan their lessons using computers. this is known as computer-aided instruction (cai). it's possible to assess students' progress using computer-based tests. this is known as computerized adaptive testing (cat) (chang, 2015). teachers can also use computers for classroom management, for example, to control students' behavior with digital punishments and rewards. the benefits of ict integration in the classroom are immense. however, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that teachers control the ict used in their classes. the following are some ways that teachers can control ict usage in their classes. as t4 stressed, ict integration is highly effective when both teachers and students have access to modern devices. teachers must have modern devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. additionally, t2 emphasized that students must also have modern devices to take computerized tests or receive digital rewards and punishments. this way, both parties understand the technology they're using and know how to use it effectively. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 49 ict integration is a great way to modernize and update old-school infrastructure without spending tons of money on new technology. it's easy to control since both teacher and student have control options when using ict in the classroom. many people believe that psychologists jean piaget and lev vygotsky were contemporaries. in fact, they lived at different times in history. however, both men studied child development and the effects of technology on that development. they both had ideas about how children learn and how technology can help them learn. vygotsky looked at the relationship between child development and education, especially with regard to how children learn to use technology (verenikina, 2010). he believed that technological advancement happens faster in developed countries. this is because schools have more money to purchase modern teaching equipment. he also believed that schools should try to incorporate new technology into their teaching strategies to help their students learn (verenikina, 2010). this is because faster learning allows schools to show more information to their students and prepare them for the adult world. ict allows for faster learning and more efficient class presentations. for example, school presentations can now happen instantly instead of over a period of time. students don't have to wait for the teacher to finish speaking before understanding what was said. it's also much easier for teachers to assess each student's understanding of the lesson material. this way, all learning happens in a child's mental stage of development; ict just makes it easier for the child to understand. both piaget and vygotsky thought that children must have freedom and independence in order to develop normally. therefore, teachers should never restrict students' freedom and should always include their needs in lesson planning and make amendments. for example, teachers can have students write assignments on computer terminals instead of paper scraps. this way, students can access written assignments any time of day or night, as well as reduce teacher handwriting errors. there are many different ways to integrate ict into the classroom and meet the students' needs; only experience will guide the teacher educators in devising those methods. both psychologists had good ideas about incorporating modern teacher educational technology into educational strategies to help students learn faster and better understand concepts. teachers can use ict in many ways to help their students learn effectivelybut they must understand how children think before using it in classes with young children. ict integration and teacher effectiveness one of the most debated educational topics today is the use of information and communication technology (ict) in education. for many, ict is a wonderful technology that can revolutionize teaching and learning. for others, ict is a disruptive technology that needs to be closely monitored. the debate on ict's role in education has been going on for decades and will probably continue. at present, there is no clear-cut conclusion on the subject. nevertheless, based on the body of literature on ict and education, here are some thoughts on the subject. first of all, ict helps educators stay connected and motivated. educators find it helpful to stay connected with parents, friends, and colleagues. they do this using email, text messages, and social media sites such as facebook and twitter. in addition, they use online teacher training platforms, such as elearning platforms. in addition, they use online lesson plans and educational software to plan and implement lessons. on the other hand, students use educational it to access information about their courses and teachers. they use blackboard for course outlines, assignments, notes, and exams; canvas for international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) 50 │ lectures; chat rooms for one-on-one discussions; forums for collaborative work; blogs for personal interests; and social networking sites for social connection with peers. jean piaget is considered the father of child psychology. his theory of cognitive development is widely applied in psychology classes to explain the stages through which children develop their mental faculties. although he was a scientist, piaget believed that the stages through which children develop mental abilities could be applied to technology in general and information and communications technology (ict) in particular (gobbo & girardi 2001). he believed that new technologies should be designed to address the specific stages of development that people experience at various points in life. icts are designed to handle one aspect of a child's mental development. for example, adults, for communication and organizational purposes, typically use mobile phones. they're also commonly used as toys by children between the ages of two and ten. this design philosophy is known as generativity, which means designing something to address a specific stage in someone's life while also making it useful for other stages. it's based on the idea that people learn and develop at different paces and with different concepts at different stages of life; therefore, it's important to design things with that in mind. icts are used to address different stages of mental development, from physical to mental. for example, schools commonly use icts for teaching purposes: teachers use computers to organize lessons and keep records of their student's progress. child development experts also use icts to explain concepts such as cause and effect to young children(werner & malterud 2003). additionally, pediatricians use them to keep track of their patient's health and physical development (werner & malterud, 2003). piaget would have loved this; his theories apply directly to how these professionals use them in their daily work. teachers are now also using ict in the classroom to improve their students' performance. one major advantage of having computer stations in classrooms is that educators can now train students how to use computers. doing so promotes both educational and physical development among young people by allowing students to practice using computers within the school and at home. in addition, teachers can now assign more complex tasks to their students when using computer stations in class, such as creating visual presentations or performing database management functions. this improvement in student performance is a direct result of the increased convenience afforded by ict integration within the classroom environment. another advantage of integrating ict into primary schools is that it facilitates feedback among teachers and between teachers and students. teachers can now access lesson notes from their students directly from the computer station they are using for class lessons. this allows them to respond quickly to student questions during lessons or correct incorrect answers directly from the teacher's perspective. furthermore, integrating mobile phones into schools allows for instant feedback between teachers and students on an individual level during recess or after school hours. this can greatly improve learning outcomes among young people as both parties gain from this highly efficient method of feedback collection. educators can use educational email platforms to send messages to students regarding lessons or inquiries regarding student records. in addition, they can use educational calendars to plan lessons and contact students with appointments at appropriate times. students also use educational ict to contact their teachers regarding lessons or queries regarding assignments. in addition, they can use educational messaging apps such as messenger to talk with their families during late night or early morning hours when school is usually in session. ict has a major impact on work in schools. educators find it helpful to access educational content through icts such as lesson plans, educational software, and educational journals. this allows them to plan international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 51 lessons and address student needs efficiently and effectively. in addition, they can access educational data from students through canvas to analyze student performance in classes and plan individualized instruction for each student. students also find it easier to access teacher information to ask questions about lessons or submit assignments for feedback. challenges faced in the ict integration inside the classrooms the digital world always brings about new challenges, with the obvious ones being comfort and online safety. but there are also challenges in adapting to a digital-based environment since working in technology means you will be dealing with constant change. drama, questions, answers, and edits in realtime will get overshadowed by online chatrooms or timelines. it is important to know that you need to be focused on jumping past challenges and thinking about a real plan. a recent study has shown that there are a number of challenges that teachers face when trying to integrate ict in the classroom. in this paper, we will take a look at these challenges and explore ways to overcome them. one of the main challenges that teachers face when integrating ict in the classroom is keeping students engaged (hoang & le, 2021). with so many distractions available online, it can be difficult for teachers to keep students’ attention focused on the task at hand. another challenge that teachers face has enough ict resources. many schools do not have the necessary infrastructure in place to allow for the widespread use of technology in the classroom. this can be a major obstacle for teachers who are trying to integrate ict into their classrooms. another challenge that teachers face is training and support. many teachers feel unprepared to use ict in the classroom and do not know where to turn for help. 1. ensuring that technology is used effectively and efficiently 2. ensuring that students are using technology responsibly and ethically 3. integrating technology into lessons without disrupting the flow of instruction 4. providing adequate training for teachers 5. ensuring that technology is available when needed conclusion technology is not necessarily the solution to the challenges confronting teachers, but in the absence of a technology-led solution, it could be a powerful tool to tackle some of the problems facing educators today. there are several factors behind the growth of digital teaching environments. these include the globalization of the economy, the widespread adoption of ict, the rise of the internet and smartphones, the reduction in the cost of making education accessible, the availability of the right equipment (such as laptops), and the shrinking resources of schools (leaving little room for the training of teachers). the researchers look at a few of the changes that can help teachers be better equipped to educate students in an online environment. it has been found that a willingness to learn and adapt is essential. learning to adapt to a new teaching environment and a new learning model is critical to improving education for today's students. in the rapidly-changing world of education, many teachers still see learning material as being made for people they know. as a result, it does not equip them to use the multimedia tools and programs available today. for this reason, teachers need to be aware of and adapt to the new teaching conditions in order to remain relevant to their students. being prepared to adapt is also a prerequisite for professional growth and development in this fastpaced environment. all educators, irrespective of where they come from, have the potential to expand international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 42-54 ict integration in primary classrooms in the light of jean piaget's cognitive development theory osias kit t. kilag, renan ignacio, evelyn b. lumando, geraldine u. alvez, cara frances k. abendan, niña michelle p. quiñanola, john michael sasan issn 2685-4074 (online) 52 │ their knowledge and skills and meet the new challenges faced in an educational environment. being digitally trained helps teachers improve their research, communication, and assessment skills. in addition, technology is often just a tool to improve the teaching experience. by keeping a close relationship with the students, the teacher has more meaningful conversations with them, sharing ideas and discussing new and challenging information in which the student is interested. technology has provided the opportunity to overcome the distance between teacher and student, as well as the time and material constraints, enabling learners to immerse themselves in the learning experience. finally, technological tools can help accelerate the pace of learning and improve the quality of education. it provides an excellent vehicle to increase the speed with which teachers can deliver teaching materials and test-related material to students. recommendation the digital age is upon us, and with it comes a whole new way of doing things. the old ways of teaching are no longer sufficient – teachers need to adapt to the digital world and use ict in our classrooms to stay relevant. but what does that mean for the old teachers? how can they adapt to the digital age and integrate ict into their classrooms? become a lifelong learner. one of the best ways to adapt to the digital age is to become a lifelong learner. if you are constantly learning and keeping up with the latest trends, it will better equip you to deal with the challenges of the digital world. whenever teachers try to integrate information and communication technologies into the classroom, the development of suitable teaching materials is a key priority. due to the dynamic nature of ict usage, teachers can benefit a lot from tutorials, materials, and guides that outline the effective use of ict in the classroom. any practical guides and tutorials should be available both for use at home and at school. they help instructors adjust to the classroom when ict is being used at the primary and secondary levels in order to follow upward trends and discover innovative methods of teaching/learning. moreover, technology integration should be more integrated into the academic curriculum, avoiding the use of just supplementary resources designed for real-time integration. a positive and respectful relationship between teachers and students is crucial to enhancing the school's ict learning environment (carnoy, 2005). therefore, ict partnerships between schools and teachers involving both parties need to be developed in line with the roles and responsibilities defined by both parties. this can be achieved by supporting each other in a number of ways. references aker, j. c., & mbiti, i. m. 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(2019), relationships between ict implementation at schools and factors related to transformational leadership: a case of primary school in mongolia , international journal of education and development using information and communication technology (ijedict), 15, (2), 45-61. microsoft word 122 chayna glenn r. blanco available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 4 number 2 (2022): 12-28 corresponding author chayna glenn r. blanco, chaynaglenn.blanco@deped.gov.ph faculty of teacher training and education universitas terbuka doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i2.1122 and research synergy foundation organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco1, lerma p. buenvinida, edd2, consorcia s. tan, edd3, alberto d. yazon, phd4, lustina p. lapie, edd5 1 1 post elementary school, division of calamba city, deped iv-a philippines 2,3,4,5 college of teacher education, laguna state polytechnic university, philippines abstract teacher commitment is indeed an internal factor that motivates teachers to put more effort and energy into sustaining school involvement and to further improve and enhance their teaching strategies to attain their objectives. thus, it is important to know the level of commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of teachers during this time of the pandemic. transformational teaching entails developing dynamic interactions between teachers, students, and a body of shared knowledge. according to this viewpoint, teachers serve as intellectual coaches who construct student teams that work together with their teachers to master bodies of knowledge. these constructivist-based transformational teaching approaches help students develop new knowledge and actions. teachers that employ constructivist theory as a theoretical framework assist students in becoming active participants in society and the global workplace. the sample of the study consisted of 551 teachers who responded on a representative of public elementary schools in calamba, cabuyao, binan, and sta. rosa. cluster sampling was used to collect the sample, and the city school districts served as the representative of the clusters. ranking sampling was used to choose the participating schools and the teacher respondents. each cluster was ranked based on population distribution and gender distribution to maintain an equal proportion of teachers' respondents across all participating schools in the four city school divisions. teacher respondents were selected randomly to represent the sample of the study. the study mainly focuses on the level of organizational commitment, teachers’ empowerment to the level of transformational teaching. the findings showed that the components of organizational commitment and teachers' empowerment significantly foresee the relationship on transformational teaching of teachers in the four (4) city schools division in laguna. as a result, when teachers demonstrate a high level of organizational commitment and teacher empowerment to the level of transformational teaching, it encourages teachers to stay committed to their field of work and expected to attain their objectives. keywords organizational commitment; teachers’ empowerment; transformational teaching this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction the social qualities of people and disciplines can vary as a result of the dynamic changes that affect society. the covid-19 pandemic resulted in the abrupt transition from school education to online distance education, with teachers being left with no time to make any preparations. other research related to this study was on the difficulties the teachers faced during the online education period. more than 500 million people were denied access to education, according to unesco research (unesco,2021), despite the efforts made for online education. for instance, the main issue with access to online education is international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 13 considered to be the difficulty in connecting to the internet (giannini,2020). another thing was safety. the teachers' anxieties over the opening of school only worsened when the department of education said it has no budget allotted for the treatment of teachers who come into contact with covid-19. according to the study by kie and schaarchmidt (2008), teachers' levels of commitment were observed to see whether they were affected by health condition anxiety. additionally, during the online teaching period, teachers were seen to display a decreased commitment to their organizations, which connected to increased personal stress (malik 2020). on the other hand, (ira and balut,2018), in order for an organization to accomplish its quality objectives, it must establish the relationships and structures necessary to ensure that the members of the organization work together toward a common objective which is to produce quality education among the learners. there have been various studies that have assessed online education and the difficulties the teachers encountered throughout the pandemic-related online education period. this study focuses on the organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines. transformational teaching is defined as "creating dynamic relationships between teachers, students, and a shared body of knowledge to promote student learning and personal growth”. in this study, transformational teaching was understood as a means of practice, personal outlook, and reflection for improvement based upon great care and empathy for the student. specifically, the study sought answer’s to the following questions: (1) what is the level of organizational commitment of the respondents in terms of affective commitment, normative commitment, and continuance commitment? (2) what is the level of teacher's empowerment of the respondents in terms of decision-making, professional growth, status, self-efficacy, autonomy, and impact? (3) what is the level of transformational teaching in terms of promoting individual and collective self-efficacy, challenging habits of mind and point of view, and realizing the ideal self and vision for the future? (4) is there any significant relationship between organizational commitment and transformational teaching? (5) is there any significant relationship between teacher empowerment and transformational teaching? literature review in this time of the pandemic, it is very important to understand the six dimensions of teachers' empowerment, and components of organizational commitment should provide the bases for developing strategies for helping teachers become more empowered in their work lives. it is important to note that some dimensions fall into the category of personal empowerment, while others fall into the area of organizational commitment. in total, they constitute a construct vital to the redesign of teachers' work life and the growth and renewal of schools as organizations in this new normal. according to paragsa (2014), teacher commitment is defined as a teacher's emotional identification with the school's goals and ideals, as well as a willingness to join an organization to work much harder than for personal gain. it was also emphasized that a willingness to stay might well result in school loyalty. the willingness to support educational vision and involvement in teaching is closely related to teaching efficacy, particularly if teachers are willing to devote themselves to teaching and remain in the same school, the school's performance will improve, and educational goals can be met. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) 14 │ in line with this, albdour and ikhlas (2014) stated that people who have a high level of organizational commitment generally display positive workplace behaviors such as job satisfaction and organizational citizenship, which is tremendously advantageous to the organization. hence, to promote employee engagement, firms should use a variety of management and leadership tactics. employees who are committed to their job and company will provide higher results. teachers who are highly committed can assist an organization in accomplishing significantly more in a single year than teachers who are middling or lowly committed. another important review in this research was teacher empowerment rangel (2020) stated that teacher empowerment is a combination of decision-making, professional growth, status, self-efficacy, autonomy, and impact. these elements, taken together, provided a foundation for understanding the types of work environments that foster the development of empowered teachers, as well as the foundation for the teacher empowerment model. hence, teachers are given opportunities to collaborate and share knowledge, respectful relationships are established, and leadership potential within the school is increased, coble (2011). teachers must make decisions and become more active in their schools, as teacher empowerment has become a significant factor in student performance and school effectiveness as a result of school reform. the present study is based on bruner's constructivist theory and is extremely relevant to transformational teaching practice, where students build new ideas or concepts using their prior and present knowledge. the learner uses a cognitive structure to choose and modify information, generate hypotheses, and come to judgments. however, the teacher's endeavor to comprehend the student as a whole person enables the teacher to create courses that are relevant to the learner. furthermore, as students participate in learning activities given by the teacher, relevant curricula may assist students in becoming more motivated to learn ormrod, (2011). these constructivist-based transformational teaching approaches help students develop new knowledge and actions and assist students in becoming active participants in society and the global workplace. henceforth, the researcher hoped through the results of this study, the school principals and deped officials may have additional knowledge and eventually bridge the identified gaps between the needs of the teachers and schools and provide support to the teachers’ arisen their commitment in this time of the pandemic. in this particular, this study will first investigate the teachers' perception of the level of organizational commitment to teachers’ empowerment and transformational teaching of teachers in this time of crisis. research method this study aimed to research the organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of teachers among public elementary schools in divisions of laguna. a correlational study was used to investigate relationships between the independent and dependent variables of the study without the manipulation of the researcher. the respondents of the study were 551 public elementary teachers from the selected public elementary schools in the city schools division of calamba, cabuyao, biñan, and sta. rosa. the sample was taken by means of cluster sampling; clusters were represented in the form of the city school divisions. this makes up four city schools division. selection of the participating schools, the teacher respondents were selected using ranked sampling. to maintain the equal proportion of teachers' respondents across each participating schools in the four city schools divisions, each cluster was ranked based on population international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 15 distribution and gender distribution. teacher respondents were selected randomly to represent the sample of the study. the sample size for teacher respondents for each city school division was calculated using cochran's formula with a sampling error of 3.37% at 95% confidence level. table 1. distribution of the number of respondents city schools division total no. of public elementary teachers actual sample population (teachers) biñan city 1136 107 cabuyao city 952 99 calamba city 1179 262 sta. rosa city 1210 83 total 4477 551 table 1 shows the intended sample size for teachers that appears was not met. in this regard, only 551 teachers responded to the online survey, with a sampling error of 3.37% at 95% confidence level. the sample size for teacher respondents for each city school division was calculated using cochran’s formula. figure 1. study design organizational commitment  affective  normative  continuance teacher empowerment  professional growth  status  self-efficacy  autonomy  impact  decision making independent variable demographic profile of the teachers  age  sex  position  civil status  highest educational attainment  length of service transformational teaching  promotes individual and collective self-efficacy  challenge habits of mind and point of view  realizing ideal self  vision for the future dependent variable moderator variable international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) 16 │ figure 1 shows the design of the study, in which the independent variable comprises organizational commitment, which has three components such as normative commitment, affective commitment, and continuance commitment. teacher empowerment includes professional growth, status, self-efficacy, autonomy, impact, and decision-making, thus looking for a direct relationship to the dependent variable, which is the transformational teaching with three components such as promoting individual and collective self-efficacy, challenging habits of mind and point of view, and realize ideal self and vision for future. furthermore, under the moderating variables is the teachers' profile determining if the profile of teachers moderates the relationship between the independent and dependent variables of the study. the study adopted a questionnaire from different sources as its research instrument. the level of organizational commitment was based on the self-assessment of the respondents using the adopted questionnaire of organizational commitment developed by meyer and allen (1991), which consists of four components: affective commitment, normative commitment, and continuance commitment. the level of teacher empowerment was also based on the assessment of the respondents using the deped order no.42.s 2017 national adoption and implementation of the philippines professional standard for teachers, which consists of: decision-making, professional growth, status, self-efficacy, autonomy, and impact. the level of transformational teaching was also based on the self-assessment of the respondents developed by bandura (2012), which consists of promoting individual and collective self-efficacy, challenging habits of mind and point of view, realize the ideal self and vision for the future. the modification was applied according to the suggestions of five expert validators in the field. it aims to assess the scope of the level of organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of teachers in public elementary schools of four divisions in laguna. table 2. interpretation of the range of scores for teachers on the level of organizational commitment, level of teacher empowerment, and level of transformational teaching as shown in table 2, for descriptive interpretation of data, each of the responses was weighted using the four-point likert scale. since the instrument used was adopted with some modifications, it was also subjected to validation. the instrument was also presented to five experts in the field for face and content validation. the experts were composed of five with doctorate degrees. there is a validation sheet which consists of criteria relative to the items in the research instrument. a 4-point likert scale was assigned in order to rate each criterion in the validation sheet ranging from 1not manifested, 2moderately manifested, 3-manifested, 4highly manifested were utilized in assessing the organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of teachers. a comment section was provided in the validation sheet for the validators to fill in suggestions for the improvement of the items in the instrument. a communication letter was submitted to the school's division superintendent of the four (4) city schools in laguna. after the approval of the letter, the researcher forwarded the approved letter to the schools. upon approval, the researcher administered the adopted questionnaire to the respondents. scale range interpretation level 4 3.25 4.00 highly manifested very high 3 2.50 – 3.24 manifested high 2 1.75 – 2.49 moderately manifested low 1 1.00 1.74 not manifested very low international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 17 the study was carried out in the school. the respondents were informed before the collection of the data using permission letters containing important information about this research and the importance of their participation in the study. the aim was to seek their consent, ensure voluntary participation and provision of information, as well as give them free room to withdraw from the research participation at any time they wished. furthermore, the schools and participants in the entire study were kept anonymous. the respondents were given a letter for the approval of their participation, and ethical consideration was practiced. additionally, the data collected from the respondents were kept confidential and were erased after its use. the spss, or the statistical package for the social sciences, was used to analyze the data. pearson product moment of correlation was used to determine the significant relationship between teachers' organizational commitment and transformational teaching and teachers' teaching empowerment and transformational teaching. findings and discussion the data gathered by the researcher, which had been presented, analyzed, and interpreted, revealed the level of organizational commitment, teachers’ empowerment, and transformational teaching of the public elementary school teachers. table 3 shows the level of organizational commitment of teachers in terms of affective commitment. table 3. level of organizational commitment of teachers in terms of affective commitment indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization 3.40 0.56 highly manifested very high 2. enjoy discussing my organization with people outside it 3.33 0.62 highly manifested very high 3. feel strong sense of belonging to my organization 3.45 0.58 highly manifested very high 4. feel emotionally attach to this organization 3.36 0.60 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.39 0.59 highly manifested very high legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. as shown in table 3, the level of organizational commitment of teachers in terms of affective commitment. it could be observed from the table that “as a teacher, i feel a strong sense of belonging to my organization” received the highest rating of 3.45, interpreted as highly practiced, followed by “ as a teacher, “i would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this organization” 3.40 interpreted as highly manifested while “as a teacher i enjoy discussing my organization with people outside it” received the lowest mean of 3.33 interpreted as highly manifested. the overall mean was 3.39, indicated as highly manifested by the teachers. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) 18 │ based on the gathered data, public elementary teachers in the divisions of laguna, philippines, have a high level of organizational commitment in terms of affective commitment. this further implies that public elementary teachers showed enjoyment and willingness to support school goals and wanted to spend their career in the organization where they belong. table 4. level of organizational commitment of the teachers in terms of continuance commitment. legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. table 4 shows the level of organizational commitment in terms of continuance commitment; it can be observed that the highest rating of 3.20, "as a teacher i stay in an organization as a matter of necessity as much as desire," interpreted as manifested while " as a teacher, i feel very hard to leave my organization” with the rating of 3.16 interpreted as manifested. the lowest rating of 3.13," as a teacher, i feel that i have too few options to consider leaving this organization," is interpreted as manifested. the overall mean was 3.12, interpreted as manifested. the result implies that public elementary teachers believed that staying in an organization is more important than leaving because of the benefits they experienced within their organization. table 5. level of organizational commitment of teachers in terms of normative commitment indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. believe that loyalty is important in an organization 3.57 0.54 highly manifested very high 2. think the value of remaining loyal to one organization 3.53 0.55 highly manifested very high 3. feel that if i got another offer for a better job elsewhere it was not right to leave my organization 3.18 0.76 manifested high 4. think things were better in the days when people stayed in one organization for most of their career 3.25 0.67 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.38 0.66 highly manifested very high legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. am afraid of what might happen if i quit my job without having another one lined up 3.13 0.75 manifested high 2. stay in an organization as a matter of necessity as much as desire 3.20 0.69 manifested high 3. feel that i have too few options to consider leaving this organization 2.98 0.78 manifested high 4. feel very hard to leave my organization 3.16 0.74 manifested high composite mean 3.12 0.74 manifested high international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 19 it could be seen from table 5 that indicative statement number 1, which states that “as a teacher, i believed that loyalty is important in an organization," yielded a mean of 3.57, which denoted rank first, interpreted as highly manifested. this is followed by indicative statement number 2, with a mean of 3.53 as a highly manifested response. however, indicative statement number 4, which states that "as a teacher, i think things were better in the days when people stayed in one organization for most of their career," yielded a mean of 3.25, denoted as the lowest rank. based on the findings, the level of organizational commitment of teachers was positive in terms of normative commitment, which has an overall mean of 3.38 as interpreted highly manifested. the results of the study indicate that public elementary school teachers believed that being committed and loyal to the organization is important and the best thing to do. they also believed that their profession was not only a career but a vocation. table 6. level of teachers’ empowerment in terms of decision-making indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. plan, manage and implement developmentally sequenced teaching and learning processes to meet curriculum requirements and varied teaching contexts 3.48 0.52 highly manifested very high 2. set achievable and appropriate learning outcomes that are aligned with learning competencies 3.53 0.51 highly manifested very high 3. adapt and implement learning programs that ensure relevance and responsiveness to the needs of all learners 3.50 0.54 highly manifested very high 4. develop and apply effective strategies in the planning and management of developmentally sequenced teaching and learning processes to meet curriculum requirements and varied teaching contexts 3.52 0.53 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.51 0.53 highly manifested very high legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. as indicated in table 6, the level of teachers' empowerment in terms of decision-making. it can be observed from the table that the highest rating is 3.53. "as a teacher, i set achievable and appropriate learning outcomes that are aligned with learning competencies." interpreted as highly manifested, while "as a teacher, i develop and apply effective strategies in the planning and management of developmentally sequenced teaching and learning process to meet curriculum requirements and varied teaching contexts with the rating of 3.52 interpreted as highly manifested. the lowest rating of 3.48, "as the teacher, i plan, manage and implemented developmentally sequenced teaching and learning process to meet curriculum requirements and varied teaching contexts." is interpreted as highly manifested. the overall mean was 3.51, interpreted as highly manifested. the findings of the study imply that most public elementary school teachers are given a chance to make decisions when it comes to planning and implementing decisions inside the classroom to meet curriculum that aligned with the learning competencies to suit the needs of the learners. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) 20 │ table 7. level of teachers’ empowerment in terms of professional growth indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. take a leadership role in supporting colleagues' engagement with professional networks within and across the school to advance knowledge and practice in identified areas of need 3.35 0.57 highly manifested very high 2. contribute actively to professional networks within and between schools to improve knowledge and enhance practice 3.43 0.56 highly manifested very high 3. a given opportunity to continue learning 3.51 0.54 highly manifested very high 4. seek opportunities to establish professional links with colleagues 3.46 0.54 highly manifested 5. participate in collegial discussions that use teacher and learner feedback to enrich teaching practice 3.52 0.55 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.45 0.55 highly manifested very high legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. it can be seen from table 7 that “as a teacher, i participate in collegial discussions that use teacher and learner feedback to enrich teaching practice” yielded the highest mean of 3.52, interpreted as highly manifested. however, the indicative statement “as a teacher, i take a leadership role in supporting colleagues' engagement with professional networks within and across the school to advance knowledge and practice in identified areas of need" with the lowest mean of 3.35 interpreted as highly manifested. the overall mean was 3.45, interpreted as highly manifested. the findings of the study imply that most public elementary teachers seek opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues to further enhance their teaching skills and enrich their teaching practices. table 8. level of teacher empowerment in terms of status indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. demonstrate behaviors that uphold the dignity of teaching as a profession by exhibiting qualities such as a caring attitude, respect, and integrity 3.59 0.51 highly manifested very high 2. identify and utilize personal, professional strengths to uphold the dignity of teaching as a profession to help build a positive teaching and learning culture within the school 3.57 0.51 highly manifested very high 3. act as a role model and advocate for upholding the dignity of teaching as a profession to build a positive teaching and learning culture within and beyond the school 3.54 0.53 highly manifested very high 4. believe that have support and respect of my colleagues 3.58 0.51 highly manifested very high international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 21 indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... composite mean 3.57 0.51 highly manifested very high legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. as shown in table 8, the level of teacher empowerment in terms of status reveals that all indicators were assessed as very high." the highest indicator of status is the "teachers demonstrating behaviors that uphold the dignity of teaching as a profession by exhibiting qualities such as caring attitude, respect, and integrity" with the highest mean of 3.59 interpreted as highly manifested, while the lowest indicator is the teachers act as a role model and advocate for upholding the dignity of teaching as a profession to build positive teaching and learning culture within and beyond the school with a mean of 3.54 interpreted as highly manifested. the overall mean was 3.57, which is interpreted as highly manifested. the results of the study indicate that most of the public elementary school teachers’ practiced demonstrating their behaviors that uphold their dignity as a teacher and receive respect from others as well as their colleagues. it also implies that the administrators appreciated their work within and across the school. table 9. level of teacher empowerment in terms of self-efficacy indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. maintain a supportive learning environment that nurtures and inspire learners to participate, cooperate and collaborate in continued learning 3.54 0.52 highly manifested very high 2. apply a range of successful strategies that maintain learning environments that motivate learners to work productively by assuming responsibility for their own learning 3.47 0.53 highly manifested very high 3. manage learners' behavior constructively by applying positive and non-violent discipline to ensure learning-focused environments 3.52 0.52 highly manifested very high 4. feel that i am involved in an important program for children 3.53 0.53 highly manifested 5. am knowledgeable based in the areas in which i teach 3.52 0.51 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.52 0.51 highly manifested very high legend:3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. all indicators were assessed by the teachers as “very high". the highest indicator of self-efficacy is the "teachers maintaining a supportive learning environment that nurtures and inspire learners to participate, cooperate and collaborate in continued learning," with a mean of 3.54 and perceived by the teachers as “highly manifested”, while the lowest indicator is the teachers manage learners’ behavior constructively by applying positive and non-violent discipline to ensure learning-focused environments with a mean of 3.47 indicated as “highly manifested". overall, the mean score of 3.52 teachers' international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) 22 │ empowerment in terms of self-efficacy is interpreted as "highly manifested”. this simply means that public elementary teachers were applying the teaching strategies to their students to maintain or sustain the quality of teaching that aligned with the curriculum within the classroom and maintained a conducive environment to learn for their students. table 10. level of teacher empowerment in terms of autonomy indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. set achievable and appropriate learning outcomes that are aligned with learning competencies 3.50 0.52 highly manifested very high 2. develop and apply effective strategies in the planning and management of developmentally sequenced teaching and learning process to meet curriculum requirements and varied teaching contexts 3.45 0.53 highly manifested very high 3. use strategies for providing timely, accurate and constructive feedback to improve learners performance 3.48 0.52 highly manifested very high 4. apply a personal philosophy of teaching that is learner-centered 3.47 0.53 highly manifested 5. am given responsibility to monitor program 3.43 0.55 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.46 0.52 highly manifested very high legend:3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. as shown in table 10, all indicators were assessed by the teachers as “very high" and interpreted as highly manifested. the teachers highly manifested setting achievable and appropriate learning outcomes that are aligned with learning competencies with a mean of 3.50, while the lowest indicator is the teachers being given the responsibility to monitor the program with a mean of 3.43, which is likewise interpreted as "highly manifested”. the composite mean of teacher empowerment in terms of autonomy, 3.46, is “highly manifested” by the teacher respondents. it implies that teachers who have more autonomy and independence are better teachers, and independent teachers desire to try new things in their classrooms, take chances, help students, and learn new skills. table 11. level of teacher empowerment in terms of impact indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. perceive that i have the opportunity to influence others 3.41 0.53 highly manifested very high 2. perceive that i make difference 3.41 0.55 highly manifested very high 3. perceive that i have impact on other teachers and students 3.45 0.55 highly manifested very high 4. collaborate with other teacher in my school 3.50 0.53 highly manifested very high international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 23 indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... composite mean 3.44 0.54 highly manifested very high legend:3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. all indicators, as shown in table 11 were assessed by the teachers as very high or highly manifested. the teachers collaborating with other teachers in the school obtained the highest mean of 3.50, while the lowest indicators are the teachers perceiving that they have the opportunity to influence others with a mean of 3.41, and the teachers perceiving that they make a difference with a mean of mean 3.41. the overall mean of teacher empowerment in terms of the impact of a public elementary school teacher is 3.44, as interpreted highly manifested. it was found that most public elementary school teachers have the highest level of impact on teachers and students when it comes to collaborating with other teachers in the school, and they believe that they have the opportunity to influence other teachers and they make a difference. it implies that public elementary school teachers collaborate effectively with other teachers as well as with their students and believe that every teacher play an important role in boosting student achievement. table 12. transformational teaching of teachers in terms of promoting individual and collective self-efficacy legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. as shown in table 12, all indicators were assessed by the teachers as "very high" levels. the teachers forming a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities obtained the highest mean of 3.46, interpreted as "highly manifested," while the lowest indicator is the teachers recovering quickly from setbacks, and disappointment mean of 3.31 is likewise interpreted as “highly manifested". the overall composite mean was 3.39, interpreted as highly manifested. it was determined that among public elementary school teachers, the level of transformational teaching in terms of collective self-efficacy has the highest indicator of transformational teaching as teachers form a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities in schools. it depicts the public elementary teachers in four divisions of indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. develop deeper interest in the activities in which i participate 3.43 0.53 highly manifested very high 2. form a stronger sense of commitment to my interests and activities 3.46 0.53 highly manifested very high 3. recover quickly from setbacks and disappointment 3.31 0.55 highly manifested very high 4. view challenging problems as task to be mastered 3.35 0.55 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.39 0.54 highly manifested very high international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) 24 │ laguna showing a stronger sense of dedication to their work or activities that are related to the achievements and goals of the schools. table 13. level of transformational teaching of teachers in terms of challenging habits of mind and point of view indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. am optimistic about what student can accomplish 3.47 0.52 highly manifested very high 2. create lessons that are really encouraged to think 3.46 0.53 highly manifested very high 3. provide the students task and challenges that get them to think in different ways 3.47 0.53 highly manifested very high 4. motivate the students to try hardest 3.52 0.54 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.48 0.53 highly manifested very high legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. as shown in table 13, all indicators were assessed as very high levels. the highest indicator is the teachers motivating the students to try their hardest, with a mean of 3.52, interpreted as highly manifested, while the lowest indicator is the teachers creating lessons that are really encouraged to think, with a mean of 3.46, which is similarly interpreted as highly manifested. the overall mean of transformational teaching in terms of challenging habits of mind and point of view of public elementary schools is 3.48, interpreted as highly manifested. the findings of the study imply that public elementary school teachers can promote effective learning that encourages their students to search for answer with their own perceptions or knowledge through the guidance of the teacher as a facilitator of the learning process with their students. table14. level of transformational teaching of teachers in terms of realizing ideal self indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. show that he/she cares about the students 3.61 0.51 highly manifested very high 2. treat the student with respect 3.63 0.50 highly manifested very high 3. try to know every student in the class 3.63 0.51 highly manifested very high 4. try to help students who might be struggling 3.61 0.52 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.62 0.51 highly manifested very high legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. as shown in table 14, all indicators were assessed as very high levels. the teachers treating the student with respect with a mean of 3.63, and the teachers trying to know every student in the class with a mean of 3.63 obtained the highest means and interpreted as highly manifested, while the lowest indicators are the teachers showing that they care about the students and trying to help students who might be struggling with a mean of 3.61 interpreted as highly manifested. the overall mean of transformational teaching of teachers in terms of realizing the ideal self of public elementary school teachers is 3.62, interpreted as "highly manifested." it revealed that most public elementary school international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 25 teachers showed that they care about the students and seek to know every student in the class, and also they care about the students and strive hard to help every students' who might be struggling. it also implies that the public elementary schools' teacher in four divisions of laguna shows care and concern for their students no matter what their status inside the classroom. they are fair in treating their students. table15. level of transformational teaching of teachers in terms of vision for the future indicative statement mean sd interpretation level as a teacher i... 1. motivate the students to try their hardest 3.61 0.52 highly manifested very high 2. encourage students to look at issues from different sides 3.59 0.53 highly manifested very high 3. recognize the needs and abilities of each student in the class 3.62 0.51 highly manifested very high composite mean 3.60 0.52 highly manifested very high legend: 3.25-4.0 highly manifested 2.50-3.24 manifested 1.75-2.49 moderately manifested 1.0-1.74 not manifested. as shown in table 15, the highest indicator is the teachers recognizing the needs and abilities of each student in the class, with a mean of 3.62, interpreted as highly manifested, while the lowest indicator is the teachers encouraging students to look at issues from different sides with a mean of 3.59 is likewise depicted as highly manifested. the overall mean of transformational teaching in terms of vision for the future as perceived by the public elementary school teachers is 3.60, interpreted as highly manifested. it showed that the public school teachers at the level of transformational teaching recognized each student's needs and abilities rather than encouraging students to look at issues from different perspectives. table16. correlation matrix between organizational commitment and transformational teaching promoting individual and collective self-efficacy challenging habits of mind and point of view realizing ideal self vision for future affective commitment 0.534** 0.488** 0.410** 0.439** continuance commitment 0.328** 0.280** 0.130** 0.174** normative commitment 0.525** 0.504** 0.410** 0.426** **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). as shown in table 16, the correlation matrix between the teachers' organizational commitment and transformational teaching, each dimension of organizational commitment yielded a highly significant positive correlation (p < .01) with each dimension of transformational teaching. the pearson r coefficients ranged from very low to moderate correlations between the two variables. the strongest relationship is between affective commitment and promoting individual and collective self-efficacy (r=.534, p<.01), while the weakest relationship is between continuance commitment and realizing the ideal self (r=.130, p<.01). therefore, there is a significant positive linear relationship between the teachers’ organizational commitment and transformational teaching among public elementary schools teachers. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) 26 │ table17. correlation matrix between teachers’ empowerment and transformational teaching promoting individual and collective self-efficacy challenging habits of mind and point of view realizing ideal self vision for future decision-making 0.615** 0.655** 0.605** 0.596** professional growth 0.659** 0.652** 0.547** 0.566** status 0.623** 0.651** 0.643** 0.605** self-efficacy 0.727** 0.684** 0.628** 0.635** autonomy 0.736** 0.692** 0.605** 0.630** impact 0.704** 0.656** 0.543** 0.555** **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). as presented in table 18, the correlation matrix between the teachers’ teaching empowerment and transformational teaching. each dimension of teaching empowerment yielded a highly significant positive correlation (p < .01) with each dimension of transformational teaching. the pearson r coefficients from moderate to strong correlations between the two variables. the strongest relationship is between autonomy and promoting individual and collective self-efficacy (r=.736, p<.01), while the weakest relationship is between impact and challenging habits of mind and point of view (r=.543, p<.01).it implies that there is a significant positive linear relationship between the teachers’ teaching empowerment and transformational teaching. conclusion based on the findings of the study, the researcher concluded the following: the study revealed there was a significant positive linear relationship between the teachers' organizational commitment and transformational teaching. this implies that each dimension of organizational commitment yielded a highly significant positive correlation with each dimension of transformational teaching. on the correlation matrix between the teachers' teaching empowerment and transformational teaching, each dimension of teaching empowerment yielded a highly significant positive correlation with each dimension of transformational teaching. therefore, there is a significant positive linear relationship between teachers' empowerment and transformational teaching. lastly, the components of organizational commitment and teachers' empowerment significantly foresee the relationship on transformational teaching of teachers in the four city schools division in laguna. as a result, the researcher concluded that when teachers demonstrate a high level of organizational commitment and teacher empowerment in transformational teaching, it is expected that they will provide quality education to all learners. limitation & further research the study was limited to the perceptions of public elementary teachers regarding the level of organizational commitment and teacher empowerment to the level of transformational teaching of teachers. furthermore, the demographic profile of the respondents was also part of the study to determine whether it has significantly moderated the relationship between the level of organizational commitment and transformational teaching, teacher empowerment, and the level of transformational teaching. thus, it suggested that future researchers may pursue the same study in other divisions or regions to verify the results of this research. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 12-28 organizational commitment, teachers' empowerment, and transformational teaching of public elementary schools in laguna, philippines chayna glenn r. blanco, lerma p. buenvinida, edd, consorcia s. tan, edd, alberto d. yazon, phd, lustina p. lapie, edd issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 27 references allen, n. j. &meyer, j. p., (2007), as cited by paragsa, j.m., 2014. affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization: an examination of construct validity. journal of vocational behavior, 49, pp. 252-276. al-jabari, b. & ghazzawi, i. 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(doctoral dissertations).https://digital commons.georgiasouthern.edu/ yawman, mcwinner and rainu, w.(2020) the theories of human needs and organizational commitment: a literature review(international journal of current researchvol. 12, issue, 01, pp.9768-9770, january, 202 doi: https://doi.org/10.24941/ijcr.37855.01.2020) zimmerman ,m. and stewart s.,(2000). youth empowerment solutions for peaceful communities: combining theory and practice in a communitylevel violence prevention curriculum (doi: 10.1177/1524839909357316) microsoft word 1168 miriam chikwanda available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 4 number 2 (2022): 55-69 corresponding author miriam chikwanda, 3600974@myuwc.ac.za faculty of teacher training and education universitas terbuka and doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i2.1168 research synergy foundation school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda1, amiena bayat2, siphe madyibi3 1,2,3 university of the western cape, south africa abstract a child must be exposed to early learning situations and assisted in developing the skills and ways of functioning to develop, thrive, and be ready for school. it is established that poor school readiness preparation (srp) negatively impacts subsequent learning outcomes. a qualitative study was conducted in gugulethu, a poor community in the western cape province in south africa, to determine how early childhood development centres in a poor community prepare children for schooling. the study involved a sample of 12 community-based ecd centres. interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with direct role-players, including principals, practitioners, and ecd industry key informants. data was enriched through direct observation of operations at each facility. the study found that all the communitybased ecd centres struggle to provide quality srp. contributing factors include limited ecd practitioner training, education resources, infrastructure, and facility management. because these conditions relate to poverty, they affect the srp of most children in poorer communities, such as gugulethu, who tend to only have access to under-resourced ecd centres. the study concludes that, given the appalling performance of south africa’s basic education system, the government has to accept that improving its learning outcomes begins with vastly improving the srp of children from birth. keywords: early childhood development centre; early learning; gugulethu; school readiness preparation; western cape this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction no child merely grows into school readiness – a young child must be exposed to early learning situations and assisted by others to develop the necessary skills and ways of functioning to thrive and be ready for school by the start of grade 1 (janse van rensburg, 2015). school readiness refers to the state of the child's competence, identified through various skills and traits required from learners when entering school for the first time. for instance, they should be able to complete tasks independently, adhere to a strict class routine and acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills (li-grining et al., 2010). school readiness preparation (srp) is delivered in two settings, the home and an early childhood development (ecd) centre. parents rely on ecd centres to provide early child care and education (ecce) services that place children on an early educational trajectory for school readiness (bakken et al., 2017; biersteker et al., 2016), expose many children to their first formal agent of socialization (morillo morales, & cornips, 2022) and improve cognitive language development and mathematical and literacy skills (biersteker et al., 2016). quality ecd lays a solid foundation for a child's holistic and integrated education, reducing educational and social wastage and forming the foundation of all future linguistic, socio-emotional and cognitive development (githinji & kanga, 2011). further, quality ecd provides the cognitive and noninternational journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) 56 │ cognitive stimulation that forms part of children’s holistic development (waldfogel, 2015) and is crucial for school readiness. in south africa, 49% of new grade 1 child may be inadequately prepared to transition into the formal schooling environment (janse van rensburg, 2015). according to the 2019 general household survey (ghs), only about 37% of south african children aged 0–4 years attend ecd centres or other educational and childcare arrangements (statistics south africa, 2021). many ecd centres are reportedly inadequate and of poor quality due to poor infrastructure (atmore et al., 2012; dsd, 2014; madyibi & bayat, 2021), unqualified ecd staff (independent online, 2022), or limited teaching and learning resources (bayat & madyibi, 2021; richter & samuels, 2018). the national department of basic education (dbe) introduced the national early learning standards (nelds) in 2009. the nelds is a useful guide for ecd practitioners (ecdps), and parents that support srp (sherry & draper, 2013), principally by stipulating age-specific developmental outcomes children should achieve through early learning (dbe, 2009; ebrahim, 2014; matjokana, 2021). while implementing the nelds would improve children's early learning through holistic child-centred practices for optimal development, it is apparent that many ecd centres are simply unable to. a larger challenge to the capacity of ecd centres appeared in 2015 when the dbe published the south african national curriculum framework (ncf) for children from birth to four (dbe, 2015). the ncf is the ecd sector curriculum built on the nelds. views of school readiness converge on a central argument that children's skills at school entry strongly correlate with later skills (hjetland et al., 2017; suggate et al., 2018). children who are poorly prepared for school in the early years tend to struggle later. further, studies suggest that simply holding back learners (not advancing them to the next grade) does not lead to sustained positive outcomes (buckmaster, 2019; davis, 2021) but instead reduces their self-esteem and willingness to learn. intervening earlier to improve srp and prevent future learner failure is called for, yet school readiness studies in south africa (janse van rensburg, 2015; pretorius & naude, 2002; wildschut et al., 2016) seem to focus on assessment at reception year (grade r) or grade 1 level, while little is known about support for readiness before the foundation phase of schooling. it is critical that factors influencing children's school readiness before they start primary school be investigated, understood, and addressed. in seeking to explore and understand the capacity of selected community-based ecd centres in gugulethu to impart early learning skills and ready children for formal schooling, this paper pursues the following objectives: 1. examine the views and understanding of school readiness of key stakeholders, including the incorporation of the nelds and school readiness. 2. investigate the extent to which the gugulethu community ecd centres’ environment and infrastructure are conducive to the srp of children aged 0–4. 3. recommend measures to strengthen gugulethu community-based ecd centres’ school readiness provision. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 57 literature review what is school readiness? figure 1. views of school readiness according to amod and heafield (2013), early theorists advocated two narrow, reductionist views on school readiness: the maturational point of view and an empirical standpoint based on a child's knowledge. the maturational view was mooted by arnold gesell (1933), who argued that development follows an orderly sequence, with the rate of development determined by each child's distinctive genetic makeup. although acknowledging the role of the environment in child development, gesell never emphasized it (thelen & adolph, 1994) but argued that a child's development was determined by a natural biological progression. the second view was associated with a series of standardised school readiness tests that tested children's knowledge of shapes, colours, counting, reciting the alphabet, and behavioural skills (amod & heafield, 2013). these have been critiqued as limiting and inaccurate measures to determine the complex socio-emotional, cognitive, and physical competencies that children need to succeed in school (amod & heafield, 2013). the literature on school readiness has shifted to embrace a more holistic approach. for instance, school readiness tests are no longer used in isolation but integrate the conduciveness of the preschool and the influence and views of parents/caregivers and teachers (amod & heafield, 2013). these aspects of development are deemed prerequisites for a child's success in the formal schooling curriculum (de witt et al., 2020). these development spheres manifest in a child's ability to adapt to increased academic, physical, and motor demands; adequate socio-emotional development; and ability to adapt to different approaches to learning, language, and cognitive ability (de witt et al., 2020). upon acquiring school international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) 58 │ readiness skills, including reading, numeracy, social, motor, emotional, and self-care skills, a child enters formal schooling with ease and competence, without emotional complexity (pekdogan & akgül, 2017). this paper considers that holistic srp encompasses all these elements: academic/cognitive, physical and motor skills, adequate socio-emotional development, and language (de witt et al., 2020). a child who successfully develops in these areas is adequately prepared to cope with learning in a formal school system (de witt et al., 2020; wesley & buysse, 2003). effects of early education and school readiness early learning provides a firm foundation for later school success (mann et al., 2017). bakken et al. (2017) found that ecd learners in a study in the united states of america (usa) developed social skills that expanded as they grew. by the time the children approached the fifth grade, they were increasingly displaying appropriate behaviours, establishing relationships, interacting socially, and responding to stimuli in an emotionally mature manner (bakken et al., 2017). children who enter elementary grades with greater social skills often develop more positive attitudes toward school and experience greater success in adjusting to school, in addition to better grades and higher achievement (gustavsen, 2017). mann et al. (2016) found that early maths skills and reading were the best predictors of academic achievement, while other scholars found social skills alone were not a predictor of later academic achievement (blair, 2002; rao et al., 2014). in south africa, munthali et al. (2014) found that children who had participated in early childhood education and related programs generally remain in school, are unlikely to repeat classes, and their class performance is much better than those who never attended preprimary programmes. children require physical well-being and adequate energy levels to be ready to learn. these are usually promoted through motor skills development and good nutrition (sherry & draper, 2013). physical activity programmes provide young children with the environment for motor skill development, with motor skills being the foundation of physical activity during the early and successive years. early learning is especially vital when dealing with the worst effects of poverty and may be an effective way to break vicious generational cycles of poverty (letseka, 2012). supporting early learning services and programmes for young children offers among the most promising approaches to alleviating poverty and achieving social and economic equity (belfield et al., 2021; hall & woolard, 2012). enabling or hindering environment for school readiness in south africa, ecd centres remain the dominant foundational early learning spaces. ecd centres may be registered with the department of social development (dsd) and partially subsidised, conditionally registered (pending improved compliance with set standards), or unregistered. disparities in resources persist along socioeconomic lines as community-based facilities, whether registered or not, tend to be more poorly resourced than private, affluent, and public school-based centres (ashley-cooper et al., 2019; mbarathi et al., 2016). the quality deteriorates even further when children are younger and poorer (biersteker, 2012). south africa’s ecd infrastructure is generally lacking. mostly unregistered centres are likely to be built with poor quality non-permanent materials (bidwell et al., 2014) and are often overcrowded, which inhibits learning and teaching (ashley-cooper et al., 2019; van der walt et al., 2014). under-resourced centres often have inadequate access to water and sanitation (bidwell et al., 2014; van der walt et al., 2014). poor ecd infrastructure can impact children’s safety and health, leading to poor ecd service international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 59 provision (ashley-cooper et al., 2019; makhubele & baloyi, 2018). hence, kotzé (2015) argues that poorly resourced facilities will likely function more as child-minding facilities than learning facilities. one of the factors impacting school readiness is the competence of practitioners and principals. the dbe commissioned the early childhood development (ecd) 2021 census, which collected data from 42 420 ecd centres and early learning programmes. while the number of ecd centres had increased from 19 971 in 2013, when the last national ecd audit was conducted for the dsd, it was discovered that nearly a quarter of the practitioners and managerial staff did not have the required ecd training and qualifications (independent online, 2022). the overwhelming majority of ecd centre managers are in their positions as owners of the facilities rather than because they are formally qualified or trained as principals. theoretical perspectives james heckman and others (cunha et al., 2005; schweinhart et al., 2005) contend that disadvantaged children can not only overcome their initial deprivation and thrive in life through investment in human capital formation (that is, investment in skills and abilities) from birth to age five, but this would result in the highest rate of economic returns in adulthood. the process of capital formation is governed by a multi-stage technology within which some stages, called sensitive stages, are considered more effective in producing specific capabilities. it is highly recommended that specific skills be cultivated during the sensitive period, as skills in one period are prerequisites for the next stage (heckman, 2007; heckman & corbin, 2016). the process of learning is interlinked so that capabilities produced in one stage enhance capabilities attained at later stages. this is explained through the principles of self-productivity and complementarity (cunha & heckman, 2007). self-productivity ensures that skills produced at one stage enhance the skills attained at later stages so that the process of acquiring skills is self-reinforcing. what is learned today enables one to learn another more complex skill in the future (cunha et al., 2005). the principle of complementarity states that skills produced at one stage will raise the productivity of investments at subsequent stages. implicitly, an early investment has to be followed by later investments to enhance the productivity of the initial investment (cunha et al., 2005). thus, a child who has attended early education is likely to perform better in subsequent grades, having benefited from capital formation, but will perform even better if the investment is followed by others in all tiers of education. research method research method this study employed a qualitative methodology. the purpose of qualitative research is to comprehend the settings of individuals or groups and the circumstances in which their viewpoints or practices are situated (o’brien et al., 2014). it provides in-depth, explorative, descriptive data that cannot be captured quantitatively (babbie & mouton, 2001). thus, this study investigates the unique viewpoints and experiences of ecd stakeholders in understanding and implementing srp. study contextual setting gugulethu is situated in the city of cape town metropolitan municipality. it shares the characteristics of a classic south african black township born in the apartheid era, of rows of identical small houses, mushrooming informal settlements, no nature areas, and few recreational amenities, with churches among the few prominent features of the built environment (teppo & houssay-holzschuch, 2013). the early learning to foundational age cohort of 0–9 years constitutes 19% of the total population of the community (city of cape town, 2015). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) 60 │ targeting and sampling the first author received a list of 36 community-based ecd centres in gugulethu from the department of social development-appointed ecd centre coordinator in gugulethu. from this list, 12 ecd centres were purposively selected. the focus was on children aged 0–4 years as this age range encompasses a critical stage of child development. the selection of nine principals and 27 ealy childhood development practitioners (ecdps) at the sampled ecd centres was purposive and convenient as these principals and ecdps were easily accessible at the ecd centres. the study included three ecd key informants to enrich the range of perspectives obtained: one official from the early learning resource unit (elru), a non-governmental organisation (ngo) that oversees operations and registrations of ecd centres in the province; an ecd organisational programme coordinator from another ngo, the centre for early childhood development (cecd); and a gugulethu ecd centre coordinator. the study thus involved nine principals, 27 ecdps, and three key informants. data collection data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the principals and the key informants. after an interview with the principal at each centre was conducted, observations of the ecd facility followed, including an hour of lesson observation per class of children aged 0–4 years. aspects of the quality of early childhood care tool (quest) (goodson et al., 2005) and the dsd national norms and standards for ecd centres were considered to develop an observation guide for case study observations. the key informant interviews explored their understanding of srp incorporation in early learning and governmental expectations in teaching and learning. the ecdps' involvement was through focus group discussions, which have been acknowledged as an efficient means of collecting data from multiple sources (kothari, 2004). the focus group discussions proved to be a resourceful, interactive way of collecting information that allowed ecdps to reflect collectively on their work. ecd interviews with principals were conducted at their convenience; hence prior arrangements were made to meet in the morning or afternoon at the ecd centres. on the other hand, focus groups with the practitioners were consistently conducted during the preschoolers' nap time between 12 and 2 pm to avoid disrupting class sessions and daily programmes. interviews were approximately one hour long, while the focus groups were about 1,5 hours. each ecd centre had at least three practitioners and some volunteers; therefore, one focus group was conducted in each centre, resulting in nine focus group sessions. data collection started in september 2021 to february 2022. the core questions on school readiness, such as srp application and professional development support, were asked of both practitioners and ecd principals. moreover, the study utilised diverse data collection instruments, namely focus groups, interviews, and observations, to achieve rigour. ethics consideration before proceeding with the research, ethical approval was obtained from the research committees of the university of western cape (uwc) and the dsd. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 61 findings and discussion theme 1: understanding school readiness the ecdps, principals, and key informants were asked to articulate their understanding of the concept of srp. the key informants and principals demonstrated a good understanding of the multiple facets of srp: stimulation of a child happens emotionally, physically, intellectually, and socially. those are the four areas in which children have to be stimulated if we want the child to prosper later on in school. – key informant. the child must be well developed mentally, emotionally, physically, and socially and you can see this development when the child is playing with educational toys…we observe how they play with building blocks, pretend kitchen, and other knowledge. – principal, facility 9 (registered). a child may know how to speak, greet, and interact with others in peace and be accountable when they do something wrong. – principal, facility 23 (unregistered). however, only 26% (n=7/27) of the ecdps viewed school readiness as a multi-dimensional concept comprising cognitive, non-cognitive, and physical development. the differences in comprehension of srp between principals and ecdps show that communication of the long-term vision of ecd has not filtered down to centre activities with children and may indicate that the nelds standards have not been implemented well enough to enable a wider understanding of linkages between ecd and srp. 1. timing of srp regarding when srp should be employed, only a few principals (n=2) and ecdps (n=8) concurred on an early start to srp, that is, before the age of four years. our school readiness preparation begins from the nought to two years group because children learn from what they see and manipulate an object; nothing comes from the minds on its own. – principal, facility 11 (unregistered). early learning starts one to two years and increases with age groups. – practitioner, facility 3 (conditionally registered). i work with 0 to 18 months children, and in my class, i teach them to count from 0 to 5. i let them scribble on paper so that they know how to grasp crayons for writing. if we are painting, i let them finger paint so that when they go to the next class, they know the basics; even if they can't talk yet, i sing to them so that they know songs and try to sing – that way improving their language. – practitioner, facility 12 (conditionally registered). these respondents' understanding aligns with the theories of froebel, erikson, vygotsky, and piaget and the postulation that learning in the first 1 000 days of human life is sustained through social interaction (biersteker, 2012) and exposing children to early interaction in a preschool setting increases their future ability to cope with schooling. the contextual influence could be the reason that most respondents didn't mention the importance of early srp. in the south african context, early exposure to srp has had a slow progression. a key informant indicated that the south african ecd sector only recently began shifting from beginning srp at the reception year (grade r) to including 0–4-year-old children. this slow transition is reflected in the government's yet-to-be-implemented commitment to introduce two years of pre-grade 1 classes, which hall et al. (2019) argue ignores the prevailing view in the ecd sector that a child's brain is most responsive international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) 62 │ to cognitive and non-cognitive development in the 0–3 years of age period. indeed, several studies have shown that preparing children for schooling only during the reception year is inadequate (de witt et al., 2020; wesley & buysse, 2003). 2. ncf, nelds, and school readiness the nelds guides ecdps on age-specific developmental outcomes to achieve to ensure that children reach full development and learning capacity (dbe, 2009; ebrahim, 2014; matjokana, 2021). the nelds is arguably the most informative policy document on srp. along with the ncf, it forms the basis of national ecd and early learning policy. despite this, only three principals mentioned the use of the ncf and nelds in their ecd work. since the key informants in this study indicated that the ncf had not been adequately implemented, the principals' and ecdps' limited knowledge of srp and related policy development were unsurprising. theme 2: factors influencing implementation of srp in key developmental areas according to the south african ecd policy guidelines, quality ecce is mainly determined by the quality of inputs such as physical infrastructure, learning programme, group size, teacher-child ratio, the presence of developmentally appropriate education equipment, materials, and resources, governance and management (atmore 2019, p. 29). these factors also determine the implementation of srp. even if the principals and ecdps understood school readiness, they need these enabling factors to execute srp. this study found that the ability of community-based ecd centres in gugulethu to incorporate key developmental areas of srp is highly determined by the ecdps' training and, competence, resourcing. infrastructural conduciveness for srp. 1. ecdps’ training and competence a considerable number (n=15/27) of the ecdps in the study teaching children aged 0–3 years did not have the required minimum level 1 ecd qualification. some of the ecdps of children aged 0–2 years old were unaware that the basic ecd qualification was a prerequisite to practice. ten ecdps said that they had been on the waiting list for enrolment in tvet college courses for years. most ecdps (n=15/27) relied on unaccredited workshops provided by elru, the dsd, and grassroots (another well-established ngo involved in ecdp training). according to van der walt et al. (2014), less intensive, low-dosed, delayed, or mono-systemic ecd teaching training is less effective. moreover, some ecdps reported that it was not always possible to leave their centres to attend these ad hoc training services. underqualified ecdps are less likely to be able to effectively deliver srp techniques. observation of the ecdps teaching children aged 0–2 years across the ecd centres showed little evidence of teaching fundamentals, such as the importance of allowing independent learning through informal play (zosh et al., 2017). these observations seem to confirm ecdps’ lack of sufficient training and ability in the ncf/nelds curriculum that would ensure srp progressively occurs at each developmental stage. 2. resources a. inadequate human resource capacity the dsd-set standard for the teacher: class ratio is 1:20 children per class for ages 3–4 years and 1:30 for 5–6 years (atmore, 2013). this study was conducted during school holiday times when older siblings were assigned to look after the children, reducing the attendance of children at ecd centres. the study also took place during the covid-19 pandemic when most parents weren’t working and kept their international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 63 children at home. the average ecdp-to-child ratio of 1:26 across all age groups established in the study was, therefore, quite high. high ecdp-to-child ratios indicate inadequate numbers of ecdps. further, a lack of support negatively impacts ecdps' ability to teach adequately. the majority (n=20/27) of the ecdps did not have assistants or volunteers. observations of lessons revealed a lack of management skills when dealing with oversized classes. for example, ecdps supervising large groups of unruly children struggled to maintain order, and tasks depicted on their daily schedules weren't accomplished. attending large groups of children reduces ecdps' attention to individuals and may cause them to miss children's specific school readiness needs. moreover, ecdps are more likely to stress or burn out (moodley, 2001). b. availability of resources the availability, quality, and adequacy of materials varied across the centres. most of the ecd centres were equipped with child-scaled tables, chairs, toilets, and potties. in some centres, classrooms were mainly set up with tables and chairs for four-year-old children and were not used by younger children. in others, stacks of age-appropriate chairs were observed that were unused due to lack of space. lack of donations and sponsorships, burglaries, and thefts were cited as reasons for shortages of resources in some ecd centres (n=5/12). we operate in a poverty-stricken community where people will do anything to get by, so every month, our ecd centres encounter burglaries. they take learning materials to sell at scrapyards, and we have to start looking for ways to replace those materials again. – ecd coordinator. we get burglaries every week, and i have to use the money to repair every time there is a breakage, police always take forensic evidence, but nothing gets solved. even parents see how i endure this trouble because i love looking after children. – principal, facility 31 (registered). burglaries – the toys, learning material, furniture, the alarm system, and electricity box, they stole them all – practitioner, facility 31 (registered). most ecd centres are funded by private donors and parents and cannot replace resources that are stolen or damaged. one practitioner noted that they were even less equipped to assist children with special needs. we are not equipped to work with special needs children; the only thing we can do is to include those children so that they can at least have that classroom experience. – practitioner, facility 22 (unregistered). c. learning and teaching materials (ltsm) although a key informant indicated that centres in gugulethu did not have challenges with learning materials, several ecd centres (n=7/12) in the study used old and outdated materials. most of the books used were seven years old except at two ecd centres whose principals had respectively secured sponsorships from a private company and montessori centre south africa. although toys were available in classes, there were either too few to share among large classes or they were old and broken. all the ecd centres in the study prioritised the allocation of the best ltsm to the classes of children aged between four and five years, while the younger children made do with whatever remained. limited ltsm in ecd centres may negatively influence srp as the delivery of ecd programmes depends on the availability of quality materials (mbarathi et al., 2016). the participants appeared to share this view. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) 64 │ the dbe provided the curriculum; without the resources we cannot prepare children for schooling. we need boards, chalks, and books that children can take home for practice because handling homework will be a common practice in school. – principal (conditionally registered). the materials and books we have were published seven years ago, and we don't have edited versions, so we work with outdated content. we don't have any guiding material that helps us plan for the year so that we know by the end of the year what we should have taught the children, so we are left to do our own research on what to do with the children. – practitioner, facility 5 (registered). but the problem is the resources we have here are limited, unlike at the school, they will have all the books that we don't have here for each and every child. also, at the school, they are given books to take home and practice, so here we only practice at the crèche. dbe only gives us the curriculum, not resources. – principal, facility 3 (conditionally registered). the lack of quality ltsm impacts quality srp and has been observed in both the province and nationally. kotzé (2015) indicated that one in every five centres in the western cape lacks basic ltsm. the south african ecd centres audit indicated that the lack of resources was common in most registered facilities (dsd, 2014). although the dbe’s ncf curriculum supports synergy between preschool teaching and foundation phase teaching, the use of this curriculum is significantly affected by the lack of adequate ltsm. as the principal of facility 3 succinctly put it: “dbe only gives us the curriculum, not resources.” 3. infrastructural conduciveness for srp the study examined both the outdoor and indoor environments at the ecd centres. the outside space was explored in terms of safety, space, and hygiene. the main finding was that none of the centres, regardless of their registration status, met all the infrastructural requirements for indoor and outdoor spaces. this finding concurs with ashley-cooper et al. (2019) and makhubele and baloyi (2018), who found that south african township ecd facilities lack proper infrastructure. most buildings serving as ecd facilities are dilapidated, unsecured, and often unsafe. observations confirmed that very few (n=2/12) ecd centres in the study had a functional outdoor space for play. most (n=10/12) had limited space for outdoor play and seemed overcrowded. very few ecd centres’ outdoor areas were equipped with outdoor play equipment such as jungle gyms for older children, plastic bikes, hula hoops, and slides. since we had to reduce the number of children, my worry is that a lot of children now roam the streets, as they don't have anywhere to go because caregivers do not want to take their children to any other crèche; they want this crèche.– principal, facility 12 (conditionally registered). i don’t have space here…my classrooms are very small. and parents want to enroll here, but i can't take them all; i have been told by dsd to reduce the number of children. – principal, facility 3 (conditionally registered). i don't have outside play space for them to run around, so i will speak to the owner of the space at the back so that they give me the space for me to extend the outside play area. due to lack of space, our physical development is a bit limited. i can't arrange the little ones' space into different activities corners such as fantasy play corners, book corners, etc. – principal, facility 11 (unregistered). the lack of space limits the centres' ability to pursue the pillars of school readiness, such as physical development. it also presents challenges to hygiene and safety. for example, at two centres, cleaning chemicals and equipment, and used potties were stored within reach of children. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 65 discussion while some principals showed an informed understanding of school readiness, 26% of the ecdps could not articulate the different facets of srp, and most believed srp should occur later. this contrasts with the consensus in the sector that basic child development begins during early learning long before school-going age. heckman and corbin (2016) have argued that it is not economically and socially efficient for societies to wait until children show signs of incompetence before intervening. moreover, the heckman curve shows that the rate of return on public investment in human capital, including early education, diminishes with age (rea & burton, 2020). it has even been proposed that skills gaps in adulthood develop between advantaged and disadvantaged children before they start schooling (heckman & corbin, 2016). hence, the challenges of srp ought to be addressed in preschool, not in primary school. lack of srp is also linked to the rates of grade repetition and dropout. grade repetition in grade 1 south africa is estimated to be about 17% (business tech, 2020). the dbe has conceded that up to 50% of children starting grade 1 may not complete schooling until grade 12. one of the main reasons for dropping out is being unable to perform academically at school (business tech, 2020). this lack of competence is often a consequence of the early years of underdevelopment, and it has been argued that early deficits become increasingly hard to undo (heckman & corbin, 2016). one of the biggest barriers to implementing srp at ecd centres in gugulethu is the lack, by more than half of the ecdps, of an ecd qualification. chandra (2021), among others, has pointed out that training determines how well srp is incorporated in ecd. in this study, ecdps' low educational attainment is a vicious circle: they earn little because they are unqualified while studying full-time means forfeiting the little they currently earn. classes are overcrowded and understaffed, affecting teaching quality and inhibiting srp. a general lack of resources includes a lack of learning and teaching support material (ltsm) and play equipment due to poverty, limited sponsorships, and crime. the lack of resources results in ecd centres prioritising older children and reducing the prospects of srp for younger children. conclusion the study found that all of the community-based ecd centres struggle to provide quality srp. contributing factors include limited ecd practitioner training, education resources, infrastructure, and facility management. because these conditions relate to poverty, they affect the srp of most children in poorer communities, such as gugulethu, who tend to only have access to under-resourced ecd centres. the study further recommends that 1. ecdps working with children aged 0–2 years need to be better trained to understand and implement the basic concepts of srp, although training must be accompanied by improved access to resources. 2. the community-based ecd centres in gugulethu require considerable support within an enabling environment to deliver quality srp. this could include more involvement of the private and ngo sectors to initiate funding and investment in ecd centres to upgrade them to dsd standards, with concomitant access to registration and government subsidies that will improve their sustainability. limitation & further research the research sample was obtained from a list of ecd centres whose principals were members of the gugulethu ecd principals’ forum. this excluded many ecd centres in the gugulethu community from being considered for sampling, although the research sample would still have been small. it is possible that a larger or more wide-ranging sample could have amended the picture obtained of the community's contextual situation. another factor influencing selection was that most of the unregistered centres were international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 55-69 school readiness and community-based early childhood development (ecd) centres in low-income communities: examining the case of gugulethu, western cape province, south africa miriam chikwanda, amiena bayat, siphe madyibi issn 2685-4074 (online) 66 │ not reachable at the contact numbers available, excluding them from possible selection for the study. parents are integral role players in fostering srp. further research could investigate ways parents may promote srp among their children timeously, especially in low-income areas such as gugulethu. references amod, z., & heafield, d. 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(2003). making meaning of school readiness in schools and communities. early childhood research quarterly, 18(3), pp. 351–375. wildschut, z., aronstam, s., & moodley, t. (2016). the baseline assessment of grade 1 learners' literacy skills in a socio-economically disadvantaged school setting. south african journal of childhood education, 6(1), pp. 1–9. zosh, j. n., hopkins, e. j., jensen, h., liu, c., neale, d., hirsh-pasek, k., solis, s. l., & whitebread, d. (2017). learning through play: a review of the evidence. lego fonden. 409.edited.format available online at: http://journals.rsfpress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 2 number 2 (2020): 105-115 corresponding author heny.solekhah@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i2.409 research synergy foundation distance learning of indonesian early childhood education (paud) during the covid-19 pandemic heny solekhah research synergy foundation abstract the outbreaks of covid-19 influence indonesian education nationally, including early childhood education (paud). since the school closures in march, the teachers have attempted to implement distance learning. this study is conducted in a school in kendal. the teacher shared her experiences in conducting the learning based on the emergency curriculum. it is found that the government has given support by publishing the twelve books for the learning at home policy and providing the internet data. most of the books are about playing with children and positive communication. parents' roles in distance learning have a greater proportion than the teachers. parents in this situation have the duties to supervise the learning, to conduct the learning, and to assist teachers in the assessment. the teachers construct the weekly lesson plan, communicate the steps of the learning process, and evaluate the students’ progress. however, both teachers and parents experience barriers due to the lack of skills in using technology and the inability to provide learning materials to support six aspects of child development.. keywords: early childhood education, paud teachers, distance learning, belajar dari rumah, covid-19 pandemic this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc-sa license. introduction covid-19 is declared as a pandemic by the world health organization in march 2020 (millard, 2020). this new disease has changed the countries in the world in many aspects of humans’ life, such as economic, social, and education. the obligation to apply health protocol such as wearing a mask, washing hands, avoiding the crowd, and being physically distanced with other people has greatly influenced how the people around the world communicate and fulfill their basic necessities. responding to the pandemic, the indonesian government announced surat edaran kemendikbud (an announcement letter from the ministry of education) stating that the students in each level must learn from home (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020). the reaction from the schools was dramatic. the face-to-face activities at school that involves the students were prohibited while the teachers took a turn in working in the office. this condition had continued until the end of academic study in june 2011, leaving all schools, especially early childhood education in uncertainty. the minister of national development planning, suharso monoarfa, states that the number of unemployed indonesian people increases by 3,7 million people during the covid-19 (fauzia, 2020). in other words, the parents who used to work in the office are now more likely to spend their time because of working at home, or unemployment, or layoff due to the impact of the pandemic. in kendal regency, the location where the study was conducted, there had been 1,377 people who experience layoffs since the beginning of the outbreaks (ayosemarang.com, 2020). as a consequence, parents would have more tend not to send their children because they think that it is not necessary. the ministry of education and culture also states that the number of enrolled international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 105-115 distance learning of indonesian early childhood education (paud) during the covid-19 pandemic heny solekhah issn 2685-4074 (online) 106 │ students in early childhood education during the outbreaks reduces greatly (makdori, 2020). the early childhood education that has put enormous energy to be established and developed due to the limitation of funding and social support (solekhah, 2019) is facing a giant challenge to overcome. the government also attempts to provide distance-learning material through televisi republik indonesian (indonesian television broadcasting), and other online applications such as rumah belajar, paud pedia, anggun paud, and others. besides, the emergency curriculum is implemented as a response to the school closures in indonesia in which the national curriculum content is reduced based on the level or grade (dikdas, 2020). however, during distance learning, the parents whose young learners' study at home have difficulty in teaching their children (rama, 2020). therefore, it is important to understand the expectation of the government during learning at home and the implementation of the urgent curriculum in the real situation based on the context of the school and the family condition. theoretical perspective family is the most influential factor in child development. the level of education and financial stability of the parents, for example, could be the influential factors in how to treat the children, not only in making sure that their children consume healthy food but also in providing proper education and a safe environment. in developed counties, for instance, in order to develop math and language skills, experiences at home, including the caregiver, should be part of early learning strategy (maloney, converse, gibbs, levine, & beilock, 2015). it means that if the parents could be good educators, there is a likelihood that their children would develop excellently. on the contrary, low socio-economic status is a predictor of multi-dimensional aspects of children's development, such as psychosocial and physical stressors and educational outcomes (apa.org, n.d). many countries are focusing on early childhood education because it has important roles in developing six literacy skills in the 21st century, such as reading, numeracy, science, digital literacy, financial literacy, and cultural literacy (eko bh, 2020). it is expected that the young generation would be able to develop critical thinking, to study independently, and to be future leaders. in order to develop cognitive, affective, and psychomotor, games are the main activities for the children. playing games is the world of very young children (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020i). children will always try to find opportunities to play and use any tools as toys. playing could develop the cognitive aspects of the children because of creativity, problem-solving, and the ability to understand new concepts. besides, through playing, motoric ability and concentration would be developed. the children would do physical activities to exercise arms and fingers as well as increase their communication skills. playing math for children could be done by matching objects with the same color, classifying objects based on the special patterns, comparing the similarities and differences of objects, and introducing basic geometry (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020b). counting numbers, comparing which number is larger than another number, sorting numbers, and measuring with rulers could increase the numeracy skills of the children. explorations and songs are joyful activities that could be done both inside or outside the house. playing science is also a fun learning activity that involves an inquiry process for children. the experiments by using ice block, for example, could be a game that teachers the change of solid substances to be liquid. having physical interaction with a pet also gives the opportunity to learn about animals. in playing science, parents could ask some questions to the children and encourage them to use the five senses to observe and recognize certain objects. interesting picture books and international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 105-115 distance learning of indonesian early childhood education (paud) during the covid-19 pandemic heny solekhah issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 107 experiments are more interesting to the children (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020d). some examples of playing activities are usually done at schools with the students and their peers. however, the covid-19 has overtaken the interaction of the students from normal life to a new normal. their school activities could not be done as usual, but it has transformed into the online mode. online learning has advantages and drawbacks. by learning online, both the learners and teachers should not be in the same place. however, everyone may have limitations on distance learning, such as the ability to operate the devices, the necessity of adults' supervision and involvement, and the limited social interaction (j. kim, 2020). it is hard to implement non-face-toface learning for very young learners. not only due to internet access, but also the device and the parents’ ability in delivering the learning activities (al ansori, 2020). therefore, it is important to know how distance learning in early childhood education is implemented. research questions 1. how does the indonesian government support distance learning in early childhood education? 2. what are the roles of parents and teachers in distance learning? 3. what are the barriers to implement the urgent curriculum? methodology the research is a descriptive study taken in an early childhood school in kendal, indonesia. the data collected was the lesson plan, the portfolios of the students, and the interview. due to the covid-19, communication via whatsapp was done. the teacher sent the copy of the documents of the lesson plan, the samples of students’ portfolios, the sample of the screenshots of her class activity on whatsapp group, and the copy of electronic books published by the government. she also explains how the new academic year has started since july 2020. the finding is then compared to the news and the literature. finding and discussion the current situation of early childhood education is challenging. the schools and the teachers should deal with the decrease in the enrollment of the students while the parents have different abilities to conduct learning from home policy. the government has done some intervention in order to make the implementation better; however, the socialization is not reaching all schools and parents. indonesian government’s support for early childhood education the minister of education and culture has responded quickly in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease towards the teachers and very young children. health protocol is the priority to protect the people. therefore, the implementation of biaya operasional and biaya operasional sekolah (government’s educational funding) become more flexible to be allocated for health apparatus, such as masks, face shields, soap, and other spendings (saputri, 2020). in addition, this funding could also be spent to increase the teachers' salaries and transportation costs. kendal, the location of the study, is classified as a red zone due to the increase of the covid19 patients. the health protocol is the obligation of every educational institution. in the school where this study was conducted, the teachers wear masks and face shields when they worked at school. during the admission process, the parents and children who were willing to enroll in the school must wear masks and wash their hands, and did physical distancing. the thermo-gun was also used to check their temperatures. the equipment of health protocol helped both parents and teachers in doing the activities. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 105-115 distance learning of indonesian early childhood education (paud) during the covid-19 pandemic heny solekhah issn 2685-4074 (online) 108 │ the second support given by the government was the internet data. the government provides the students with 20 gigabytes per month for four months. the subsidy included 5 gigabytes for accessing all websites and mobile applications, while the majority of it was for learning purposes, such as video conference via zoom or other video calls. it was also suggested that the data is used wisely for learning, and the students must not rely on the gadget (trimuliana, 2020). in september, 946 thousand mobile numbers consisting of paud teachers and parents received the internet subsidy, and around 7,2 million additional internet vouchers were distributed in october 2020 (eko bh, 2020a). by protecting income and health, the economic recovery will reduce the impact of lack of social cohesion (razavi, behrendt, bierbaum, orton, & tessier, 2020). in this school, however, not all the teachers and students receive internet subsidy. only 20 students and three teachers could obtain this aid. it was unclear why the rest of them, one teacher and five students, were not helped. all of the data had been submitted to the system, but this problem remained unchanged. therefore, there should be further followed by the school administrators to proceed and solve the problem. the students in early childhood education and elementary schools experience the greatest negative impact of distance learning. therefore, the government published 12 guidance books to help both parents and teachers in conducting learning from home policy (indriani, 2020). the books are free to access on the website of the indonesian ministry of education. the teacher in this study explained that she received only four books from a teacher in a different school who finished a workshop of belajar dari rumah (learning at home). unfortunately, the participants of the workshop were limited, and she could not attend the session. these books were printed and still need to be read carefully before they were applied in her school. the directorate of paud is also preparing four workbooks of national early childhood education. the books would be standardized based on the minimum standard of education. the books include the guidance of developing paud books, guidance for parents and teachers to be authors of paud books, room managements for paud, and the standard of child-friendly school (eko bh, 2020b). teachers’ roles during the pandemic to build positive communication between the parents and early childhood teachers during distance learning, the indonesian government provides the guidebook. the teachers are encouraged to be able to observe the students during the learning, to convey the messages effectively, to listen carefully, to respect others, to be confident, and to understand other people’s emotion(kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020g). by having positive communication, the parents and the teachers would have the same understanding, to build joy, to have a positive influence, to have better social relationships and action. before implementing learning at home, the teachers in early childhood education are obliged to assess the cognitive aspects and the non-cognitive aspects of the students. the cognitive includes the ability of the learners to do the activities without the teachers' supervision. the noncognitive includes the financial ability of the family and the mental health of the students (putsanra, 2020). the former minister of education, anies baswedan, states that the teachers in early childhood education could strengthen their positions and roles as the agent of parenting education during the pandemic because they have opportunities to encourage parents' awareness of character education (jatnika, 2020). during the pandemic, the teachers are assigned to develop rencana pelaksanaan pembelajaran mingguan (rppm) or weekly lesson plans based on the learning aims and the context of students. the lesson should address the cultural and social conditions of the students' family and the available resources at home (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020j). the instruments would be beneficial to help the children do experiment, exploration and investigation international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 105-115 distance learning of indonesian early childhood education (paud) during the covid-19 pandemic heny solekhah issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 109 of their surroundings (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020i). a lesson plan should contain the steps of learning focusing the students' characteristics such as age, ability, and need. teachers then could communicate with the teacher assistant via a short message service or whatsapp to discuss the lesson plan. otherwise, the teachers develop the lesson plan by themselves. the lesson plan is not only useful for the development of six aspects of children, but also for guiding the parents in preparing the learning materials. the teacher should use the guideline from permendikbud number 137 in 2014 on the national standard of early childhood education in order to understand the standard of students’ developmental achievement; the core competence and the basic competence based on permendikbud number 146 in 2014 on the 2013 curriculum; and the school unit curriculum. the learning should be fun for the students and parents, and they have the options to choose the activities and learning materials within a week. the teachers communicate the activities only without explain the detail of the lesson plan. it is expected that everyone could maximize their smartphone for learning purposes, such as video conference, virtual class, and cloud storage. hence, the directorate of paud in indonesia launches tutorials for online media, a pocketbook of playing music and movement, a pocket of crafting book, and the children’s assessment guidance in distance learning (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020c, 2020e; kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020; kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020h). the children could play at home with their parents, and the task of the teachers is to make sure that the parents and children could play by using the available equipment in their houses. therefore, lesson planning is important (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020j). in this study, the teacher created a weekly lesson plan to be implemented. then, she sent the motivational messages via whatsapp about the weekly activities to be done. she motivated the parents to be active in using the smartphone to access the learning materials provided, such as songs on youtube, and other pictures. every two days, she received photos or videos of the students doing the activities. in conclusion, teachers' roles were reduced significantly. they worked more as the investigator to assess the ability of the parents and students to do learning at home. they also became the learning planners and communicators to make sure that the learning process runs smoothly. parents’ roles during the pandemic parents have larger roles in early childhood education. they were encouraged to spend more time with children to play together, appreciate the children, introduce health protocol, create consistent and flexible routine activities, to be assertive, manage stress, being opened, use online media carefully, budget the cost wisely (unicef.org, 2020). crafting is an activity to produce art by using different media in order to identify, develop, and connect the knowledge, talent, and experience to be a product (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020e). to play crafting at home, the parents are expected to create a stimulating environment at home by providing varied tools and ingredients; to give the children freedom to express themselves; and to make sure that their children feel comfortable and relaxed during the play (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020e). at home, the parents could provide stones, tissues, cardboard, twig, plastic, sponge, lego blocks, and others (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020e). in playing music and movement at home during the pandemic, the parents are suggested to provide any safe tool that can produce sounds such as musical instruments, utensils, cd players, and others; to give the children’s freedom to make any movement; and to make sure that their children feel safe, relaxed, and comfortable in playing (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020c). during the playing, the parents are also encouraged to respond positively to their children’s international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 105-115 distance learning of indonesian early childhood education (paud) during the covid-19 pandemic heny solekhah issn 2685-4074 (online) 110 │ progress by following their children’s movement, obeying the rule of play, communicating effectively and positively, giving a compliment, introducing various songs, and avoiding criticizing their children (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020c). the responses were important because the appreciation would be an encouragement for the children to be more confident while the negative comments would decrease the children’s self-esteem. literacy skills could be developed by playing with children's books, pictures, crayon, and other stationaries in order that the children get accustomed to the habit of reading and writing, although it does not mean that they must be able to read the words (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020a). they could tell the story based on what they see as a part of the 'reading' activity. the parents could read loudly so the children could listen to the words and increase their vocabulary. reading with proper intonation would also develop the children's imagination. the parents could also ask their children to take part in creating the story by using dolls. at the end of each activity, the parents would assist the teachers in observing and assessing their children during distance learning (adit, 2020; kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020h). the aspects of children's development are religious and moral values, motoric-physical growth, cognitive growth, language, social-emotional aspect, and art. in other words, the assessment includes the children's activities, communication ability, and expression by sending messages, photos, and videos to online media such as whatsapp and email (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020h). not only that, the children's growth, such as their weight and height, would also be reported. all the data are then transferred to be portfolios based on the dates and the identities. then, the teachers would assess with four scales of development: "not developing", "start developing", "developing as expected", "developing very well" based on the weekly and monthly report. the report is then delivered to the parents in pdf form via email or whatsapp. in this study, the teacher explained that the video conference application, such as zoom was not common for the parents. whatsapp was considered a more friendly use. the learning process depended on the participation of the parents. those who were active would send the progress more quickly and respond to the teachers’ messages more attentively. on another hand, one parent did not give the sufficient response due since july and it took more effort in giving a reminder. however, the teacher could not force the parents if they were unable to do what was expected by the governments’ policy. the barriers to implement of urgent curriculum the disruption of multifaceted aspects of life due to coronavirus would be a disaster not only for the economy but also for the health and development of the children (benner & mistry, 2020). covid-19 causes multisystemic impacts on the family due to the adaptation of uncertainty, the risk of adaptation, the risk of the corona diseases in an individual, family, and society (rolland, 2020). health concerns and financial difficulties hinder the parents' intention to send their children to kindergarten. while the parents should do home-schooling, the schools are struggling to survive, and the teachers might lose their jobs (yuliana, 2020). the number of students enrolled in early childhood educational institutions decreases significantly, making some schools 'regrouped' or working together as a group cohort (husna, 2020). the schooling during the covid-19 period makes the teachers worried about both personally and professionally as teachers, although they are making a successful effort in teaching remotely (dayal & tiko, 2020). for caregivers, stress, and pain increase during the pandemic (sheth, lorig, stewart, parodi, & ritter, 2020). reopening the caregiver is also scary for both parents and teachers (jeffs, lucas, & walls, 2020). the lockdown, especially in poor countries, increases unemployment, poverty, and mental health problem (pillay & barnes, 2020). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 105-115 distance learning of indonesian early childhood education (paud) during the covid-19 pandemic heny solekhah issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 111 teaching early childhood education or pendidikan anak usia dini (paud) by using the distance-learning method is uneasy. many teachers have difficulties in operating computers, in accessing stable internet, in communicating the messages to the parents, to plan a simpler lesson to be implemented by parents at home, and to assess the students' progress (adit, 2020). parents also experience the difficulties in supervising their children, using digital technology in early childhood learning, and in understanding the teachers’ instructor (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020). learning in special condition has some principles that should be met. the learning process should encourage the learners to be active, optimistic, inclusive, adaptable, and respecting diversity (kementerian pendidikan dan kebudayaan, 2020f). in order to be an early childhood education with high quality, each school should have the element of synergy, leadership, active children, and love (fenech, harrison, press, & sumsion, 2020). government plays an important role in mitigating long-term impacts of the pandemic. it is suggested that the government should provide a family support package in order to fulfill the balanced nutrition for the family, screening for mental health status, support workers and professional community health, and the awareness of parenting support during the new normal (yoshikawa et al., 2020). the pandemic would have a great impact on many sectors. it is important to prepare the learning post-pandemic, including providing a high subsidy for early childhood institutions in indonesia. australia itself provides a 100% subsidy for low-income families to pay the daycare services (yuliana, 2020). in other words, since april, childcare in australia is free (yelland, 2020). after a new normal, it is necessary to implement innovation in early childhood education, such as the ratio between the teacher and the students to optimize the online interaction, understand the students' characteristics, and build a comfortable environment (d. d. kim & neumann, 2020). conclusion distance learning burdens both the parents and the teachers. the parents' roles were complex not only as of the 'teacher assistant' but also as the assessor, while the teacher had to deal with the limited access to see the children directly and highly rely on the smartphone. these interactions were not optimum in order to increase the children’s development. the government’s assistance needs to be more holistic so that the parents could have more time and energy to do their roles better. delimitation and suggestion for further research this study was conducted in one school only due to the limited access to other schools, especially in maintaining intense communication. the researcher admits that different results might be different in other areas. therefore, the finding of this study could not be generalized to other school conditions, especially because the various aspects might apply to other sites. the pandemic has influenced widely all over the world, and it is interesting to investigate not only from the point of view of teachers but also from the parents and the policymakers. it is suggested that further research would address the impacts of distance learning on parents' ability as the main facilitator, their rapports with the children, and the ability of policy makers to ensure the quality of early childhood education.. references adit, a. 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(2020). editorial. contemporary issues in early childhood, 21(3), 181-183. retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1463949120953136. doi:10.1177/1463949120953136 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 105-115 distance learning of indonesian early childhood education (paud) during the covid-19 pandemic heny solekhah issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 115 yoshikawa, h., wuermli, a. j., britto, p. r., dreyer, b., leckman, j. f., lye, s. j., . . . stein, a. (2020). effects of the global coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic on early childhood development: shortand long-term risks and mitigating program and policy actions. the journal of pediatrics, 223, 188-193. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.05.020 yuliana, m. (2020, 27 october 2020). does early childhood education still matter during covid-19? retrieved from https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/10/26/does-earlychildhood-education-still-matter-during-covid-19.html 400.edited.format available online at: http://journals.rsfpress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 2 number 2 (2020): 83-95 corresponding author genesisbnaparan@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v2i2.400 research synergy foundation assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripturebased counseling genesis balongkit naparan saint columban college pagadian city, philippines abstract this research evaluated the process of conventional counseling techniques in one of the private higher educational institutions to improve its counseling services. this research also aimed at inviting more college students to submit themselves to the counseling process. this study employed a qualitative case study design of yin (2014) using 32 research participants as key informants: 30 counselees and two guidance counselors. the evaluation of conventional counseling is based on pal's (2011) seven stages in the counseling process: readiness, reception, reconnaissance, examination, interpretation, application, and review. based on the findings, most of the students who entered the guidance office were not ready for the counseling process. however, the clienteles had a good impression of the counselors that leads to empowerment. therefore, one way to enhance the practice of conventional counseling in schools is through the utilization of scripture-based counseling. keywords: assessment, conventional counseling, scripture-based counseling, pagadian city, philippines this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction counseling in its widest connotation existed many years ago. in many cultures, the elders of the society counsel the young ones and set the norms in their community. in india, elders, especially parents and teachers, thought that imparting counseling in the form of advice and guidance (psychology4all, 2013). in the philippine context, counseling is employed as a vital element for the development of a well-functioning person (ra 9258, 2004). counseling helps the person to utilize his/her potentials in the future. thus, the counselor helps the person to plan well for his/her future. usually, counselors are being employed in schools to aid the students in their journey to fulfill their potentials in life. however, the researcher became aware of some issues regarding the work of the guidance counselors in schools. one problem is that counselors are being viewed as individuals to be seen or talked to when a student does something wrong (e.g., reporting to the guidance office after incurring several absences before being readmitted). thus, the guidance personnel are usually viewed as the school's disciplinary arm and not as companions in resolving problems. as a result, there is a negative perception of students called for a conference with the guidance office. another problem, according to baltazar (2007), in the field of conventional counseling in the article abortion is systematic is that students are under the impression that they cannot go to the guidance counselors unless they are labeled as problematic. following this idea, there must be a high international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) 84 │ magnitude of the problem before students can go to the guidance office for counseling. there is a lack of orientation here about the instances of going to the guidance counselors. the usual scenario is that when the students have problems or burdens, they only share them with their close classmates, close friends, and individuals they believe are religious. they share their agonies with the persons whom they know more. the usual event is that they find comfort in talking to religious persons because they believe that these persons have something useful to offer to them. knowing this situation, he may ask, “what is that something within these individuals?” is there something more that can be done to improve the field of counseling? the study then wants to assess alternative ways to do counseling through the scriptures. theoretical perspectives this research is anchored in the theory of interpretivism. the researcher attempted to elaborate on the essence of the research participants' experiences in the counseling process (thanh & thanh, 2015). through their experiences, the researcher was able to construct meanings and significant statements concerning the counseling process. thus, the essence of their experiences became the basis for the improvement of services in the guidance center. this study is also anchored on existentialism's theory as it concerns the meaning-making of an individual (sartre & mairet, 1960). counseling focuses on the individual, his freedom, and his responsibility (flynn, 2009). thus, to assess the counseling process, this can be best done by looking at its impact on the clientele. lastly, this study is anchored on the empowerment theory for the professional school counselor. this research evaluated the current practices of counseling in schools aiming for the improvement of these current practices (hipolito-delgado & lee, 2007). objectives this study investigated conventional counseling techniques by focusing on its process, its influence on students' lives, and areas for improvement to develop a scripture-based counseling module. the basis of assessment is based on pal's (2011) method of counseling that involves seven steps, namely: readiness, reception, reconnaissance, examination, interpretation, application, and review. research design the study assessed the practice of counseling qualitatively. in particular, the study used the case study method of yin (2014). this method was employed since the research aimed to link theory in practice. the research verified the actual practice of counseling as compared to the steps enumerated by the work of pal (2011). this research then described the experiences of those students who experienced counseling as well as the experiences of the guidance counselors as narrated through interviews. research environment this study is conducted in one of the private sectarian colleges in western mindanao, philippines. the diocesan clergy run this college. it accommodates students from three departments, namely: college of business education (cbe), college of teacher education, arts and sciences (cteas), and college of computer studies (ccs). from time to time, students were referred to the guidance office for counseling while some sought counseling on their own choices. research participants international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 85 the key informants of this research were the guidance counselors and college students who experienced counseling in the guidance office during the school year 2017 to 2018 and during the first semester of the school year 2018 to 2019. the student-participants were coming from cbe, cteas, and ccs students. using purposive sampling, the researcher interviewed 30 students for this study. the selection was based on the number of students per department who have undergone conventional counseling during the specified semesters. the counselor also interviewed the persons who employed conventional counseling in the college setting. he interviewed the two college counselors of the school where the study was conducted. data gathering procedure to actualize the gathering of data, the researcher made use of formal interviews. the interview centered on the process of conventional counseling, how conventional counseling affects the lives of students, and the areas that need improvement. pal (2011) enumerated seven stages in the counseling process. the conventional counseling process included readiness, reception, reconnaissance, examination, interpretation, application, and review. the researcher employed follow-up questions to extract data from the research participants about the said components. the interview flow was deductive, which means from a general statement to a specific one (stumf and fieser, 2008). from the counseling process's general inquiry, the researcher then proceeded to the venue of the counseling process, the clientele's impression regarding the process, and other details of the counseling process. data analysis in this research, the researcher made use of qualitative data analysis. there were descriptive accounts of the research participants. the interview scripts were analyzed line-per-line. the researcher noted concepts that emerged from data and analyzed their relationships with each other. there was a reflective process to ensure that the researcher interpreted the data in a precise manner. after analysis, the researcher made sure that the categories that were formed from the concepts that emerged from the data made sense about the research objectives. ethical considerations in doing research many moral issues arise in conducting research. creswell (2003) enumerates them as follows: marginalizing or disempowering the participants, identifying a purpose statement and research questions, data collection issues, data analysis and interpretation issues, and writing and disseminating phase issues. thus, in this study, the researcher assures that there is no disempowerment of the research participants. the second concern for this research is to identify a purpose statement and research question that does not deceive the research participants. this research is in good faith in getting data from the research participants. they (research participants) have the right to ask questions before they agree on being the research participants. the researcher assured them that this study is transparent to them. regarding the data collection issues, the researcher assured the research participants of a sense of respect. this respect is not only limited to persons but of the environment as well. in the first place, the researcher assured that respect must be taken not to harm the vulnerable individuals to whom the data were gathered. secondly, the place or venue where the data come from was also respected. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) 86 │ in the data analysis and interpretation, the research participants were anonymized to preserve the exposition of the issues that they presented. in this way, they could express their concern without fearing to be criticized or condemned because of what they shared. the responses were given symbols, such as s1, s2, s3, and so forth, to identify the research participants as student-participants. lastly, in the writing and disseminating phase of this research, the researcher was vigilant in his choice of words. he made sure that his language was not biased against the research participants. also, the researcher firmly explicated the results without altering them. literature review the republic act 9258 of the philippine constitution, also known as the guidance and counseling act of 2004, defined guidance and counseling as "a profession involving the use of an integrated approach to the development of a well-functioning individual primarily by helping him/her to utilize his/her potentials to the fullest and plan his/her future following his/her abilities, interests, and needs." professional counseling is the application of mental health and psychological and human development principles through initiating interventions, such as: cognitive, affective, behavioral, or systematic, that led to personal growth, wellness, or career development (gladding, 2000). these two basic concepts are significant in the understanding of the meaning of conventional counseling. conventional counseling is that which consists of talk therapy (ehow, 2012). as a talk therapy, it involves two persons: one talks while the other listens and vice versa. in here, the clientele expresses and discusses his/her problems and mental health symptoms to the counselor. after hearing the clientele's difficulty, the counselor would facilitate to help the client. these skills involve modifying the clientele's thoughts and changing his/her behaviors to gain or restore his/her mental health. sala (2003) enumerated three of the many examples of conventional counseling models, namely: freudian, medical, and moral models. the freudian model is also known as the psychoanalytic model (de jesus, 2006). the objective of this model is to assist the clientele to have his/her perturbing mechanisms of adjustments and to resolve his/her problems. in this model, the counselor traces the root of the clientele's problem as the victim of the environment (sala, 2003). thus, this root is inherited by the client. consequently, the curing or addressing the problem is through the process of psychoanalysis (sala, 2003). this treatment takes many years as it emphasizes the enhancement of the clientele's adjustments. the medical model employs scientific curing of problems. it tracks the root of the problem as that of the victim of chemistry (sala, 2003). by victim of chemistry, it points out issues like mental illness. they can be compared to a virus. thus, it is necessary to have medication to eliminate it from the clientele. therefore, in curing through the medical model, there is a need to take psychotherapy drugs. the third conventional counseling that is the moral level is anchored on the standard rightness and wrongness of actions. it can also be equated to the ethical model. moral and ethical mean the same thing, yet they only come from different origins. by ethical, it comes from the greek word "ethos," which means a particular way of acting and fitting one's humanness (fernandez, 2006). therefore, in "humanness," there are different standards that must be followed. thus, the root of the problem in this model is the violation of the rules of society (sala, 2003). evaluating the mentioned models, one can notice that they are just following the rules of their proponents. furthermore, they are human-centered or client-centered (sala, 2003). they only based their identification and treatment on the human situation. they do not have any scriptural basis. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 87 scripture-based counseling. the book of hebrew chapter 14, verse 12, states that god's word can discern the heart's thoughts and intentions. it is vital to reflect on god's word to have a clear direction, particularly on the act of discernment. another essential aspect to ponder is the penetration of the heart. god's word directs to the heart. thus, it focuses on the core of the human person. there are many definitions of scripture-based counseling. one of these definitions states that it is a professional approach to inner healing and personal growth as it deals with real-life issues (chapman, 2012). these issues can impact one's life as they lead him to experience pain and joy. it is essential to note the presence of inner healing or the healing from within the person. sometimes, this is called the healing of the heart. compared to conventional counseling, scripture-based counseling has an additional impact: spiritual satisfaction. as quoted in the work of blair (2007), "god is the lord of all including the science of psychology… if psychology and the bible are properly used, there is no zero-sum between religion (the bible) as truth and psychology as science." thus, the bible and psychology can be reconciled. they can be together, for god can do something since his scope is all-embracing. it encompasses all the good things in the world. therefore, counseling must have a religious aspect. john the evangelist used the greek word "parakletos" for the holy spirit. it comes from two words, "para," which means on behalf, and "kaleo" to speak. thus, it means speaking on one's behalf. "parakletos" also means a "counselor" (sala, 2003). therefore, god himself is a counselor in the person of the holy spirit. results and discussion this part of the study presents the findings based on the interview conducted among selected college students and guidance counselors. they have experienced conventional counseling and the guidance counselors doing the counseling. it involves the investigation of the conduct of conventional counseling process. the process comprised seven components, namely: readiness, reception, reconnaissance, examination, interpretation, application and review (pal, 2011). readiness. according to pal (2011), readiness refers to the essential state in which an individual is about to enter any act. it is crucial to start the counseling process when both the counselor and the clientele are ready. readiness can be viewed from three angles: physical setting, informational material, and mental emotional attitudes. as to readiness, the researcher conducted a three-fold investigation: the readiness of the clientele, the readiness of the counselor, and the venue, the counseling room. however, the answers focused more on the clientele’s readiness through their feelings of being fine, being afraid, being shy, and not being comfortable. on the one hand, “being fine” connotes a positive feeling as evident in the words of some students that go this way, “okay ra ang feelings [the feelings are okay] (s14, s17, s19). some students were properly disposed of as they went through the counseling process. as they were called in the guidance office, they were already willing to open up and unload their problems in life. these were individuals who understood the purpose of the counseling. they went beyond the enslavement of their fear and expressed well their issues and concerns in life. on the other hand, “being afraid, being shy, and not comfortable” are negative implications on readiness. many students who were interviewed expressed their apprehensions in the following manner: “nahadlok ko kay first-time nako. basin makasuk-an ko [i was afraid for that was my first time being summoned in the guidance office. i was afraid to be scolded.]” (s2). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) 88 │ “nahadlok ko kay nakasala ko [i was afraid because i did something wrong.]” (s3, s4, s20) “nahadlok ko kay dili ko ganahan mo open [i was afraid for i do not want to open up.]” (s22) “naulaw ko mo-share sa akong problem [i was shy to share my problem.]” (s12) “dili ko comfortable kay adviser nako si maam sa harp [i was not comfortable since the counselor is our club adviser]” (s24) the preceding statements proved that many who underwent conventional counseling were not ready for the process. this situation can be explained by the stigma of going to the guidance office. some did not want to go to the office but felt obliged to be there for some teachers and other concerned individuals to summon them. as a result, they were afraid, shy, or uncomfortable. usually, some students being called in the guidance office perceived as having committed a mistake. as to the counselors’ perspective, they observed that most students were not ready for counseling. they said that the students did not know what counseling is all about. the reason behind this scenario was that the students just approached the office for their names were posted at the bulletin board for urgent calls. it is essential to observe readiness in the counseling process. it is where acceptance happens. according to de jesus (2006), acceptance involves verbal and non-verbal behaviors that tell the clienteles that they are being understood and received. when the clienteles feel accepted, it would be easier for them to be ready for the counseling process. reception. as to the second stage of the conventional process, reception refers to the first impression of the clientele of the counselor (pal, 2011). the students’ responses were based on their perceptions regarding the counselors. the researcher asked them what they felt about them (counselors). their answers were focused on these themes: welcoming and kind. these two characters of the counselors were very positive. their responses could be summed up in this cebuano phrase, “ok ra.” they usually said, “ok ra man sila, sir.” dealing with the first impression, it was evident that the counselors were very open to the counseling process. the counselors in the guidance office warmly welcomed students. another critical answer raised by the students was their observation that the counselors were very kind. the characters of the present counselors were outstanding–natured individuals. these characters were a very proper attitude for the counseling process to be successful. counselors need to be welcoming to allow the clienteles to be at home during counseling that would lead to openness that will then lead to success in counseling. nevertheless, this is not always true to all cases. there are also instances in which counselors are not comfortable with their clientele. as oren, zengin, yazici, and akinci (2018) found in their study that midwifery students in turkey were not comfortable counseling homosexual and sex workers who may be carrying an hiv disease. reconnaissance. in the reconnaissance stage, it is where the counselor conducts surveys or preliminary exploration about the clientele (pal, 2011). the counselor explores the personal details of the clientele. in evaluating this stage, the researcher asked the students who have undergone counseling if the counselors asked the clients personal information. their answers are: probing for details, recognizing the clients, and getting acquainted with the clients. in the cases of some students, no reconnaissance occurred due to the excellent acquaintance of the counselors to the clienteles. some students said, “kaila na siya daan nako [she knew me already] (s12, s26, and s27). another student mentioned, “kaila na siya daan nako, sir, kay pc man ko [she already knew me sir for i am one of the peer counselors] (s3). in the cases of the said students, the counselors skipped the reconnaissance stage, for they already recognized the clienteles. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 89 however, there were few incidents that there were students who were not known previously by the counselors but then were not asked as well about their details. the answer to the research participants that depicted the counselors in asking their clienteles regarding the reason of being summoned in the guidance office had some connections with not asking at all personal information. in this case, the counselor directly proceeded to the primary concern of the student. the process of knowing the student thoroughly was not being minded. the counselors just probed details of why the students were being called in the guidance office. perhaps, the counselors skipped the reconnaissance process, especially if personal information was deemed not relevant to the cases or concerns being handled, and the counselors directly dealt with the students' problem. when queried, if the counselors asked for their details, one student said, “nagdali man gud to siya, sir, kay naa’y klase [she was in a hurry because she had a class]” (s9). it could be noted that both the personnel of the guidance office have teaching loads. in some cases, the counselors dealt with the details about the students. they asked for some information about the families of the students. they also asked for the personal interests of the students. in this very scenario, the reconnaissance stage was practiced by the counselors as they tried to get acquainted with the clienteles. as to the counselors’ perspective regarding reconnaissance, they said that they only asked a little about personal pieces of information since they have in their office the profiles of the students. however, they still asked for some details to elaborate on the details of the concern of their clientele. reconnaissance is vital. villar (2007) says, “counseling focuses on different aspects of a person’s life.” thus, the counselor must know personal details for him/her to have a good background in the clientele. examination. in the examination stage of conventional counseling, the opportunities were being granted to the clienteles to share and explain their problems and concerns to the counselors. the clienteles here really did much of the talking. the counselors just listened to the clienteles’ sharing. the clienteles unloaded the burden they felt and presented them all to the counselors. thus, in evaluating this stage, the counselor asked the research participants how they expressed their problems and concerns to the counselors. the research participants were given a chance to return to their experience and re-express their worries about it. however, they were not obliged to express the details of the problems, for the problems were not the concern of the researcher but the way they were being shown. the researcher reminded his research participants about his concern about the process rather than the content. however, if it was inevitable to share the problems even when the process was only asked, the researcher allowed the research participants to share their problem provided that what they shared was voluntary in the first place. their sharing was generalized into expressing desires in life, sharing and explaining the problem, and expressing the real feeling. in this stage of counseling, the research participants expressed their concerns and their problems. one student said: “na guidance ko tungod sa akong grado kay nag-apply man ko ug scholarship. nasayop man gud akong classmate ug butang didto sa application form. imbis nga 1.75, 1.50 ang nabutang.” [ i was summoned in the guidance office because of my grade. at that time, i was applying for a scholarship. my classmate made an error of writing my real grade in the application form, instead of putting 1.75, she put 1.50] (s20). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) 90 │ when the concern was on the career of the student, the clienteles were given a chance to express their desires in life. just like one student who had difficulty passing the subjects he took for his course, the student said, “ni estorya ko unsa nga trabaho akong gusto inig human nako ug skwela [i told her what job i want to have after my studies]” (s1). the counselor helped him as he explained to her his desire in life. then, he was able to take another course that fitted his interests. the counselors also stressed questioning, as they want the clienteles to elaborate well on their problems and concerns. they made use of different questions to extract more explanations from the side of the clienteles. interpretation. in the interpretation stage, the counselors administer and analyze the information given by the clienteles. they explain to the clients what the latter want to hear from the former. the counselors also enumerate some possible actions that the client can do to address the problem. as to the interpretation stage, the researcher then asked the research participants on how the counselors addressed their problems. the answers were generalized into explaining the issue to the clients, giving suggestions, giving advice, and reminding the clients to do good. based on what the students said, there were manifestations that the interpretation stage was sometimes misinterpreted. it should be noted that counseling is not advice-giving. some students said that the counselors advised them. one student said, “nag-advice siya nga mag-peace nami sa akong kontra [she advised us that my enemy and i must forgive each other]” (s24). there is a misinterpretation since, in the counseling process, the counselor must not give advice. in one instance, the counselors reminded the clienteles always to perform what is right. a student exclaimed, “miingon si maam, bisa’g gamay na lang gabuhat ug maayo, dapat mobuhat jud ug maayo [ma’am said, though only a few do good, we must still do good] (s6). some students were sent to the guidance office as they committed mistakes. thus, the counselors never failed to remind them that what they did was not right. the counselors explained to clienteles the importance of doing what is good and right. in some instances, the counselors did not give advice; instead, they were raising suggestions. some students said, “nanghatag siya’g suggestions [she gave suggestions]” (s8, s12, and s13). the counselors enumerated ways in which the clients can do to address their problems. they left for the clientele, which means he/she is going to apply in his/her case. the counselors just gave alternatives. another necessary action that the counselors performed in the interpretation stage was that of explanation. the counselors made clear to the clients their problems. the counselors raised the consequences (e.g., the fault of the clientele). as a result, the clients were enlightened. the counselors dealt with the “whyness” of the students’ problems in the interpretation stage. they asked for more reasons why the students committed some mistakes. thus, the counselors obtained sufficient data to make their interpretation successful. application. as everything is already apparent as the counselor illustrated and explained the details of the clientele’s problem in the interpretation stage, the client can now proceed to the application stage. in this stage, the clients perform something that satisfies the problem. this stage begins with decision-making by the clientele. it is doing something out of the problem that is unveiled. evaluating this stage, the researcher inquired about the actions that the students performed after they experienced international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 91 conventional counseling. the researcher also included the conditioning on the part of the students. he asked whether a student decided on his own or he was obliged to perform such action. their answers were forgetting anger, not any more cheating, and applying the advice and suggestions. based on the answers of the research participants, the researcher found that all did something after talking to the counselors. some of them applied the advice of the counselors. they performed actions based on what they heard from the counselors. some students chose one of the suggestions of the counselors. during the interpretation stage, the counselors presented alternatives that the clienteles can do as they go out of the counseling room. decision-making was a crucial factor in the application stage. it was on the clientele to decide on something that he/she can do to address his/her problem. the most common decisions were: ‘forget anger’ and ‘not to cheat again.’ in the case where students were called in the guidance office because of them having conflicts, they decided afterward to forget their anger. they had themselves settled in living peacefully with one another. however, for those who were guilty of cheating, they chose not to cheat anymore. these decisions were based on the clienteles’ analysis of what was right for them. they were not obliged to perform those actions, but they chose to do so because they felt they were right. as to this stage, the counselors assured that the clienteles were being empowered enough to do something to address their problems. they also observed that they were successful in helping the students as they found good outcomes. this finding is also according to the study of sood and gupta (2018), as they stressed autonomy and choice in caring for patients. in their research, it is being emphasized that the patients are the prime decision-makers. the same is also true in the usual counseling process in which the clienteles were empowered to do things on their own at the end. review. the review is the last part of the conventional counseling process. it is on looking at the entire process. in this way, there is a possibility that there are mistakes that were observed. thus, these mistakes can be corrected in the future. another importance of this stage is the success of the counseling. the counseling can be evaluated if it provides benefits to the clientele. one crucial activity that stresses on review is that of follow-up. in the counseling process, it is important to have follow-up sessions with the clients to be truly helpful. thus, in evaluating this stage of counseling, the researcher asked his research participants if there were follow-ups that happened in their cases. the research participants’ answers were only two. they were no follow-ups and having follow-ups. in some cases, there were no additional conversations between the counselors and the clienteles after one counseling experience. in other cases, there were follow-up sessions that took place. these follow-ups were limited to conversations inside the office, but it also included asking the students, “how are you?” when they and the counselors met outside the office. they were essential to check if the counseling process helped the students. usually, there were no follow-up sessions that occurred. the counselors entrusted the students to the teachers, and they left the decision to the teachers if they would accept the students once again or not. effectiveness of conventional counseling the research participants were asked how they were affected by the conventional counseling process. the counseling process helped the students in terms of awareness, a realization of mistakes, self-improvement, comfort, independence, giving new life, open-mindedness, goodness, respect, process international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) 92 │ learning, and clarity. some students who were called in the guidance office were not aware of counseling. most of them were first-timers to the process. therefore, as they underwent counseling, they were aware of the function and the process of counseling. another satisfaction raised by the research participants was that of the realization of their mistakes. as they went to the guidance office, it was usually true that they committed some errors. however, they usually denied the fault they committed. thus, after talking to the counselors, they learned to accept their mistakes. counseling also brought self-improvement to the clienteles. as one student said: "satisfied kay na-improve ko aron dili nako mobuhat ug sayop (i am satisfied because i am reminded not to commit the same mistake in the future.)." counseling also was a comforting experience. one student mentioned in her sharing that the counselor was somewhat like a mother to her. she was like a mother comforting her daughter, who was in trouble. counseling led to independence. it allowed the students to stand on their own feet and solve and satisfy their problems. counseling also gave an opportunity that the clientele can do something. after undergoing counseling, a student felt that she had a new life. she said, "murag nakabaton kog bag-ong kinabuhi kay ganahan nako moskwela (through that experience, it seemed that i possed a new life that encouraged me to be eager to study)." the problem with this student was her absences. however, she was helped by the counselor to refuel her desire to study. counseling also resulted in the open-mindedness of a college student. because of the counseling experience, she knew how to open herself and welcome others' points of view. she was no longer selfish. a student also was reminded to do good as she underwent counseling. she committed a mistake, and that was summoned to the guidance office. then, the counselor never failed to tell her about the importance of doing what is right. the student learned the essence of respect as she experienced the counseling process. she learned how to value her studies and the value of the friendship of other students. another student became familiar with the counseling process as he underwent it. as one of the peer counselors, he needed to be accustomed to helping other students who need counseling. finally, counseling gave the students clarity. some students were confused about what to do in their lives. thus, the counselors enlightened their minds for them to have a direction in life. as the counselor is eager to help the student-clientele, the latter will appreciate his/her efforts. this finding is also consistent with the conclusions of webber, mckinley, and rubie-davies (2016) maori students enjoyed the achievement-focused relationship with their teachers who also act as their counselors. in the study of shaterloo and mohammadyari (2011), they stressed that counseling programs help students to develop competencies such that of academics, personal and social, and even career planning. thus, if counseling is appropriately done, this will help transform the clientele' lives in the guidance office. meanwhile, policies also in schools contribute to alleviating the quality of the counseling process (brener & demissie, 2018). areas for improvement of counseling international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 93 when the researcher evaluated this aspect of counseling, he focused on the areas of counseling that need to be developed. he also included those essential aspects that the present process lacked so that counseling could be more beneficial when incorporated. their answers were summarized into seven concerns: privacy, additional time for sharing, need for follow-up, verification, counselor’s life sharing, reaching out, and prayer. first, they stressed on privacy. the research participants requested that counseling must be in a private room. it must be that the room for counseling must be soundproof. they were not confident in opening themselves to the counselors since they knew that the other persons inside the office could hear them. the second concern of the research participants was that of additional time for sharing. some students felt that their counseling experience needed more time. they felt they still had many things to open to the counselors. thus, they needed more time for conversation. the third concern involved those students who did not experience follow-up conversations. they wanted another session to talk to the counselors, but they were afraid to enter the counseling office. they just wanted to be called again for counseling. however, they did not want to be summoned back because they committed a fault; they just wanted follow-up from their previous counseling experience. the fourth concern of the research participants was that of verification. this concern was raised by one of the students who regretted his experience in the guidance office. he said he was summoned in the office, yet he committed no mistake. thus, he stressed that the counselors must first verify the information before calling the student's attention. the fifth concern of the students was that of the counselor’s life sharing. this particular concern was raised by a student who wanted to hear some vital sharing from the life of the counselor that can help her in solving her problems. she believed that she could get something out of the life sharing of the counselor. the sixth concern of the research participants was that of reaching out. they said counselors must not only talk, but they also needed to act. they needed to go outside and have contact with the students for the latter not to feel ashamed that would hinder them from undergoing counseling. the counselors need to establish a good relationship with the students. the last concern of the research participants was the importance of prayer. one student said, “it needs prayer. diretso ra siya. naay nalimtan [it needs prayer. it missed the prayer]. another student requested related bible text that can help in solving the problem. thus, counseling must also have a prayerful approach. in the study of ooi, jaafar, & baba (2018) entitled “relationship between sources of counseling self-efficacy and counseling self-efficacy among malaysian school counselors”, they claimed mastery experience has a strong relationship with counseling efficacy. thus, when counselors are well-versed in their work, they can become great helpers to their clientele. being an expert in the counseling profession is one of the areas in which the counselor improves in the conduct of counseling. conclusion the practice of conventional counseling in the school setting provides many lessons. most of those who went for counseling were not ready for the process. nevertheless, counseling helps students in many ways. it makes them become empowered after undergoing the procedure, however, some international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 83-95 assessment of conventional counseling technique: basis for scripture-based counseling genesis balongkit naparan issn 2685-4074 (online) 94 │ practices need to be improved to serve better the clienteles. moreover, other dimensions of counseling in a school setting need to be incorporated for future practices. recommendations for future research based on the findings, the following recommendations are proposed by the researcher. 1. since this study focused only on a single case, it is then recommended that future researchers may try to explore assessing the counseling process using multiple instances. 2. as one of the needs for improvement in the counseling process, there is the emphasis of prayer. it is then recommended that future research may deal with the effectiveness of scripture-based counseling. this research can be done by doing quasi-experimental research that will determine its effectiveness. references blair, m. a. 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(2006). career guidance in ladderized education for filipino empowerment, office of the director-general technical education and skills development authority. taguig city: tesda. thanh, n. c., & thanh, t. t. (2015). the interconnection between interpretivist paradigm and qualitative methods in education. american journal of educational science, 1(2), 24-27. villar, imelda v.g. (2009). implementing a comprehensive guidance and counseling program in the philippines. makati, philippines: transformations publications. webber, m., mckinley, e., & rubie-davies, c. (2016). making it personal: academic counseling with māori students and their families, contemporary educational psychology. volume 47, pages 51-60. yin, r. k. (2014). case study research: design and methods (applied social research methods). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. kemandirian aparatur sipil negara (asn) melalui literasi keuangan available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 1 (2021) page: 35-43 corresponding author drctreyes@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i1.537 research synergy foundation local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan cecilia t. reyes1 cecile o. legaspi2 clyde g. abayon3 tomas o. ortega4 anna mae c. relingo5 mary eden m. teruel6 jyanee loi d. yecla7 1school of veterinary medicine, aklan state university, philippines 2school of management sciences, aklan state university, philippines 3college of agriculture forestry and environmental sciences, aklan state university, philippines 4school of arts and sciences, aklan state university, philippines 5 college of agriculture forestry and environmental sciences, aklan state university, philippines 6school of arts and sciences, aklan state university, philippines 7school of arts and sciences, aklan state university, philippines abstract a study was conducted to evaluate the performance in the delivery of support to education programs of the local government unit (lgu) of lezo, aklan. the samples were determined adopting the multistage random probability sampling technique. the targeted 150 respondents were proportionately allocated in each barangay based on the 2015 census population and housing data from the philippine statistical authority. the qualified sample respondents were selected using the kish grid. female respondents were targeted for even numbered questionnaires while male respondents were targeted for odd numbers. the four major core concepts namely awareness, availment, satisfaction and need for action were used in measuring the rating of the respondents and presented in frequency and percentage distributions. the reasons for their response were likewise gathered. the study concluded that most of the respondents were not aware of scholarships and other assistance programs for students and alternative learning system and other special education programs. low adjectival rating of citizens availment on educational programs was noted from the survey. this implies that there is a need for considerable improvement and significant interventions for the citizens to be knowledgeable and be able to avail those educational services offered in the municipality of lezo. in general, respondents were satisfied on educational programs. in spite of this positive feedback, additional efforts toward improvement are still essential. it is recommended that the lgu must provide budget for the construction of school buildings, libraries, and other facilities and acquisition of needed reference materials in order to provide its citizens with conducive environment for learning. keywords: support to education, awareness, availment, satisfaction, need for action this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction the performance of the local government unit of lezo aklan in the delivery of support to education programs was measured adopting the citizens’ satisfaction index system (csis). csis was designed as a system of mechanisms aimed to generate citizens’ feedback on local government’s performance on service delivery and the citizens’ general satisfaction. the csis served as tool for drawing in applicable information in measuring citizen satisfaction that can be utilized for agenda-setting of economic and human development plans and goals of lgu’s. moreover, it is a source of information that identifies strengths, gaps, difficulties, constraints and international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 35-43 local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan c. t. reyes, c. o. legaspi, c. g. abayon, t. o. ortega, a. m. c. relingo, m. e. m. teruel, j. l. d yecla issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 36 │ possible improvements on the on the delivery of quality health services. by virtue of dilg memorandum circular 2016-57, the csis was pilot tested to 31 municipalities in the country to equip the tools and procedures for wider implementation in the succeeding years. local resource institutes are involved to gather data and interpret the results for research and development purposes. as a feedback mechanism, the citizens, being the intended recipients and end-users of public services, are in the best position to determine whether or not the services are delivered according to their needs and to the extent that they fulfil their day-to-day and long-term human development requirements. through csis, the gathering of their sentiments, opinions and insights according to their perceptions and assessment as consumers of local public services is a logical method of shaping what the local governments need to do to ensure welfare of citizens, without neglect to statutory requirements expected from them. the csis have numerous uses for various stakeholders pursuing relevant contribution to attain socio-economic development goals both in the local and national arena. statement of the problem this study was conducted to evaluate the performance of local government unit of lezo, aklan in the delivery of support to education programs. specifically, this study aimed to answer the following questions: 1. what is the profile of the respondents as to a. whether or not the respondents have household members studying in an elementary or high school, b. the grade level of respondents’ household members who are studying during the past 12 months and at present, c. whether the respondents’ have household members studying in public or private schools, and d. the primary reason why the respondents’ household members studied in public schools? 2. what is the respondent’s rating and its reasons in the delivery of the following support to education services: a. provision of medical and/or nutritional services to school clinics, b. sports programs and services, c. scholarships and other assistance programs for students, and d. alternative learning system (als) and/or other special education programs? 3. what are the recommendations from citizens on support to education programs? research method the respondents. the target respondents of the study were 150 voting age adults (18 years and above) residing in the different barangays of lezo for not less than six months. the greatest number of respondents (20) came from barangay poblacion since it is the most populated barangay. four sample spots were generated from this barangay. fifteen respondents each from barangays agcawilan, carugdog, ibao, tayhawan, and ten respondents each from barangays bagto, bugasongan, cogon, mina, santa cruz, santa cruz bigaa, and silakat-nonok. sampling procedures. the town of lezo, aklan has a total population of 15,224 and it is impossible to interview everyone, thus, multi-stage random probability sampling was utilized to come up with 150 sample-respondents. multi-stage random probability sampling uses several stages or phases in getting the sample at random from the population. this method is an extension or a multiple application of the stratified random sampling technique. the following stages were done in sampling: international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 35-43 local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan c. t. reyes, c. o. legaspi, c. g. abayon, t. o. ortega, a. m. c. relingo, m. e. m. teruel, j. l. d yecla issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 37 stage 1. the targeted 150 respondents were proportionately allocated in each barangay based on the 2015 census population and housing data from the philippine statistical authority. in each barangay, 30 sample spots such as church/chapel, school, health center and/or radio station were identified. stage 2. sample households in each sample spot were selected by determining the sample spot which was the starting point. from the sample spot going to the right, the first sample household was determined by counting as many households as indicated by the random start (rs). after the first household was identified, an interval using the number indicated in the random start was made to select the other households. stage 3. qualified sample respondent in each household was selected using the kish grid. female respondents were targeted for even numbered questionnaires while male respondents were targeted for odd numbers. data analysis. the core concepts in measuring the responses of the respondents using the frequency and percentage distribution are as follows: 1. awareness refers to the respondent’s presence of knowledge to the service being offered by the local government unit. before delving with satisfaction, there is a need in the first place to know if they are aware that the service is being provided by their local government unit. 2. availment refers to the contact of the respondent to local government through programs, projects and services being implemented or offered. this may suggest the demand or utilization of public services by the citizens. for service indicator level assessments, only those who said they were aware of the service will be asked with the availment questions. 3. satisfaction refers to the citizen’s contentment with their experience in availing or contact with the local government’s services. in some cases this can also reflect the citizen’s fulfilment of expectations with the services they were able to experience. for service indicator level assessments, only those who have availed of the particular service are asked with the satisfaction question. on the service area level, satisfaction is gathered regardless of their awareness and availment of any of the service indicators. 4. need for action refers to the citizen’s assessment on whether or not a particular service requires specific and decisive actions for improvement or reform. this concept is paired with satisfaction to provide readers an additional dimension that could help refine prioritization of services for further development and reform. results and discussions 1. profile of respondents with household members in public schools a. response as to whether or not the respondents’ have household members studying in an elementary or high school table 1. response as to whether or not the respondents’ have household members studying in an elementary or high school response frequency (n = 150) percent yes 74 49.33 no 76 50.67 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 35-43 local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan c. t. reyes, c. o. legaspi, c. g. abayon, t. o. ortega, a. m. c. relingo, m. e. m. teruel, j. l. d yecla issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 38 │ table 1 shows the response as to whether or not the respondents’ have household members studying in an elementary or high school. it can be drawn from the results that almost half (74 or 49.33%) of the total number of the respondents indicated that they have household members studying in either elementary or high school. on the other hand, seventy-six or 50.67% of the respondents stated that they have no household member studying in either elementary or high school. b. grade level of respondents’ household members who are studying during the past 12 months and at present table 2. grade level of respondents’ household members who are studying during the past 12 months and at present indicator frequency (n = 136) percent kindergarten 7 5.15 grade 1 13 9.56 grade 2 9 6.62 grade 3 8 5.88 grade 4 8 5.88 grade 5 9 6.62 grade 6 9 6.62 grade 7 9 6.62 grade 8 13 9.56 grade 9 19 13.97 grade 10 1 0.74 grade 11 16 11.76 grade 12 15 11.03 table 2 shows the grade level of respondents’ household members who are studying during the past 12 months and at present. the result shows that most (19 or 13.97%) of the respondents’ household members who are studying were in grade 9. this number is closely followed by the respondents’ household members who are in grade 11 (16 or 11.76%) and grade 12 (11.03%). c. response as to whether the respondents’ have household members studying in public or private schools. table 3. response as to whether the respondents’ have household members studying in public or private schools indicator frequency (n = 136) percent public 113 83.09 private 23 16.91 table 3 presents the response as to whether the respondents’ have household members studying in public or private schools. it can be drawn from the results that large proportion (113 or 83.09%) of the respondents has household members studying in public or private schools while only international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 35-43 local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan c. t. reyes, c. o. legaspi, c. g. abayon, t. o. ortega, a. m. c. relingo, m. e. m. teruel, j. l. d yecla issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 39 twenty-three or 16.91% of the respondents have no household members studying in either public or private schools. d. primary reason why the respondents’ household members studied in public schools table 4. primary reason why the respondents’ household members studied in public schools indicator frequency (n = 113) percent libre ang tuition (free tuition) 34 30.09 mababa ang tuition (affordable tuition) 23 20.35 maganda ang kalidad ng pagtuturo (good quality of teaching) 4 3.54 sapat/maayos ang mga pasilidad ng paaralan (adequate school facilities) 1 0.88 maganda ang pangangasiwa ng paaralan (good school administration) 5 4.42 libre ang mga kagamitan tulad ng libro at iba pang pangangailangan ng mag-aaral (school supplies and other learning materials are given free) 1 0.88 malapit ang paaralan sa aming tirahan (the location is near) 44 38.94 parehas lang ang tinuturo sa private school (same learning contents with the private school) 1 0.88 table 4 reflects the primary reason why the respondents’ household members studied in public school. it is reflected in the results that most (44 or 38.94%) of the respondents’ household members studied in public school because the school is near. this is closely followed by the number of the respondents (30.09%) who provided the reason that the tuition is free. moreover, least number (1 or 0.88%) cited the reason of good facilities, free school supplies, and instruction is just the same with the private schools, respectively. 2. extent of awareness, availment, satisfaction and need for action of the following support to education programs: a. provision of medical and/or nutritional services to school clinics table 5. percentage scores and adjectival ratings of the major core concepts on provision of medical and/or nutritional services to school clinics core concepts yes no percentage score adjectival rating f % f % awareness 104 69.33 46 30.67 69.33% high availment 54 51.92 50 48.08 51.92% low satisfaction 48 88.89 6 11.11 88.89 high need for action 15 27.78 39 72.22 27.78% low awareness. table 5 presents awareness on the provision of medical and/or nutritional services to school clinics. the result shows that majority (104 or 69.33%) of the respondents were aware of the services while forty-six or 30.67% indicated of having no idea about the said service. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 35-43 local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan c. t. reyes, c. o. legaspi, c. g. abayon, t. o. ortega, a. m. c. relingo, m. e. m. teruel, j. l. d yecla issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 40 │ availment. the availment on the provision of medical and/or nutritional services to school clinics is shown in table 5. the result displays that fifty-four or 51.92% of the respondents availed the services while fifty or 48.08%stated they have not availed of any of the medical and/or nutritional services. satisfaction. table 5 also displays satisfaction on the provision of medical and/or nutritional services to school clinics. the result exhibits that out of the fifty-four (54) respondents who availed the medical services, forty-eight or 88.89% percent noted that they were satisfied while six or 11.11% indicated they were not satisfied of the services. need for action. the need for action on the provision of medical and/or nutritional services to school clinics is also shown in table 5. the result shows that out of the fifty-four (54) respondents who availed the medical services, fifteen or 27.78% noted that the services need action while thirty-nine or 72.22% specified that the services do not need action. b. sports programs and activities table 6. percentage scores and adjectival ratings of the major core concepts on sports programs and activities core concepts yes no percentage score adjectival rating f % f % awareness 89 59.33 61 40.67 59.33% high availment 39 43.82 50 56.18 43.82% low satisfaction 38 97.44 1 2.56 97.44% high need for action 10 25.64 29 74.36 25.64% low awareness. table 6 presents awareness on sports programs and activities. the result indicates that majority (89 or 59.33%) respondents were aware of the sports programs and activities while sixty-one or 40.67% said that they were not aware of the services. availment. the availment of sports programs and activities is reflected in table 6. the result shows that out of eighty-nine (89) respondents who were aware of the sports programs and activities, majority (50 or 56.18%) of them did not avail the services while only thirty-nine or 43.82% availed the services. satisfaction. table 6 also displays satisfaction on the sports programs and activities. the result shows that out of thirty-nine (39) respondents who availed the sports programs and activities, highest proportion (38 or 97.44%) of the respondents were satisfied of the services while only one or 2.56% indicated dissatisfaction of the service. need for action. the need for action on the sports programs and activities is also presented in table 6. it can be drawn from the results that out of thirty-nine (39) respondents who availed the sports programs and activities, twenty-nine or 74.36% of the respondents noted that the services do not need action while ten or 25.64% stated that the services need action. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 35-43 local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan c. t. reyes, c. o. legaspi, c. g. abayon, t. o. ortega, a. m. c. relingo, m. e. m. teruel, j. l. d yecla issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 41 c. scholarships and other assistance programs for students table 7. percentage scores and adjectival ratings of the major core concepts on scholarships and other assistance programs for students core concepts yes no percentage score adjectival rating f % f % awareness 84 56.00 66 44.00 56% low availment 21 25.00 63 75.00 25% low satisfaction 21 100.00 0 0 100% high need for action 8 38.10 13 61.90 38.10% low awareness. table 7 presents awareness on scholarships and other assistance programs for students. the result shows that majority (84 or 56%) of the respondents were aware of scholarships and other assistance programs for students while sixty-six or 44% of the respondents stated that they were not aware of the said services. availment. table 7 shows availment on scholarships and other assistance programs for students. the result reflects that out of eighty-four (84) respondents who were aware of the said services, only twenty-one or 25% of them availed while majority (63 or 75%) did not avail the services. satisfaction. table 7 also presents satisfaction on scholarships and other assistance programs for students. the result indicates that all (21) of the respondents who availed the said services noted that they were satisfied of the service. need for action. the need for action on scholarships and other assistance programs for students is also presented in table 7. the result shows that out of twenty-one (21) respondents who availed scholarships and other assistance programs for students, 13 or 61.90% of the respondents noted that the services do not need action while lesser proportion (8 or 38.10%) stated that the services still need action. d. alternative learning system and/or other special education programs table 8. percentage scores and adjectival ratings of the major core concepts on alternative learning system and/or other special education programs core concepts yes no percentage score adjectival rating f % f % awareness 62 41.33 88 58.67 41.33% low availment 2 3.23 60 96.77 3.23% low satisfaction 2 100.00 0 0 100% high need for action 1 50.00 1 50.00 50% low awareness. table 8 presents awareness on alternative learning system and/or other special education programs. the result shows that majority (88 or 58.67%) of the respondents were not aware of the alternative learning system and/or other special education programs while lesser number (62 or 41.33% of the respondents indicated that they were not aware of the said services. availment. table 8 shows the availment on alternative learning system and/or other special education programs. the result reflects that out of sixty-two (62) international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 35-43 local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan c. t. reyes, c. o. legaspi, c. g. abayon, t. o. ortega, a. m. c. relingo, m. e. m. teruel, j. l. d yecla issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 42 │ respondents who were aware of the said services, only two or 3.23% of them availed while the higher proportion (60 or 96.77%) did not avail the services. satisfaction. table 8 displays satisfaction on alternative learning system and/or other special education programs. the result indicates that all (2) of the respondents who availed the services indicated that they were satisfied of the service. need for action. table 8 presents the need for action on alternative learning system and/or other special education programs. the result shows that out of the two (2) respondents who availed alternative learning system and/or other special education programs, one (1) respondent indicated that the services do not need action while the other one (1) stated that the services still need action. recommendations from citizens the overall recommendations from the citizens on support to education programs revealed that 71 or 47.33% out of the 150 respondents suggested that additional supply of books, computer and other educational materials be provided. this was followed by 15 or 10.0% of the respondents who recommended additional budget. another, 14 or 9.33% suggested additional classrooms, and 9 or 6.0% of the respondents strongly recommended the implementation of free tuition in the tertiary education. the complete list of recommendations from citizens on support to education programs is shown on table 9. table 9. recommendations from citizens on support to education programs recommendations frequency (n = 150) percent additional supply of books, computer and other educational materials 71 47.33 additional budget 15 10.00 additional classrooms 14 9.33 strongly implement free tuition 9 6.00 sustain implemented programs 8 5.33 provision of scholarship programs 6 4.00 repair school buildings and classrooms 6 4.00 improve program implementation 5 3.33 improve information dissemination 3 2.00 financial support for students 2 1.33 hire more teachers and staffs 2 1.33 additional programs 1 0.67 addition fund allocation for mooe for classroom construction 1 0.67 improve school clinics 1 0.67 hire qualified teachers 1 0.67 seminars to educate youth 1 0.67 seminars to enhance teachers' knowledge and skills 1 0.67 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 35-43 local government unit’s support to educational programs as viewed by the citizens: the case of lezo, aklan c. t. reyes, c. o. legaspi, c. g. abayon, t. o. ortega, a. m. c. relingo, m. e. m. teruel, j. l. d yecla issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 43 the lgu must look for agencies that can provide budget to support the programs for education. 1 0.67 revive als program 1 0.67 rules must be strictly implemented 1 0.67 conclusion the overall satisfaction rating for educational program is high. this means that the citizens’ satisfaction with the local government’s education related programs and services exhibits desired satisfactory performance. in spite of this positive feedback, additional efforts toward improvement are still essential. lezo should toughen interventions for educational assistance such as scholarships and alternative learning system to further generate good feedbacks from the citizens. low adjectival rating of citizens’ availment on educational programs was noted from the survey. the result on awareness also suggests that scholarships and other assistance programs and alternative learning system and/or special education programs have low adjectival ratings. these imply that there is a need for considerable improvement and significant interventions for the citizens to be knowledgeable and be able to avail those educational services offered in the municipality of lezo. the adjectival rating of the citizens’ satisfaction on educational program is high. therefore, the municipality of lezo generally exhibits satisfactory performance. on-going interventions to sustain or even further improve the services are necessary to maintain the quality of service they offer to the public. recommendation one important concern in public education programs is the growing population of enrollees which, of course, demands for more facilities including classrooms and more reference materials. to provide a conducive environment for learning, it is suggested that the local government will provide budget for the construction of facilities and acquisition of needed reference materials. acknowledgement the researchers extend their gratitude to the department of interior and local government (dilg) and the aklan state university (asu) administration for being the major counterparts in making this study possible. references citizen satisfaction index system manual for pilot testing in municipalities. bureau of local government supervision-department of interior and local government, quezon city, 2018, ch. 3 – 5. "republic act no. 1414 an act to create the province of aklan". chan robles virtual law library. 25 april 1956. archived from the original on 4 march 2016. retrieved 15 july 2018. census of population (2015). "region vi (western visayas)". total population by province, city, municipality and barangay. psa. retrieved 5 april 2018. "municipal: lezo, aklan". psgc interactive. quezon city, philippines: philippine statistics authority. retrieved 28 june 2018. this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction kemandirian aparatur sipil negara (asn) melalui literasi keuangan available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 1 (2021) page: 08-24 corresponding author shintasetia113@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i1.519 research synergy foundation the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia1 pwee leng2 yurilla endah muliatie3 dian ekowati4 dwi ratmawati5 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 airlangga university, indonesia abstract zonasi, a new ‘zoning-based school’ system implemented by the indonesian government in june 2019 has created a significant impact on student enrollment in all public schools across the country. before june 2019, student enrollment in public schools were based on its school’s selection process, mainly academic achievement, whilst for past 2 years (2019 and 2020) students’ enrollment has been based on “zonasi”, a geographical distance between student’s home and the chosen school. the closer the distance, the bigger chance to get acceptance. as result, public schools nowadays have more diverse students than before. this research aimed to explore leadership practices of secondary public-school principal in transforming a regular public school into inclusive public school through the act of leadership practices. the school was acknowledged by local government and communities as one of the successful inclusive public high school in surabaya. this research used a qualitative approach within a case study design. the data collection techniques used in this research were interviews, observations, and school documents. data were collected from the principal, 2 counseling teacher, 2 special education teachers, and head of educational in the district. the result revealed four principal leadership behavior to transform regular public school into inclusive public school i.e. (1) changing mindset, the teachers and non-academic staffs, (2) promoting inclusive practices within the school through various programs, (3) promoting inclusive practice in teaching-learning process, (4) building connection with parents & local communities, and seeking government support on the initiatives. this study only investigated one public school, with the involvement of a school principal and 4 teachers. it would be better if the scope of the research could be broader, for example covering elementary and high schools, and involving more participants, such as the vice principal of the curriculum field, students and parents. this study contributes to leadership research in the context of secondary school education, which has undergone a transformation from the previously students tend to be homogeneous because they are based on standardized academic qualification, nowadays students at schools have more diverse social backgrounds as a result of the implementation of the zoning system in indonesia. the findings of this paper can be used as a tool. a guide for policy makers and educational planners regarding zoning system in indonesia. such practices can also be learned, adapted and imitated by other schools. keywords: leadership behavior, inclusive education, diversity this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction although inclusive education has been agreed and implemented in many countries almost three decades ago, the implementation of inclusive education for children with special need in indonesia has just begun two decades later. according to poernomo (2016) as a commitment of the indonesian government, the implementation of inclusive education for the disable started in 2002 when the government officially started pilot projects in nine provinces which have resource centers. since then, there are more than 1500 students with disabilities were enrolled in mainstream schools. in 2005 the number increased to 6,000 students or 5.11% of the total number of children with special needs. whereas in 2007 increased to 7.5% or 15181 students in 796 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 9 inclusive schools which consists of 17 kindergartens, 648 primary schools, 75 secondary schools and 56 senior high schools. moreover, to encourage the implementation of inclusive education more broadly, a national workshop was held in bandung that produced bandung declaration in which the content was among others encourage the government, educational institutions, relevant institutions, business and industry and the community to ensure any children to get equal access to all aspects of life, as well as getting humane treatment (poernomo, 2016). when tracking back the history, the notion of education for individuals with special needs actually has been embedded far before indonesia received its independence day in 1945. as stated by sunardi, gunarhadi & yeager (2011) in 1901, pioneer ch. a. westhoff opened a sheltered workshop for the blind in bandung. also, in bandung in 1927, a school for the mentally retarded was opened by vereniging bijzonder onderwijs, promoted by folker, so that the school became known as the folker school. the first school for the deaf-mute was initiated in bandung in 1930 by c. m.roelfsema. after indonesia’s independence, a few special schools were established in other regions, mostly managed by private foundations, consisting of special school types for the blind, the deaf-mute, the mentally retarded, the physically handicapped, and the emotionally disturbed. furthermore, the national motto of ‘bhinneka tunggal ika’ (unity in diversity) represents a national confession to stay united in spite of significant social, multiethnic diverse state and geographical challenges (sheehy & budiyanto, 2015). in terms of legal matters, constitution of the republic of indonesia 1945 stated clearly and unequivocally guarantee that every indonesian citizen has the right to education, which was emphasized by the direction letter of the directorate general of primary and secondary education no. 38/c.66/mn/2003, dated 20 january 2003 on national education system about special education in regular schools. this direction letter stated that every district must operate at least four inclusive schools, one primary, secondary, general high and vocational higher type. by 2008, there were 925 inclusive schools existed in indonesia. the inclusive policy then received strong legal support by the decree of the minister of education no 70-2009 concerning inclusive education for students with disabilities and with special talents. it stated that every district must operate at least one inclusive high school and every sub district must operate at least one primary and one secondary inclusive school. this inclusive education is for students with potential intelligence and/or other special talent (sunardi, gunarhadi & yeager, 2011) in surabaya, the second biggest city in indonesia, where we conducted the research, the inclusive education in public school itself has been initiated since 2014 by two regular high school among 63 public secondary schools in the city. although the number of inclusive schools has continued to growth, it is a gradual growth rather than significant. the implementation of inclusive education has not been running smoothly. the data from unesco shown that the ranking continue to decline. in 2008, indonesia was in the 63rd rank and in 2009 was in the 71st and continue declining. in fact, the school enrollment rate is still low, only 34,2% (poernomo, 2016). the goal of inclusive education in all school is not easy to achieve. one obvious obstacle is due to teacher’s negative attitude towards the acceptance of inclusive education. a relevant study measuring teacher’s perception towards the implementation of inclusive education in all public high schools in surabaya revealed that not all teachers could accept inclusive education and teachers are lacking of understanding (suryani, 2014). studies conducted by boucher (1981) and rizzo (1984) have generally found that the overall attitude of general education teachers tends to be negative towards students with disabilities (ingram, 1996). inclusive education represents a major change for most school organizations. teachers may feel resentful for having to bear extra responsibility, pressured by additional demands on strained workloads, and incompetent owing to lack of training and preparation for the task (ingram, 1996). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 10 │ in spite of this, bass (1985) stated that leadership behavior of the principal influences teacher’s motivation towards goal expectation, and the successful implementation of innovation and change in school. it is logical, then, to assume that the leadership practice of the principal may influence the way in which inclusive education is accepted, not only by teachers, but whole school stakeholders. in addition, an analysis of new ‘zoning-based school’ system implemented by the government in june 2019, created a significant impact on student enrollment in all state high school across the country. before june 2019, student enrollment were based on purely academic achievement, i.e. a combination of individual national exam result and student’s academic potential (tpa) test. all secondary public schools in the city are standardized in terms of quality, and are fully financed by the government. students are free from school fee. therefore, parents are keen to send their children to public schools although its competition is very tight every year. for favourite schools, only students whose grades with minimum 80 in national exam, and passed tpa test are accepted in those schools. as a result, students in secondary public schools tend to be homogeneous in terms of its student’s intellectual, life style and social background. however, with the implementation of ‘zoning-based school’ in july 2019, student’s enrollment is not based on academic test anymore but by geographical distance, a distance between home and its public schools in those zoning areas. the closer the distance, the bigger chance to get acceptance. this ‘zoning-based school’ system has impacted secondary public schools in several areas: (1) more diverse students in school than before. (2) there will be unprepared teachers involved in teaching and learning process for diverse students (3) there will be unprepared school principals to manage more diverse school. for this reason, an insightful mindset and skills for inclusive education services are needed. the schools should be dragged towards inclusive schools by all school stakeholders. the current educational policy challenged school principals to immediately acquire new skill in managing more diverse students, and develop inclusive education. in the new environment, the conservative school’s notion of applying one general approach to all students soon will not be applicable anymore. as stated by richi (2000) the idea of all students should be accultured into a single way of knowing or behaving is under challenged. under new environment, schools are for all children. as mentioned by richi (2000) that serious attention should be taken to promote and acknowledge all students, whatever their personal characteristics or social backgrounds are. all can succeed in school. in this study, the leadership roles of principal in respond to diversity and establishing inclusive education in school will be explored. begin with its leadership role in fostering new vision, promoting inclusive practices within school and building connection between school and community. research questions 1. how are the leadership practice of the principal in building the inclusive educational system at school? what are the principal’s set of actions in building the inclusive educational system at school? literature review a. the role of school principal in school reforms principals occupy positions that carry unique responsibilities and opportunities, and they work within a particular tradition of practice with its own strengths. in building level administrator to shaping inclusive school, this study does not intend to isolate that role of others in the social and political fabric of the school, nor to overstate the importance of the formal school’s leader, but international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 11 instead to help clarify the contributions of those who hold a well-established position and to suggest ways in which their work can be more effective. burns (1978) proposed a new theory of leadership, i.e., transformational leadership which have shown to have a greater impact on change in attitudes of subordinates. transformational leaders, according to burns (1978), raise followers’ consciousness levels about the importance and value of shared goals and how to achieve them. transformational leaders motivate followers to transcend their own self-interests for the vision of the organization. transformational leaders motivate by tapping higher order needs of followers. bass and avolio (1990) suggest that transformational leaders inspire followers with a vision of what can be accomplished through extra personal effort, thus motivating followers to achieve more than they thought they would achieve. bennis and nanus (1985), found that transformational leaders empower followers thereby helping them to develop competence necessary to achieve organizational goals. tichy and devanna (1986) studied the process by which transformational leaders move large organizational through major change. they found that transformational leaders move through three phases in the process of transforming the organization. first, the transformational leader recognizes the need for change and persuades key people in the organization of the seriousness of the need. second, the leader involves key people in the development of an inspiring vision of the future. finally, the leader mobilizes commitment to the new vision. sergiovanni (1991) suggesting a need to add moral authority to bureaucratic systems, implies that a set of shared values and beliefs that spell out from leaders, what they want to accomplish and how, will increase teacher motivation and commitment to effective teaching and learning. education reform have indeed broadened the role of principals. the roles that are more demanding, such the following (1) build teams, (2) establish vision (3) cultivate teacher’s leadership skills (4) use data to inform instruction (5) observing and implementing reform guideline, and (6) in the context of education reform, principal should be able to integrate managerial and instructional responsibilities (ganon-shilon, 2018). principal implementing reforms should not anticipate session to rest, as they need to keep going redefine policies to suite particular situation that necessarily influence a successful reform implementation, furthermore, school reforms demand principal to divide between two competing fields both external and internal activities of organization. internal activities, such as gathering information about school’s needs and problems, persuading and motivating member to set prioritize that support school’s new goals. examples of external activities are building relationship with community, and acting as the bridge between the school and external stakeholders. (ganonshilon, 2018). in addition, principals also need to engage in professional activities, both pedagogical and managerial. in this case, principals act within a more complex network as they need to integrate the school with external environment within a reform context. principal needs to seek partnership with various parties and stakeholders through ongoing dialogue and social interaction (ganon-shilon 2018). heller and firestone (1995) challenge the idea of heroic leaders in school reforms (1) providing and selling a vision, (2) providing encouragement and recognition (3) obtaining resources (4) adapting standard operating procedures (5) monitoring the improvement effort (6) handling disturbances. interestingly these functions are seen as considerably overlap with factors that have been identified as critical for the success of inclusive education (mayrowetz & weinstein, 1999). b. principal as the agent of change of inclusive education many studies have revealed the importance of the principal's role as instructional leader as well as agent of change in schools (bossert et al., 1982; sweeney, 1982 in hallinger, 2015; blumberg international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 12 │ and greenfield, 1986, in thornburg, 2015). a similar opinion okeke (2019) revealed that the principal was the most important element in the school. the principal's behavior significantly influences any matters that happen in school (hallinger, 2015) and to create an effective school (andersen et al, 2005). based from various literatures, the main tasks in promoting inclusive practices within school centralized around two dimensions: promoting forms of teaching and learning that enable diverse students to succeed and strengthening school cultures that support diversity. in this case, principal can act in direct ways to impact the school culture. molding and strengthening inclusive school cultures. riehl (2000) stated that in fostering new meaning about diversity in school, much of the literature on school reform suggested towards professional development and technical internal processes to schools, especially activities of teaching and learning. new (or renewed) instructional methods, new organizational configurations, new forms of assessment and accountability, and new norms of teacher practice that emphasize collaboration and professional growth are examples of reform initiatives. however, numerous analyses of educational change have demonstrated that school reform will not take place unless whole organization, including students, parents, the general public, educational teachers and professionals understand and invest in the changes (metz, 1990b; tyack & cuban, 1995). similarly, van dyke (1995) stated that inclusion program is not successful if the principal does not take active actions and positive roles in the process. in this regard, the role of the principal is crucial. according to van dyke, the principal’s role is (1) to set up inclusion committee (2) to support teachers and assist staff member in transition towards inclusion (4) to address parents, community and school’s stakeholder concern about inclusion (5) to manage school logistics of inclusion. another study stated principal’s role is to build and maintaining trusting relationship (shelden et al, 2010). this includes (1) developing vision of trustworthy school, (2) serving a role model for trustworthiness through language and action, (3) build teacher’s competencies, (4) improving discipline among students and teacher, and (5) conflict mediator. in addition, principal must also negotiate socially through a shared process. school principals typically have additional power in defining situations and their meanings of new concept of school (miron, 1997 as cited in riehl, 2000). as the formal leader of school, principal can possibly have an affirmative role in create schools that are more inclusive and that serve diverse students more effectively (tyack, 1974). as in most social movements, it is expected that the formal head of organization will act as the agent of change. one of the assumptions embedded in the scholarly literature on school administration and diversity written from a critical theory perspective is that a genuine commitment to diversity would require principals to attend to the fundamental inequities in schooling, to work toward larger projects of social and institutional transformation. this perspective portrays the practicing principals as conservative. the reason is that according to foster, (1986) and parker & shapiro (1993) schooling is inherently a conservative context in which racism, classism, and sexism are present but subsumed under a fiction of tolerance between social groups and a myth of neutrality about administrative work. some scholars suggest that administrators who do become committed to social change will experience conflict as they are expected to move towards new direction whilst maintain existing institutions which they no longer see as legitimate (rizvi, 1993). c. principal’s leadership behavior for inclusive school leadership can be dispersed across many people and roles in educational contexts, and is usually more effective as a distributed practice (barth 1990) – focus here on the school principal. inclusion of moderate and severely disabled students, a slow, but growing phenomenon, represents international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 13 a major change for most school communities. studies have shown that the successful implementation of innovation and change in schools is related to leadership behavior of the principal (bowers, 1990). it is logical, then, to assume that the leadership behavior of the principal may influence the way in which inclusion is accepted and implemented by teachers. gano-shilon (2018) argued that successful reform implementation depend largely on the extent to which principal accept, reject or adapt external reform demands. this implies that principal’s words, choice and actions have large impact on the institutionalization of education reforms. one example is in the case the effort to rejoin disabled students with non-disabled students in the same classrooms. this has raised several important and sensitive issues. aside from the issues of acceptance by peers and their parents, adaptability of the curriculum and instructional methodologies, and teacher attitudes, both positive and negative, the role of the principal in inclusion efforts warrants particular consideration. the leadership behavior of the principal is viewed as a pivotal role in promoting effective acceptance and implementation of school wide change (hall and hord, 1987). effective inclusion of students with moderate and severe disabilities in regular classrooms is likely to be a very challenging undertaking (stainback and stainback, 1992) and therefore may require, among other things, extraordinary efforts on the part of regular education teachers. in support of this likely need of extra teacher effort, principals as a leaders play an influential role in motivating teachers to succeed in the inclusion of disabled students in regular classrooms. the leadership behavior of the principal influences teacher motivation towards goal expectation (bass, 1985). the efficacy of achieving changes and meeting new challenges which provide equal educational opportunity for all students is dependent, in large part, on the principal’s leadership and ability to influence teacher motivation. the transformational principal is more concerned with the development of shared values and beliefs, meanings, and commitment to common goals. the inclusion of moderately and severely disabled students represents a major change for the vast majority of staff in regular education settings. the successful implementation of inclusion programs may require a change in the very culture of the school. in inclusive schools, it is critical that the principal identify and articulate a philosophy, a vision, that reflects the belief that all children can learn, that all children have the right to be educated with their peers in age-appropriate regular education classrooms, and that meeting the educational needs of all children is the responsibility of the school system and staffs. research method a. research design the researcher used the explanatory approach method in conducting qualitative research. this is in line with the explanation from yin (2011) that case study research is appropriate to be used in explanatory research, since the research intended to explore the explanation of causality and the processes contained in the object of the study. the qualitative approach itself in zikmund (2003) is used to explain and confirm the nature problem. the size of the depth of the study is not negative but an explanation with words. the researcher uses himself as a research tool. this research was conducted using a case study method. case studies are research strategies that answer the question "how (how)" or "why (why)" are proposed, researchers do not get full control of events, and the focus of research on contemporary phenomena that occur (yin, 2003). some literature refers to yin (2011) as a reference in carrying out case study methods and doing so for the same reason yin (2003), eisenhardt and graebner (2007) even expressed the opinion that the findings in case studies can develop theories. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 14 │ single-case studies are used as research experiments used to discuss current topics. still in yin (2003), the purpose of case studies is basically for analytical generalizations (first-level inference) that is case study findings will have implications for policy and theory development. b. types and data sources 1) primary data sekaran (2006) explains primary data is data obtained directly from the first source, such as data obtained from individuals directly on the field through interviews and observations. it involves the latest and previous recordings, or public or private recordings, which can consist of writing, publications, sound recordings, photographs, or video recordings (chooper and schindler, 2011). 2) secondary data chooper and schindler (2011) explain that secondary data is material made by parties other than researchers and has specific objectives. materials in the form of company data archives can be explored by researchers as research objects. documents or publications are the second source of secondary data made by outside parties other than the object of research. the form is in the form of news or web pages. still from the explanation of chooper and schindler (2011), secondary data can help researchers determine what needs to be done and become a source that is rich in hypotheses but requires high creativity in the search process. c. procedure for data collection 1) archival records in this study the data collection method used consisted of a study of literature, namely collecting materials in accordance with the topic of this research, this step is also known as an archival record. the material collected from the literature and statistics then converges as an object to be observed by researchers using an in-depth interview approach. the results of the interviews were recorded, then written as words in the interview transcript. it is through this transcript that the results can be used as material for research discussion. 2) individual depth interview a more detailed discussion of in-depth interviews is explained by chooper and schindler (2011), individual depth interviews are interactions between an interviewer and a single participant on an interesting issue or topic and uses a connected method. indepth interview procedures are carried out by direct meeting with the speaker for 40 minutes to 60 minutes. after first sending permission to study and attach interview guidelines, they were also followed up by phone. 3) sampling the researcher used purposive sampling, then chose judgment sampling because the sample was chosen by the researcher based on the assessment that the informant was the most appropriate party from very few people to be used as research samples and could provide the information sought (sekaran and bougie, 2009). in line with that, zikmund (2003) explains that it uses purposive sampling, that has unique characteristics related to experience, attitudes, or perceptions as concepts or theoretical categories as a result of participants during the interview process. the main data collection is from dr. triworo parnoningrum m. pd. as the headmaster of smpn 28 surabaya, she was chosen for her achievement as the best principal in surabaya on february 2019. she is the pioneer of inclusive school in international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 15 surabaya. we also interviewed head of education in the city, child-friendly school team, vice principal, special education teachers, and general teachers. 4) triangulation flick et al (2004) explain that triangulation is important and unique in using procedures that are combined to equalize values. triangulation in this study applies the method of shah and corley (2006), which is used to test validity by triangulating the data type and type of methodology. the next step carried out by the researcher is the analysis carried out on the results of data collection using data using explanatory building. d. data analysis techniques yin (2003) explained that the selected case could be evidence of the theory being developed. case study in this type, the number of analysis units used in general is only one. findings and discussion a. school profile 28 state junior high school surabaya is in western of surabaya. it has 1187 students consisting of 517 male students and 617 female students. the school has 54 teachers and 19 nonteachers. with 33 classrooms, 3 laboratories, 4 sanitation rooms. the learning process takes place full day, five days / week. in each class, on average there are 36 students including 2 students with special needs. students with special needs received there with these types: • deaf are individuals who have permanent or non-permanent hearing loss. • developmental impairment is an individual who has a significantly below average intelligence and is accompanied by an inability to adapt behaviors that arise during development. (https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/anak_berkebutuhan_khusus) • tunadaksa is an individual who has a movement disorder caused by neuro-muscular abnormalities and bone structures that are congenital, sick or due to accidents, including cerebral palsy, amputation, polio, and paralysis. the level of disability in the physical disability is mild, that is, it has limitations in carrying out physical activity but can still be increased through therapy, that is, having motor limitations and experiencing sensory coordination disorders, severe, namely having total limitations in physical movement and being unable to control physical movements. • autism is a nervous system development disorder in a person which is mostly caused by heredity and can sometimes be detected since the baby is 6 months. autism sufferers can also experience problems in learning, communication, and language. [1] someone said to suffer from autism when experiencing one or more of the following characteristics: difficulty in interacting socially qualitatively, difficulty in communicating qualitatively, showing repetitive behavior, and experiencing developmental late or abnormal. • double disability at present, the total number of students with special needs is 63 pdbk (student’s classification with special needs), with a comparison of grade 9 there are 10 pdbk; in class 8 there are 16 pdbk, and in class 7 there are 37 pdbk. the headmaster has been carrying out his duties as a principal at 28 state junior high school for 3 years. • school principal’s role in developing inclusive education for diverse students. b. changing mindset of the teachers and school members the principal conducts a coordination meeting to change the mindset. this coordination meeting was attended by all teachers, non-teacher parents’ representatives from each class, school committees, all osis administrators and related institutions around the school including doctors at the puskesmas, representatives from the kelurahan, kecamatan, polsek and babinsa (bintara pembina desa under the command of the koramil (military district command)). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 16 │ according to mcleskey & waldron (2019) at the beginning of the change process, principals need to hold a thorough open discussion with teachers, with the aim of ensuring support before starting the process of change, to determine certain rooms (e.g., more accommodating general education classrooms, behavior better expected behavior, improved reading achievement. this needs to be the focus of initial change, and to begin the development of a shared vision of successful education for all students. this discussion ensures that all teachers understand, understand and appreciate the fact that all students are important (including students with disabilities), and the changes that will be made are to accommodate and provide better support for all students in the school. the principal said "this coordination meeting is very important to be carried out so that all school members can jointly develop the school in the same mission and vision. in addition, a coordination meeting was held to review again that school is a form of education service for all children (education for all) without distinguishing the race, ethnicity, class, status and physicality of a person. every child has the right to get educational services without violence. children have the right to feel comfortable and safe while in school. and that can all be realized if done in one vision.” reform initiatives, and reform behavior must be started from the principal by involving all school stakeholders as stated by mcleskey and waldron (2019) that changes in school organizations are two-way support, namely from above and below. according to metz, 1990; tyack & cuban. 1995) school reform will not succeed unless it involves stakeholders widely, including students, parents, the general public, and educators themselves, where all lines must understand the changes that occur and want to invest in change (riehl, 2009). to achieve the necessary changes, general and special education teachers must support and be involved in the planning and implementation of inclusive schools. inclusion is not merely a matter of "special education" but requires a change in the professional practice of all teachers in schools (mcleskey & waldron, 2019). the first obstacle encountered in changing this mindset is that team members are not yet fully open to inclusive schools and assessing inclusive schools will only add to the workload. this is in line with previous research conducted by suryani & sudarto (2014) about the perception of smpn teachers in surabaya regarding the implementation of inclusive schools in surabaya found that only 25% of respondents were able to receive inclusive education in state junior high schools, and one of the obstacles was the lack of understanding of children with special needs and inclusive education itself. research conducted by mngo & mngo (2017) also says that although teachers support inclusive education, they still want separate classes between regular students and inclusive students. meanwhile, experts and inclusive educators say that students who are not alienated in the learning process can do things better than students who are alienated from their environment (van dyke, 1995). separating children from the school environment throughout the day is not good because it will further widen the difference. some things that are done by school principals to overcome resistance include (1) establishing interpersonal communication, both with internal and external parties of the school by continuing to coordinate internal and external schools. (2) expanding networks supporting inclusive education in schools (3) resolving any differences of opinion in consensus deliberation while continuing to promote the right of children to get the best education services (4) to adopt a religious approach. this is in line with a study conducted by anderson (1990 in reihl, 2009) which explains three strategies used by principals in interpreting diversity in schools (1) sharing a vision: through daily management of all organizational stakeholders, (2) conducting mediating conflicts when open conflicts arise, and (3) through providing cognitive tasks to resolve differences in perspective between members. "there are no significant obstacles because we together overcome the difficulties that exist by always sharing together to get the best solution. changing one's mindset is not as easy as turning one's hand. we need time and process to achieve it. but we always try as much as possible to spread positive values so that around us also accept it well and negative things can be eroded by itself. what is still doubtful is very reasonable, due to lack of information. the most important thing is to understand that children's rights must take precedence regardless of the conditions. " international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 17 in changing mindset, there is a slight difference between teacher and non-teacher. teachers who have a pedagogical education background are considered to better understand the characteristics of children, and it is easier to be given insights into inclusive education, by linking them to the subjects they teach. while the non-teacher does not have a pedagogical education background, the approach is more personal first, then together understanding the needs and rights of students at school. until finally the non-teacher staff can also understand the characteristics of different children. in changing mindset and building vision, the role of the principal is very important. as agent of change in the school of bossert et al., 1982; sweeney, 1982 in hallinger, 2015; blumberg and greenfield, 1986, in thornburg, 2015) school principals need to carry out intense communication and social negotiations about the meaning and significance of their vision. as administrator, the principal is in the best position to instill the vision of inclusive schools. another approach taken by school principals in changing mindsets is through the religious approach. to change the mindset, at every opportunity, the principal always incorporates a religious approach to open the hearts and minds of the teachers and staffs. the principal believes this is a very useful approach. "every individual has a belief in the greatness of god who has given his gift to humans as khalifah (leader) on this earth. every individual on earth has a nature of each with a unique diversity. as a caliph, he should lead and give the best for every human being.” this principle is in line with muslim values. muslims in their prayers always pray to allah to reach happiness of living in the world and the happiness of life in the hereafter (see qs al baqarah: 2001). as allah said in the quran "...and i did not create jin and men except to worship me" (qs adz-dzaariyaat: 56), hence individual as a khalifa (god servant) in this world should live and do their activities merely and unconditionally to worship allah. this indicates a perspective that people in carrying out activities including activity in the organization will maintain balance and harmony between the world and the hereafter. the principal said, "guided by this, the teachers and staffs are expected to be able to provide knowledge and spread affection to students at school so that they become virtuous children." the idea of a spiritual approach comes from the personal experience of the principal and religious beliefs and the values he believes that the knowledge he has must be able to bring benefits to society and children. "i got the idea because of the calling of the soul to serve the children who are excluded so that they will be able to be effective in the middle of society. no matter how small a person's ability we can be appreciated because all humans are creatures created by allah swt " below are examples of sentences the principal usually use to communicate with the team: "god never fails in his creation, every individual is special with all the potential, talents, abilities and uniqueness" "to change the environment, apply 3 m (starting from yourself, starting now, starting from small ones)." "give the best at every point we are, inshaa allah that's where our practice seeds are planted" "serve the people as well as possible, inshaa allah the needs of our lives will be served by allah swt." "do five cases before five other cases come." "confident that every goodness has been prepared 100 times the goodness of allah swt." according to zaman et al. (2015 in tasrim et al, 2020) islam provides a clear reference of every aspect of life and provides a brief discussion and practical examples on the expected muslim behaviors, such as sincere relationships among people, helping the poor, helping the weak and the sick, helping others in needs are important values. muslim are also to expected to show certain behaviors, for instance five times praying a day, fasting during ramadan, pilgrimage (pilgrimage) and zakat, sedekah and help individuals avoid wrongdoing and speech. under islamic perspectives, recognize and practice community norms such as justice, harmony, good relations with fellow human beings because all humans are brothers and sisters (diversity), equality is defined as a cooperativeness and obedient to serve god and also to create meaningful life. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 18 │ from various approaches taken, the principal can recognize and know that one's mindset has turned positive through several things: (1) someone will appear when giving learning with a loving heart. (2) seeing that all children need educational services that the same without discrimination (3) serving their students as serving their own children. (4) carry out teaching with joy and enthusiasm as a sign of his heart being happy. c. strengthening inclusive culture previous research revealed that school reform, from public schools to inclusive schools can be directed at 2 (two) things, namely the professional development process and internal technical processes in schools, especially those related to teaching and learning activities (van dyke, 1995; majoko, 2019; reihl, 2019) through meetings and brainstorming, inclusive mindset, knowledge and skills are strengthened. for training & services in school, the principal invited some experts to the school. there are many experts who are brought to school to do learning to school members. in this case the headmaster facilitates the teacher and staff to adapt to the new school concept desired, by inviting mentors and motivators to provide training. those invited included among others are from: • women's empowerment and child protection agency related to children's rights at school • from local health centers doctors and psychologists related to health. • from the police department / military regarding the applicable law on school safety • from the law and the prosecutor's office about the bullying act. • from the office of education on children's rights to education. • from outside psychology or ngos engaged in the field of education for children (genta) • from dp5a surabaya and puspaga. • from the p4gn (anti-drug) team • from fasna, child-friendly school. • from related lptk (plb-unesa, psychologist-airlangga university surabaya) in one year, the principal can invite more than three experts to conduct training. what the principal does to find and get expert mentors is to actively build networks that can support the development of inclusive education and always open themselves to new things. of the many trainings that have been carried out at the school, the principal considers that the training conducted by the team of psychologists is the most important and has the most significant impact on school residents. the team of psychologists as motivators and opening insights into each team member, by saying that each child has strengths and weaknesses. one must make weaknesses and weaknesses in students as a strength to continue to achieve their goals, and not make strengths as pride. reform of teacher education is fundamental to this process (forlin, 2010; pantic & wubbels, 2010). teacher educators not only need to examine the attitudes of their students toward diversity and its accommodation but also to undertake "self-study and internal evaluations to better understand their student capacity to infuse diversity issues throughout the curriculum" (brisk et al., 2002, p. 7, as cited in kuyini et al., 2016). this training and professional development for teachers is very important considering that from previous research conducted in the same population it was found that the main obstacle in the implementation of inclusive education in smpn surabaya was the lack of teacher's ability to provide special services to children with special needs and lack of teacher knowledge. in understanding the characteristics and needs of children with special needs (suryani & sudarto, 2014). according to mngo & mngo (2017) teachers who have undergone training and have experience will be more supportive of inclusive education. teachers who lack experience and do not receive training tend to be less enthusiastic about seeing the benefits of inclusive schools, including teaching in mixed classes where there are students with special needs. this indicates that resistance comes from the lack of training and preparation of the teacher himself. furthermore majoko (2019) said that teachers for inclusive schools do indeed require unique competencies, which are not shared by teachers in general. in the majoko study (2019), the cec (council for exceptional children), a high institution that handles the education of children with special needs, has announced several key competencies needed for effective teaching of inclusive education in international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 19 regular classrooms. inclusive schoolteacher competencies include knowledge and skills regarding teaching strategies and approaches that suit the needs of all children. in regular classes (ainscow & goldrick, 2010; florian, 2009; forlin & sin, 2010; hornby, 2010 as cited in mjoko 2019). these skills enable teachers to plan flexible teaching and to recognize the reality of individual differences and differences between students, but teachers are still able to adjust learning goals, content, and create an environment according to individual and whole class needs (agbenyega & deku, 2011; ainscow & goldrick, 2010; florian, young, & rouse, 2010 as cited in majoko 2019). in terms of funding training and skills for teachers and staff, the school has a school budget plan for making activities related to financing. this depends on the needs of each year. other funding sources come from bopda (regional education operational assistance) & bosnas (national school operational assistance). in addition to bringing in mentors, another method used by principals to promote and strengthen the culture of inclusive schools is • the principal explores the creativity of teachers who have the expertise to innovate to improve inclusive education in schools. • in addition, principals often create activity programs that involve regular students and students with the need to mingle and work together. the involvement of regular students and pdbk (classifying students with special needs) has begun at the time of the admission of new students at school. in one week of the school introduction orientation program, regular students and pdbk undergo activities together. • principals hold contests related to exploring the interests and talents of pdbk (student’s classification with special needs) with guidance involving the student department and osis participation as a driving force. • the school principal elects and engages "inclusive ambassadors" from regular students as a companion to pdbk or peer tutors with the aim to foster empathy in their hearts. • the principal conducts social activities that always involve students with disabilities to foster the confidence of students with disabilities and eliminate discrimination. • the principal and the team of teachers create an extracurricular learning program by involving all students, for example gardening, cooking together, cleaning classes and schools, doing religious activities etc. • the principal invited and included all the student council members, the teachers as their facilitators and the parent's representative as the observers to conduct several meetings and make ‘pocketbooks. this pocketbook contains what may and may not be done by fellow students at school. according to van dyke (2019) involving regular students as a peer companion for students with special needs is a very effective strategy. but the teacher needs to create a strategy model that allows students to be involved in problem solving. peer support and support can help regular students to build and foster good relations with their friends with special needs. on the other hand, students with special needs who are not isolated in the school environment show better progress compared to students with special needs who are isolated and separated in a different space from their regular friends. this allows students with special needs to develop socially, even some of them really make friends. classrooms in which there is diversity are believed to be able to enrich the learning of all students involved. all students learn that everyone has needs and brings strength in every situation. they learn about conflict resolution, and the importance of being responsible (van dyle, 2019). d. promoting inclusive education practices in teaching and learning individual assessment. the implementation of the practice of inclusion begins at the stage of admitting new students in grade 7. the school assesses each student identified with special needs. the assessment process involved several parties: regular teachers, special needs teachers, elementary school special supervisor teachers where abk (children with special need) attend school, parents, and children with special needs. the assessment covers interviews about the history of the child's condition, family environment and previous school environment, including weaknesses, strengths and needs of children, as well as information from special supervisors in primary schools. there are several types of assessment used: (1) academic assessment in the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 20 │ language field (2) academic assessment in the arithmetic field, (3) assessment of gross motor skills (through throwing and jumping), and balance, (4) occupational and speech assessment, behavior and psychological child. the assessment process will produce a pdbk (student’s classifications with special needs) identification report. based on the results of the assessment, the teacher team conducted a ppi (individual learning program) according to the results of the assessment agreed by the parents and the school as a reference for the service & target of the educational outcomes of the remaining special needs in the school within the next year. the information contained in the ppi includes student data, diagnosis results, assessment results, a list of student strengths and needs, a compensatory service program consisting of 3 parts: (1) for communication skills, (2) skills (counting, writing, reading) and (3) self-development program (self-regulation). each program contains details about the learning plan and the target of achieving individual of children with special needs. this ppi preparation process involves special education teachers, psychologists, medical rehab doctors and subject teachers. (the school develops individual learning programs in accordance with the results of the assessment, the learning contract should be agreed by the parents and the school and is used as a reference of student learning targets. it is used as inclusive education outcomes at the school. after conducting an assessment and preparation of ppi, the school will make a list of all 7 (seven) grade gdpks along with their respective photos and determine the placement of the class. this list will be distributed to all teachers teaching in grade 7. thus, each teacher in grade 7 will know information about gdpk in each class. if needed, the teacher team will make modifications to the lesson plans (lesson plans) that have been made. rpp is made on every subject taught in school. with the existence of this inclusive school practice, then in one lesson rpp may have two different learning targets between regular students and abk (students in need) students. modifications to this lesson plan are based on individual learning programs that have been stated in the ppi of each pdbk. according to van dyke (2019) it is very important to provide opportunities for each student to actively participate according to their respective levels and to achieve their individual goals. the curriculum might look overlapping. but displaying different material for the same topic with different reading styles has proven to be very effective. the same curriculum is applied to all students, but differences are considered. so, for students with special needs, the implementation of the assessment will be adjusted to the modified curriculum. the application of class promotion is adjusted to the chronological age for students whose academic abilities are below the average standard. thus, the passing of the graduation exam according to the modification curriculum. in addition, schools also implement learning practices with udl (universal differentiated learning) systems according to curriculum modifications. there are three inclusive school learning models, which are applied namely consultant model, teaming model. co-teaching models. consultant model is an educational service that provides opportunities for children with special needs to learn together with normal children under one roof. to help the difficulties which are experienced by students with special needs, special tutor teachers are provided as consultants for class teachers, principals or pdbk themselves. co-teaching model is a joint learning model to develop learning which is a collaboration of two teachers in a mentoring class where one teacher teaches regular students, while the other teacher accompanies students with special needs in regular classes. the third learning practice is a teaming model where in providing educational services not only relies on subject teachers but the responsibility of a team that collaborates to build children's characters becomes more positive. this model team works together with all teachers, non-teachers and all school stakeholders. according to leskey & waldron (2002) both subject teachers and special tutors must both support and be involved in planning and implementing inclusive schools, because schools require changes in teaching practices in a professional manner from all teachers. the same opinion was announced by van dyke (2019) who revealed that in inclusive classes, subject teachers and special education teachers must be able to work together, collaborate with each other to be able to meet the needs of students in the class. successful collaboration is determined by several things, including (1) honest and open communication, (2) flexibility. teachers who teach in inclusive classes must always be prepared to anticipate, compromise to do international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 21 something different, if needed. (3) sharing responsibilities. because pdbk is part of the general class, the abk teacher in charge will play a role to help pdbk and subject teachers during class. e. building connections between schools and communities effective school principals understand the importance of schools to foster relationships with other organizations and the surrounding community. it aims to position schools to be able to utilize the positive resources offered by other organizations, to protect students (and schools) from negative impacts in the environment, and to provide a variety of services that meet the needs of students and strengthen the communities where they live (englert, 1993 as cited in reihl, 2009). community service with parents, students, teachers & employees. picket parents of students at school to check the needs of their sons and daughters in class. in addition, the principal made an exhibition program the work of parents and school collaboration students. the principal plays an important role in creating and increasing stakeholders 'trust, parents' trust in the school, trust between parents and teachers, including trust that results from interactions between the principal and students can influence children's overall perception of school (shelden, 2010). because this school is a public school, the school has a fairly intense relationship and involvement with government institutions, especially the surabaya city education office. some programs from this inclusive school have the support of the city government both in terms of funding and assistance of special advisors. government initiatives to support secondary public schools in developing inclusive education in surabaya • the government facilitates schools to sign mou on child friendly schools & related institutions. facilitating schools to establish mou child friendly schools and related institutions • the government conducts training for principals, vice principals and bp teachers to train personal sensitivity to the needs of different children. • the government formed a discussion & coordination forum in the form of kkg for sd & mgpk for smp. the establish a discussion and coordination forum. inclusive education teachers ‘forum. • the government appreciates child friendly schools, the formation of peer counselors in schools. child-friendly school appreciation program, student peer counselor program • the government held celebrations, races and a stage of appreciation for the talent of interest for the entire gdpk on international disability day • the government provides and prepares a gpk (special tutor) with a psychologist background with payroll provided by the government. provide teacher’s counselor (community psychologist) to support schools • the government aids in the provision of infrastructure facilities that are accessible to gdpk for schools that provide inclusive education. infrastructure facilities that are accessible to special needs students for all schools that carry out inclusive education • the government provides incentives, encouragement for inclusive schools to conduct budgeting that is more directed at child-friendly service programs in schools. providing incentives for schools implementing inclusive education to develop budgets that are more directed to support child-friendly service programs at schools conclusion with the implementation of the school zoning system in indonesia, schools are required to accept students with diverse backgrounds including accommodating students with special needs and becoming more child-friendly schools. this challenge was positively responded by the principal who appeared from the leadership behavior and a series of strategies carried out which included changing the mindset of all teams and school stakeholders by means of routine coordination meetings, overcoming resistance directly, and incorporating approaches with religious values. along with the process of changing this mindset, the principal invited inclusion education experts and mentors to train teachers and staff as a form of professional development and to upgrade international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 08-24 the principal leadership in developing inclusive education for diverse students shinta setia, pwee leng, yurilla endah muliate, dian ekowati, dwi ratmawati issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 22 │ knowledge and experience knowledge about inclusion. the principal also involves regular students, student council officials by forming an inclusive ambassador, and always includes regular students and students with special needs in the activities simultaneously both inside and outside the classroom. in collaboration with the local education office, the school principal utilizes special education teachers who are the support of the government, to collaborate with bk teachers and subject teachers in assessing students with special needs upon admission of new students; make ppi (individual learning program) for each child with special needs; modifying lesson plans (lesson plans); and according to the need to do a consultant model learning, teaming model co-teaching model. the principal also always involves and establish communication with parents in various activities, as well as collaborating with various parties and successfully obtaining full support from the local government. references anderson, r. e., & dexter, s. 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(1974). the one best system: a history of american urban education. cambridge: harvard university press. yin, robert k. 2011. qualitative research from start to finish. london : the guilford press. zikmund, william g. 2003. business research methods. ohio : thomson learning. van dyke, r.,stalling, m a.,colley. kenna (1995) how to build and inclusive community: a success story.the phi delta kappan vol. 76, no. 6, pp 475-479 this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction microsoft word 12. ijeiece-536.edited by le.docx available online at: https://researchsynergy.org/ijeiece/ international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 2 (2021): 48-56 corresponding author amosunmoses@gmail.com; lawrenceogunniyi@gmail.com; funkeogunbiyi74@yahoo.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i2.536 research synergy foundation attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses1, lawrence ogunniyi2, ogunbiyi funke3 1, 2, 3 university of ibadan, nigeria abstract preschool education provides the foundation for all-around development, enables the child to understand various issues and fit in well into society. although it is the duty of both male and female early childhood educators to help children develop holistically, statistics have shown that more female caregivers work in preschool centers across the country than males. even in some foreign countries, this problem remains the same. however, researchers have tried to identify the cause of this gender inequality or disparity but have only sampled the opinion of others about this without adequately considering the attitude of the male early childhood educators. hence, this study aimed at investigating the attitude of male early childhood educators towards working in preschool centers in ibadan. the study adopted a mixed-method research approach, and the design is an explanatory triangulation of quan + qual type. a proportional stratified sampling technique was used to select 150 in-service and 150 pre-service male early childhood educators from the 3 local government areas selected. one instrument was used to gather the quantitative data. interviews of in-services and pre-service early childhood educators also form a source of qualitative data. the study found out that the attitude of early childhood educators is not encouraging. it also found out that there is no significant difference between in-services and preservice early childhood educators in their attitude towards working in a preschool. it was recommended that investment should be made into early childhood education levels so as to make the salary attractive for most male educators. keywords: attitude, early childhood teachers, working, preschool centers, in-service, pre-service this is an open access article under the cc-by-nc license. introduction early childhood education is referred to as the most important structure on which another level of education should be laid. it is the most rapid period of development in a human’s life and is critical to a child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. according to salami, olaniyan, bankole, & falola (2016), the early years are the most significant period to the formation of intelligence, personality, social and emotional behavior of a child. this level of education comprises crucial programs and activities which are critical to holistic development, academic success, and future achievements of children. it is also recognized by the federal government of nigeria as a foundational and essential program that nigerian children must experience (akinrotimi & olowe, 2016). however, the effort to make early childhood education (ece) effective, functional and appropriate rests on all (salami, 2016). this implies that if early childhood education, especially pre-primary or preschool education, would achieve its set goals towards the overall development of children, it would involve the effort of stakeholders as well as caregivers regardless of their gender. but this has not been the case as there has been gender imbalance in the pre-school teaching profession and feminization of the profession all over the world. (mukuna & motsotso, 2011). in support of this view, the summary of a few selected states within nigeria where the number of female eccde teachers overwhelmingly overshadows their male counterparts in public schools as of 2016 are shown below in table 1.0: international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 48-56 attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses, lawrence ogunniyi, ogunbiyi funke |49 table 1.0: summary eccde teachers in a few selected states within nigeria eccde teachers eccde teachers state male female state male female abia 0 1,860 fct-abuja 35 559 anambra 96 2,169 plateau 640 1,022 edo 98 1,415 ondo 628 1,447 ogun 334 2,729 kwara 256 1,110 oyo 365 2,582 imo 597 3,442 ekiti 599 1,940 cross-river 633 1,664 ebonyi 419 1,132 delta 701 2,938 adamawa 697 1,176 akwa-ibom 446 1,335 enugu 135 763 nasarawa 283 748 source: universal basic education commission (ubec) in national bureau of statistics,(2016) in addition to these facts, reports by the nbs in 2016 also reveal that as at the time of the report, the total number of all-female eccde teachers in nigeria stands at 38,567 while the male eccde population is at a lesser rate of 18,021. this implies that there are more female preschool teachers than male preschool teachers in nigeria. this is in line with sdg goal 5, which advocates gender equality in favor of women. however, this is not the case here, as there seems to be an imbalance because men are not included or emphasized as benefactors of this goal. the implication is that since gender balance among the eccde teaching staff is vital to promoting gender parity and equality in access to and achievements in education if necessary steps are not taking towards addressing the issue, the needed supportive and non-discriminatory learning environment for both boys and girls would not be achieved (nbs, 2016). moreso, this female-based dominance has led to some problems about males’ participation in the field of pre-school education (sumsion, 2000). erden, ozgun & ciftci (2011) were of the opinion that gender imbalance could affect the behavior of children regardless of their gender. male teachers, however, are important and should be supported for three main reasons. first, the absence of fathers in children’s life. in some societies, many children grow up in families with a single parent, usually the mother. there is a growing need for males to take more active roles in children’s lives (cameron 2001; haris & barnes, 2009). second, males could also be positive role models for little ones. male pre-school education teachers can be taken into account as sources of role models, especially for boys (cameron, 2001; martino, 2008; skelton, 2005; sumsion, 1999). male teachers could also be positive role models for healthy gender identity and gender-related issues in societies (cameron, 2001). a male role model is important not only for boys but also for girls. the last point is gender equality. if we could balance the number of male and female teachers, this may help children to develop more positive behaviors inside and outside of class settings (cameron, 2001). there have been many reasons this gender disparity seems to be dragging over the years. one of them is the attitude of people towards eccde, which is that of suspicion with which they are greeted (cooney & bittner, 2001; farquhar, 1997; rodriguez, 1997; sargent, 2002; smedley & pepperell, 2000). also, men who teach young children fear their motives are being misinterpreted, so they find themselves international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 48-56 attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses, lawrence ogunniyi, ogunbiyi funke 50 | constantly monitoring what they say or how they touch children (rodriguez, 1997). the negative perceptions toward men working with young children cause feelings of discomfort, insecurity, helplessness, and anger (cooney & bittner, 2001; farquhar, 1997; sargent, 2002; smedley & pepperell, 2000). although researchers have sampled the perception of parents, societal attitudes (cunningham & watson, 2002; gamble & wilkins, 1997; seifert, 1974), as well as preschool teachers (bracewell, 2016) but most of these studies are foreign studies. more so, it has been established earlier in the discussion that there have been policies, laws as well as sentimental believes in favor of women's role in early childhood education. most researchers do not consider the stigmatization of men working as caregivers or preschool teachers. many of these men have, as a result, formed their own perspectives about the profession leading to the drastic decrease in the population of men in early childhood education. therefore, this study investigated the attitude of male early childhood educators towards working in preschool centers in ibadan metropolis. literature review herzberg’s two-factor theory frederick herzberg’s two-factor theory, also known as motivation and hygiene theory, was propounded in 1959. herzberg identified two sets of factors in determining employees working attitudes as well as the level of performance named (robbins, 2009; teck-hong & amna, 2011). herzberg noted that full supply of hygiene factors would not necessarily result in employees’ job satisfaction, but in order to increase employees’ performance or productivity, motivation factors must be addressed. yusoff, kian & idris (2013) argued that two-factor theory is keenly related to maslow's hierarchy of needs as it introduced more factors to measure how individuals are motivated in their workplace. this is why this theory becomes germane to this study as it investigated the attitude of male early childhood educators towards working in preschool centers. this is because the societal attitude, salary, and even job satisfaction of male caregivers, especially in developing countries such as nigeria, does not give them the necessary boost needed to compete with their peers in another profession. this, in turn, informs male caregivers' attitude and motivation towards working in preschool centers. accordingly, if these factors are checked, the presence of motivators can lead to job satisfaction, a positive attitude towards the work situation, and improved productivity (herzberg, 1966). research questions the following research questions were raised to guide the study. 1. what is the attitude of male early childhood educators towards working in preschool centers in ibadan metropolis? 2. what are the challenges faced by male early childhood educators in working in preschool? hypothesis this hypothesis was being tested at 0.05 level of significance ho1: there is no significant difference between male in-service early childhood educators and preservice early childhood educators in their attitude towards working in preschool centers in ibadan metropolis. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 48-56 attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses, lawrence ogunniyi, ogunbiyi funke |51 research methodology the study adopts an interpretive paradigm with mixed methods research approach in which the design is an explanatory triangulation of quan + qual type. the mixed-methods approach is adopted so as to enable the researcher to access data through diverse means and in various form, which can be used to cross-validate and support one another (ary, jacob, and sorensen, 2010; cresswell, 2012). the explanatory triangulation research design of quan + qual type is described as a design in a mixedmethod approach where both quantitative and qualitative data are collected at the same time and in the almost same volume where findings from the qualitative are used to complement that of quantitative (ary, jacob, and sorensen, 2010). the population of the study comprises all-male early childhood educators in the ibadan metropolis. a simple random sampling technique was used to select 3 local government areas from 5 local government areas available in the ibadan metropolis. a proportional stratified sampling technique was used to select 150 in-service and 150 pre-service male early childhood educators from the 3 local government areas selected. a total sample of 300 male early childhood educators participated in the study. data was collected using a self-designed and validated questionnaire titled ‘male early childhood attitude questionnaire, which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.78 using the cronbach alpha reliability technique. the instrument contains both sections a and b. section a contains demographic information such as educational qualification and level of male early childhood educators. while section b contains 15 items on a 4 likert scale rated; 'strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree' about male early childhood educators' attitude towards working in preschool centers in the ibadan metropolis. key informant interview schedule (kiis) was designed to collect qualitative data. the questionnaires were distributed manually. face-to-face interview with in-services and pre-service male early childhood educators was conducted to collect the qualitative data. the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency count, percentage, mean and standard deviation, as well as inferential statistics of t-test. a thematic approach was used to analyze the qualitative data result and discussion research question 1: what is the attitude of male early childhood educators towards working in preschool centres in ibadan metropolis? table 2.0: showing the attitude of male early childhood educators towards working in preschool centers s/n items sa a d s d mean std.d 1 working in preschool centers is not a man’s job 100 (33) 106 (35) 72 (24) 22 (8) 2.946 0.93 2 i feel working in preschool suits females more than men 161 (54) 109 (36) 21 (7) 9 (3) 3.406 0.75 3 working in preschool would make me feel belittled and unfulfilled 38 (13) 114 (38) 108 (36) 40 (13) 2.500 0.88 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 48-56 attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses, lawrence ogunniyi, ogunbiyi funke 52 | note: percentages are in parentheses. key: sa is strongly agree; a is agree; d is disagree; sd is strongly disagree table 2.0 shows the attitude of male early childhood educators towards working in preschool centers in ibadan metropolis. analysis shows that the attitude of both in-service and pre-service male early childhood teachers was negative as they all felt that; working in preschool centers is not a man’s job (𝑋 # = 2.95), they feel working in preschool suits females more than men (𝑋 # = 3.41), working in preschool would make them feel belittled and unfulfilled (𝑋 # = 2.50), they feel the salary may not be enough to cater for their family, so they wouldn’t really want to work in preschool (𝑋 # = 3.03), they believe that female early childhood educators work better with children, so they feel that they do not really fit well in preschool class (𝑋 # = 3.29), my friends from other profession do not esteem someone especially male working in preschool (𝑋 # = 3.08), working in preschool is not easy for them because, some parents feel they cannot trust a male teacher with their children, especially female children (𝑋 # = 3.06), however, they also feel that working in preschool is a well-respected career (𝑋 # = 2.53). this supports the findings of wardle (2003) that males usually avoid a teaching job because of low salary, status, prejudice against male teachers, isolation (cooney & bitter, 2001; wardle, 2003), and negative appreciation (wardle, 2003). 4 i love early childhood education and would love to work in preschool. 30 (10) 56 (19) 171 (57) 43 (14) 2.243 0.82 5 i feel the salary may not be enough to cater to my family, so i wouldn't really want to work in preschool 101 (34) 134 (45) 39 (13) 26 (8) 3.033 0.90 6 i have passion for the job, so salary does not matter 33 (11) 31 (10) 137 (46) 99 (33) 1.993 0.94 7 working in preschool is a wellrespected career. 36 (12) 122 (41) 108 (36) 34 (11) 2.533 0.85 8 i believe that female early childhood educators work better with children, so i do not really fit well in a preschool class 136 (45) 118 (39) 42 (14) 4 (2) 3.286 0.75 9 my friends from other profession do not esteem someone especially male working in preschool 97 (32) 144 (48) 45 (15) 14 (8) 3.080 0.81 10 working in preschool is not easy for me because, some parents feel they cannot trust a male teacher with their children, especially female children 134 (45) 74 (25) 67 (22) 25 (8) 3.056 1.00 weighted average= 2.808 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 48-56 attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses, lawrence ogunniyi, ogunbiyi funke |53 the qualitative data collected do not support the findings from the quantitative analysis. when mr. x, who is an in-service eccde teacher, was asked if he likes to work in a preschool center, his response was affirmative. he further supported his claim by saying: “i like working in preschool as a preschool teacher, although being a preschool teacher is a female job, but i do not feel dignified working there as a man. another thing is that most schools feel men are not capable so the job is naturally given to women instead.” he also stated that many parents are often paranoid when they see a male eccde teacher who happens to be their female children’s class teacher. he concluded that if he finds an opportunity to work in another level, especially primary, or secondary he would happily seize the opportunity. this supports the findings of erden, ozgun & ciftci, (2011) that pre-school teaching is traditionally considered to be a female occupation, and society, in general, is biased against males entering pre-school settings as teachers. mr. y, who is a pre-service early childhood educator in one of the local governments of the study, affirmed that he wouldn't like to work in any preschool because the salary scale in private schools is very meager. although he would have loved to work in public preschool centers, employment opportunity there is not readily available. this also support these findings that males have generally avoided careers in early childhood education because of low status (fagan, 1996) and salaries (cooney & bittner, 2001; fagan, 1996) research question 2: what are the challenges faced by male early childhood educators in working in pre school to answer this research question, qualitative data gathered through interviews will be used. according to the respondents, the challenges faced by male early childhood educators in working in pre school are listed below. the following challenges were identified as critical to male early childhood educators in working in pre school: a. parents attitudes, especially mothers, towards male early childhood educators working in preschool b. low salary, especially in private preschool centers c. men's inability to work with children as female eccde teachers do d. discouragement from the members of the society these findings support the findings of ferguson, (2005), who stated that experiences, attitudes related to salary, status, working in a predominantly female environment, and physical contact with children are often the four factors contributing to the decline in the percentage of male early childhood educators in working in a preschool. mukuna & mutsotso, (2011) also highlighted problems that are in support of the findings being discussed. these are; low salaries, stereotyping, low respectability, fear of being accused of abuse, low status of the profession. hypothesis ho1: there is no significant difference between male in-service early childhood educators and pre-service early childhood educators in their attitude towards working in preschool centers in ibadan metropolis. table 4.0: showing t-test analysis of the difference between male in-service early childhood educators and male pre-service early childhood educators in their attitude towards working in preschool centers international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 48-56 attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses, lawrence ogunniyi, ogunbiyi funke 54 | variable n mean std.d t df sig. remark the attitude of male early childhood educators in-service pre-service 150 150 28.59 27.57 2.871 4.256 2.449 298 0.003 significant table 4.0 shows that there is a significant difference between male in-service early childhood educators and male pre-service early childhood educators in their attitude towards working in preschool centers in ibadan metropolis (t = 2.45; df = 298; p<0.05). therefore, hypothesis 1 is rejected. this implies that there is a significant difference between male in-service early childhood educators and male pre-service early childhood educators in their attitude towards working in preschool centers in ibadan metropolis. this may be so because the qualitative data also supported this fact. in-service male early childhood educators were asked if they like to work in a preschool center; their response was affirmative. one of them claimed by saying: “i like working in preschool as a preschool teacher, although being a preschool teacher is a female job, but i do not feel dignified working there as a man.” most of them prefer to work in preschool and claim that they love working in preschool but may not be entirely happy doing so because they complain about the attitude of people towards them. pre-service male early childhood educators, on the other hand, think otherwise. most of them felt that working in preschool deflates their ego as their friends from other professions do not respect them enough. one of the pre-service male early childhood educators said: "i do not like working in preschool because the salary is meagre." this shows that the attitudes of both pre-service male early childhood educators and in-service male early childhood educators are different. while one believes that they like working in preschool, others do not. conclusion this study investigated the attitude of male early childhood educators towards working in preschool centers in ibadan. the study found out that most of the attitudes of both pre-service male early childhood educators and in-service male early childhood educators are different. while one believes that they like working in preschool, others do not. this shows that there is a need to improve the rate at which men are involved in preschool education because their involvement has proven to be very important to children’s holistic development. recommendations in relation to the findings, it was recommended that; 1. in-service early childhood educators should be paid equivalent salaries with others in other fields, such as banking, medicine, and so on 2. schools should employ more male eccde teachers 3. men should be encouraged to study early childhood education for the purpose of practice at the preschool level. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 48-56 attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses, lawrence ogunniyi, ogunbiyi funke |55 4. parents should be informed on the importance of men at the preschool level. references akinrotimi, a.a and olowe, p.k (2016). challenges in implementation of early childhood education in nigeria: the way forward. journal of education and practice, vol. 7(7) pp. 33-38 ary donald, jacobs l.c., and sorensen c. 2010.introduction to research in education. usa: wadsworth cengage learning. bracewell, j .m. 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(2016), nigerian early childhood education policies and practices for sustainability. european journal of research and reflection in educational sciences vol. 4(5) pp. 71-81 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 48-56 attitude of male inservice and preservice early childhood teachers towards working in preschool centers in ibadan, nigeria amosun moses, lawrence ogunniyi, ogunbiyi funke 56 | salami, i.a., olaniyan a.o., bankole o.t. and falola, o.i. (2016). preschool education practices in nigeria: what obtains in public and private schools in ibadan metropolis: revitalisation of nigerian educational system for relevance and development, m.k. akinsola, o.a. moronkola, j.a ademokoya, i.a salami (eds.) faculty of education, university of ibadan: pp. 431450 sargent, p. (2002). under the glass: conversations with men in early childhood education. young children, 57(1), pp. 22-30. seifert, k. (1974). perceptions of men in early childhood education. eric document no. 125756. skelton, c. (2005). male primary teachers and perceptions of masculinity. educational review, 55(2), pp. 195-209. smedley, s. and pepperell, s. (2000). no man’s land: caring and male student primary teachers. teachers & teaching, 6(3), pp. 259-277. retrieved from academic search elite database. sumsion, j. (1999) a neophyte early childhood teacher’s developing relationships with parents: an ecological perspective. early childhood research and practice, retrieved from hyperlink http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v1n1/sumsion.html on 06.12.2010. teck-hong, t., & waheed, a. (2011). herzberg’s motivation-hygiene and job satisfaction in the malaysian retail sector: mediating effect of love of money. asian academy of management journal. vol. 16(1): 73-94 wardle f (2003). introduction to early childhood education: a multidimensional approach to childcentered care and learning. boston, ma: allyn and bacon. yusoff, w,f., kian, t.s., & idris, m,t,(2013). herzberg’s two factors theory on work motivation: does its work for today’s environment? global journal of commerce and management perspective. vol.2 (5):18-22 article 04-35_layout international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 108-116 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.35 i ssn 2 6 5 59 9 86 (pr int), i ssn 2 6 8 54 0 74 (o nline) doi: 10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.35 article history: received may 31st, 2019 ; accepted november 11th, 2019; published november 30th, 2019 swami vivekananda’s introspection on education: a study based on 24 parganas(s), west bengal, india subhadeep dutta b.com (cu) and ca (icai) student, wb, india subhadutta855@gmail.com abstract education is part and parcel of our life we cannot live without education so education is called the backbone-mirror of our society. human-being is superior to other animals, animals can be trained but human-beings can be educated. education is a dynamic process that starts from birth and continues until death. education has two major parts first one is social education and the second one is formal education both are the dependent variable with each other. this project mainly deals with formal education, the study analysis of different aspects which will affect our education system in south 24 parganas district. the research design undertaken for the study was descriptive research and the convenience sampling method is used and the sample size consists of 200 respondents. only a simple percentage analysis method used to analyze collected data and results of the study shows that education system has both positivenegative impacts on teachers, students and guardians' satisfaction. keywords: education; cbcs; rural higher-education; swami vivekananda’s; teachers’ and students’ philosophy. this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction we all know human beings-youths-childrenstudents are assets for every nation in particular and the world in general. beforehand, many educationalists compare children with soil-flowersseeds-ornament. therefore as teacher-professoreducationalist-guide-trainer, we have had responsible to build nation healthfully through its lengthy-hardy process. in this process, education plays a major role in making democracy more meaningful-relevant and to build-up or develop the socio-economic nation. i think that, having many similarities between the educations and manufacturing sector-industry.in the present era, education is a good business sector and it becomes a manufacturing industry where teacher-professoreducationalist-guide-traineris manufacturer and student-trainees raw materials similarly, after the process we get both finished goods like-regularentered-social students and un-finished goods likeunsocial dropout students. however, highereducation sector has witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of universities level institutions and colleges since independence. the quantum growth in the higher education sector is spearheaded by universities, which are the highest seats of learning. in india, ‘university’ means a university established or incorporated by or under a central act or provincial act or state act and includes any such institution as may, in consultation subhadeep dutta / swami vivekananda’s introspection on education... 109 with the university concerned, be recognized by the university grants commission (ugc) in accordance with the regulations made in this regard under the ugc act, 1956. every year, millions of students from within the country and abroad, enter these portals mainly for their graduate, post-graduate studies while millions leave these portals for the world outside. figure 1: indian education system theoretical perspectives concept of education education is the process of facilitating learning or acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. educational methods include storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and directed research. in most regions, education is compulsory up to a certain age. in english ‘education’ came from four latin words. one is ‘educare’ i.e., to bring up; the second is ‘educatum’ i.e.,to teach or to act of teaching; third is ‘educere’ i.e., to draw out; and fourth is ‘educo’ i.e., to reduce or to develop within. in the indian context,‘education’ is related to ‘siksha-vidya’, which means administrate, control and enfetter. according to swami vivekananda education is a continuous process; it should cover all aspects of life physical, material, intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual. his attitude towards modernization is that the masses should be educated before anything else is done. he wanted to remove from india four major evils likely priestcraft; poverty; ignorance; and the tyranny of the wise. he tried to make the people of india understood that political and social strength should have their foundations on cultural strength. he has a true vision of the philosophy of education in india in its cultural context. concept of cbcs ministry of human resource development (hrd), govt. of india, has already initiated the process for developing new education policy (nep) in our country to bring out reforms in the indian education system. ugc participates more actively in developing national education policy, its execution and promotion of higher education in our country. the ugc has already initiated several steps to bring equity, efficiency and academic excellence in national higher-education system. the important ones include innovation and improvement in course curricula, the introduction of a paradigm shift in learning and teaching pedagogy, examination and education system. the cbcs provides an opportunity • nursery (lkg & ukg)step i • primary (class 1 to 5)step ii • secondary (class 6 to 10)step iii • higher secondary (class 11 & 12)step iv • graduation (degree or professional course)step v • post graduation (master or professional course)step vi international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 108-116 110 for the students to choose courses from the prescribed courses comprising a core, elective/minor or skill-based courses. the courses can be evaluated following the grading system, which is considered to be better than the conventional marks system. therefore, it is necessary to introduce a uniform grading system in the entire highereducation in india. this will benefit the students to move across institutions within india to begin with and across countries. the uniform grading system will also enable potential employers in assessing the performance of the candidates. in order to bring uniformity in the evaluation system and computation of the cumulative grade point average (cgpa) based on student performance in examinations, the ugc has formulated the guidelines to be followed. these guidelines shall apply to all undergraduate and postgraduate level degree, diploma and certificate programs under the credit system awarded by the central, state and deemed to be universities in india. research methods research design according to agburu, 2007, survey is an investigation conducted over a large area to find-out what problem exists as at the time of research in a given area. the survey research design was considered appropriate since data would be collected from elements or subjects without imposing any condition or treatment on them. therefore, the research can only describe, explain and/or predict events without interfering in their functioning. the adoption of this research design allows for the use of questionnaires by the researcher as a data collection instrument and it is cost-effective. the study seeks to analyze all aspects which will affect our education system in rural west bengal for higher-education. a simple random sampling technique has been used for the selection of higher education institutions. the area of study is limited in south 24 parganas district of west bengal and the district divided the whole district into five sub-divisions namely alipur-sadar, diamond harbour, kakdwip, baruipur, and canning. as this district is very large, so, few gram-panchayats have been considered from only two sub-divisions. those gram-panchayats are maheshtala, budge-budge, nodakhali, gobindapur, burul, uttar roypur, chandua, alampur, poali, rania, hauri, etc. from alipur-sadar sub-division and vadura, fatehpur, bot-tala, patol, devipur, doulatpur, folta, horindanga, kodalia, rajarampur, etc from diamond harbour subdivision. within this area, few higher-education institutes were selected randomly. table 2: sub-divisions, blocks, and municipalities south 24 parganas district diamond harbour sub-division baruipur subdivision kakdwip subdivision alipore-sadar subdivision canning subdivision block (09) municipali ty block (07) municipali ty block (04) block (05) municipali ty block (04) subhadeep dutta / swami vivekananda’s introspection on education... 111 (01) (03) (03) diamond harbour 1 diamond harbour bhangar 1 baruipur kakdwip bishnupur 1 maheshtala basant i diamond harbour 2 bhangar 2 rajpursonarpur namkhana bishnupur 2 budge budge canni ng 1 folta jaynagar 1 joynagarmazilpur pathar pratima budge budge 1 pujali canni ng 2 kulpi jaynagar 2 sagar budge budge 2 gosab a mograhat 1 kultoli thakurpuku rmaheshtala mograhat 2 sonarpur mandirabaz ar baruipur mathurapur 1 mathurapur 2 sampling technique this is a procedure whereby the study population is divided into strata and sample is randomly drawn according to percentage or proportion of subjects in each stratum (alamu & olukosi, 2008). the population was divided into four settlements to ensure representatives of the various settlements in makurdi. thereafter, the various settlements were randomly sampled. the settlements are wurukum, wadata, high level and north bank. the strata (settlements) were presumed to be of roughly equal sizes and there is no additional information regarding the variability or distinctions of responses in the strata. research instrument in order to elicit information about the particular study in rural west bengal for education, the researcher structured questionnaire and personal interview. the structured questionnaire was targeted at the teachers, students and guardians. the questionnaire consists of a list of questions relating to the aim and specific objectives of the study and the hypotheses to be verified (alamu & olukosi, 2008). the interview method on the other hand involves asking questions verbally and receiving verbal answers from the respondent. the researcher recorded the verbal answers and asked for additional clarification where necessary. administration of research instrument the questionnaire was personally administrated by the researcher. this method, through time consuming and laborious was adopted to ensure accuracy and reduce refusal, non-responsive or incomplete responses. methods used the present study is based on primary and secondary collected from the published reports of newspapers, journals, websites, review of past international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 108-116 112 researches and other reports etc… in my study, i have combined three techniques those are the interview method, questionnaire method and literature review method. my investigation for the purpose of the present study is likely to be directed towards collecting necessary data through face to face interview of the teachers, students and guardians. therefore, the interview method has been adopted to collect necessary information relating to socio-economic conditions, problems faced by the respondents, factors responsible for the success or failure of higher-education. in research, the population refers to a well-defined collection of individuals or objects with similar characteristics or traits (alamu & olukosi, 2008). a population can be finite or infinite. a population is said to be finite if it is possible to count its individuals. angahar & akpa, 1999, defined sample as a limited number of elements selected from a population that is representative of the whole of that population. the sample must have sufficient size to warrant statistical analysis. accordingly, i have taken interview of 100 rural teachers and 100 rural students and guardians who are engaged in different types of higher-educational activities in the districts of south 24 parganas of west bengal. validation and reliability of research instrument baridam, 2011, defined validity as the extent to which a test measures what it is expected to measure. the project supervisor made necessary corrections to the questionnaire to ensure the validity of the research instrument. reliability refers to the degree to which a research instrument produces a stable and consistent results (phelan & wren, 2006). the reliability of the instrument was achieved by pilot testing. the result showed that the instrument was reliable for the research. sampling design avwokeni, 2004, defined sample size is the total number of subjects or individual elements chosen from the population under study. rural higher-education that is the main source of primary data is collected from the teachers, students, and guardians through a well-structured questionnaire. as the area of study is limited in south 24 parganas district of west bengal, i selected 10 gram panchayats in alipore sadar sub-divisions of west bengal, due to paucity of time. i have selected 20 rural teachers, students and guardians from each gram panchayats by systematic random sampling procedure in order to avoid any bias in our sample selection process. thus altogether 100 rural teachers and 100 rural students and guardians have been interviewed with the help of a structured questionnaire. tools for analysis the only a simple percentage analysis method is used for simplification of the analysis. the primary data collected from the field are analyzed with the help of simple statistical diagram. results and discussion this chapter deals with the analysis and interpretation of the data collected in the field. in order to achieve the objectives of this research work, a total of 300 copies of questionnaire were administered to respondents. however, 258 subhadeep dutta / swami vivekananda’s introspection on education... 113 respondents were returned their questionnaire, while 58 questionnaires were either defaced or improper filled and were therefore discarded leaving a total 200 properly filled questionnaires. data presentation and analysis the data collected from the field through the use of structured questionnaire. analysis of data is a process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming and modeling data with the goal of highlighting useful information, suggesting conclusions and supporting decision making. i inspected the data and corrected if any error besides quality check on the collected data. whole data was thoroughly studied keeping the objectives of research in memory. it has been analyzed that the extreme observations if they were disturbing the distribution. i was very much interested to find-out the percentages between different groups and for that purpose average percentage is calculated on the basis of collected response sheet information by using the percentage formula with a particular item. purely based on the data collection from the respondents and after applying statistical technique following result was found on the attendance. yes percent for particular item = sum of yes response/total response of a particular item × 100 no percent for particular item = sum of no response/total response of a particular item × 100 research question 1: different government schemes to encourage higher-education yes no teacher 62% 38% student & guardian 54% 46% from the above table it has been seen that to encourage poor students in higher-education through different government facilities has a great influence. 62percent teacher respondents believed that through schemes-facilities students will be motivated and they will come to different colleges and universities for higher-education and rest teachers have given answer ‘no’. out of students and guardians, 54percent answered to support the statement and balance not supported. research question 2: increase in the enrolment ratio of higher-education and reduce the drop-out ratio yes no teacher 73% 27% student & guardian 65% 35% from the above table it has been seen that government policies has a great role to increase the enrolment ratio and to reduce the dropout ratio. 73 percent teachers believed that facilities had been resulting effectively in while 27 percent believed that no change had taken in said ratios by the said international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 108-116 114 scheme. in the same way 65 percent students and guardians believed that schemes had improved the said situations and 35 percent did not believe on that. research question 3: government schemes influencing empowerment yes no teacher 80% 20% student & guardian 68% 32% most of the respondents agreed that policies have a great influence in empowering. 80 percent teachers and 68percent students and guardians believed that and balance did not believe that schemes can influence empowerment. this may be one of the important parameter of social empowerment. research question 4: role of schemes in elimination of discrimination i.e., gender equality yes no teacher 75% 25% student & guardian 60% 40% from the above table it has been seen that government policies has an effect to bring gender equality and larger section of respondents agreed that. all students are having their facilities irrespective of their sex and this is very common picture in maximum institutions-organisations. at least in this case there is no significant discrimination. research question 5: caste reservation is necessitates in higher-education yes no teacher 51% 49% student & guardian 55% 45% almost 50 percent of the all type of respondents agreed that caste reservation ensuring the sc/st/obc students to grow their interestenrollment in higher-education and balance 50percent did not agree in this issue. obviously i would mention that it depends on the basis of nature and location of area of organisations-institutions. research question 6: financialeconomical reservation is necessitated in higher-education yes no teacher 52% 48% student & guardian 54% 46% almost 50 percent of all types of respondents agreed that financial reservations ensuring those students who are economical disable/back-warded to grow their interest-enrollment in higher-education and balance 50percent did not agree on this issue. obviously i would mention that it depends on the basis of nature and location of area of organisations-institutions. conclusion it may be concluded that on the basis of above criteria the effectiveness is gradually increasing in subhadeep dutta / swami vivekananda’s introspection on education... 115 overall development of higher-education of our state and different schemesare very important in educational reform. still our government is facing some problems related to policies but that should be resolved and organized shortly, i hope. it can be said that different schemes-policies-facilities though has been implemented but is not being monitored properly. the schemeshave given one way provision i.e., throughfeedback form, from students and parents should be taken regularly. in this study only few institutions of a particular district have been considered so, it is not possible to get the whole picture of the state in this regard, i think this is one of the important limitations. to remove the above limitation further study may be done by considering larger sample size. however, institutions of higher learning ought to be a major force in society not only for producing leaders in science and technology, but also for downstream channeling of progressive social, moral and political values while keeping in perspective temporal realities and spatial constraints. higher-education reform efforts aim at independent, strong and objective analysis of ground reality. the central objective of the 12th plan is now focused on expansion of enrolment in highereducation with inclusiveness, quality and relevant education and supported by necessary academic reforms in the university and college system in india. it is equally necessary that individual state and central government also take similar initiative in their respective state plan and develop policies to address the above issues at war footing. the statics of growth in institutional capacity do not capture the twin problem of quality and employability. in order to transform itself from developing to developed indian educational system needs to employ qualitative faculty and bring about major reforms that include social justice, competence academic freedom, autonomy versus accountability and decentralization versus centralization. students and families are increasingly seeking education which may improve their prospects of employability and upward mobility. institutions and policy-makers need to listen to the qualitative dimension of the demand and adapt to it to remain relevant, competitive and sustainability through field survey. again i say that it is a manufacturing business. references ‘higher-education in india: the need for change’, icrier workingpaper, indian council for research on international economic relations: no. 180, agarwal, p. (2006) ‘educational philosophy of swami vivekananda’, s.v. bharathi, discovery publishing house, 01-jan2010 report of the working group on higher-education for the xii five year plan, goi, hrd, department of higher-education, september, 2011 ‘more students opt for higher-education, but even more drop out: survey’, varma, subodh, (2013), the economic times – education, august, 31st international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 108-116 116 ‘higher-education in rural areas – problems and prospects – a special reference to india’, bhushan, govind n, (2014) multidisciplinary scientific review, vol. 1 all india survey on higher-education 2017-18, goi, ministry of hrd, department of highereducation, 2018 http://mhrd.gov.in http://www.ugc.ac.in http://icssr.org www.rural.nic.in microsoft word 11. ijeiece-717-article text-3433-1-15-20211120.edited by le.docx available online at: https://researchsynergy.org/ijeiece/ international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 2 (2021): 42-47 corresponding author evrillia.silvia.ningrum-2020@pasca.unair.ac.id; suryanto@psikologi.unair.ac.id doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i2.717 research synergy foundation the development of kindergarten teacher’s personality through knowledge sharing during the covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative perspective evrilia silvia ningrum1, suryanto2 1, 2 human resources development, universitas airlangga, indonesia abstract covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted education and occurred in early childhood education, where the learning process is conducted online. changes in the learning process that suddenly happened makes teachers don't have readiness to change even a teacher who holds an essential role in education is required to have the readiness to face change. hence, the teacher must have personality competence to support the learning process's success. this study discusses kindergarten teachers' personality development through knowledge sharing in dealing with the learning process's changes during the covid-19 pandemic. the methodology in this study used a qualitative approach with case study type and descriptive data analysis technique. the data were collected through the deep interview method, and the informants were the principal and four teachers of kartini amadanom kindergarten. the result of this study indicated that knowledge sharing made a positive contribution to teacher’s personality development endeavors. in other words, if knowledge sharing with teachers is conducted well, the teacher’s personality development endeavor well. this study has limitations, such as the fact that the research scope is limited to one school. in further research, researchers can discover further a teacher’s personality development through knowledge sharing by comparing to data from other schools and adding it as another method to accelerate the development of teachers’ personalities. this study gives an alternative solution to develop the teacher’s personality to confront online learning as an effect of the covid-19 pandemic. the result of knowledge sharing aims to arrange the process of online learning. keywords: personality development, knowledge sharing, covid-19 this is an open access article under the cc-by-nc license. introduction the covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on every sector. one of them is the educational sector. teachers, students, and parents are all feeling the brunt of the covid-19 pandemic's impact on the educational sector. that occurred due to the rapidly increasing positive cases of covid-19, and when all schools, whether university or kindergarten, were closed, offline learning was transformed into online learning. this is consistent with a circular letter published by the ministry of education and culture, a circular letter number 15 in 2020 about a guiding arrangement of study at home in the spread of covid-19's emergency time. a circular letter strengthens the ministry of education and culture's circular letter number 14 in 2020 about the implementation of education in the coronavirus disease (covid-19) emergency time. the indonesian republic's ministry of education and culture (2020) stated that the purpose of online learning was to ensure the fulfillment of children's right to an education during the covid-19 pandemic, including to protect citizens of the educational unit from the pandemic's negative effects, prevent the spread and transmission of covid-19 within the educational unit, and make sure the fulfillment of psychosocial supports by teachers, students, and parents or guardian. due to the existence of government regulations, the learning process must be conducted virtually. this is not an easy task for all students, and it requires collaboration between teachers and parents in guiding students, particularly those in kindergarten. various obstacles appeared from the parents who lack understanding of the school’s material because of the previous background, the lack of understanding of technology, even the extremely increased monthly expenses because they must buy the internet quotas and also pay the school fees (sudrajat, 2020). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 42-47 the development of kindergarten teacher’s personality through knowledge sharing during the covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative perspective evrilia silvia ningrum, suryanto 43 | teachers must prepare to deal with the transformation of the learning process into online learning. according to korth et al. (2009), a teacher who has a learning preparation in every condition will increase a teacher’s quality. the teacher’s preparation will support the success of the learning process. the implementation of learning process activities from a kindergarten is a challenge for teachers because early childhood education is an important factor for aspects of child development to develop optimally in taking the next level of education (astuti et al., 2021). in the process of learning activities from home, always using technology. teachers as educators are required to be able to provide or use various activities that are tailored to the age and development of children. however, because learning from home is a new thing, there are problems that are arisen, namely mastery of learning platforms, classroom management skills, and communication, it is necessary to improve the personality of the teacher, including knowledge and skills. attitudes, and also the principles about other people. regarding that fact, teachers must have a personal competition to support the success of this learning process. in order to maintain the learning process optimally and keep the students understanding well, the teachers need to have adequate skill and ability to use learning tools, learning materials, communication skills, and innovative thinking to deliver the material virtually. one of the efforts to develop a teacher's personality is through knowledge sharing. knowledge sharing among colleagues is very important for an educational institution, whereas the result of this activity can create, distribute, and apply knowledge in this organization (wati & zakaria, 2018). this inscription will discuss the development of a teacher's personality through knowledge sharing to confront the transmission of the learning process as an effect of the covid-19 pandemic. literature review personality theory theoretically, there are several terms that were used to explain personality; they are (1) mentality, which is connected with mental activities, (2) personality, which is the totality of personal character, (3) individuality which means a special characteristic of someone, (4) identify which means a self-characteristic as a whole of self-defense characteristics toward something from the outside (jalaludin, 1996). the word "personality" is from another language which means a person who became one term referring to a special social description which an individual receives from a group or its citizen, and with the hope that every person can act related to the role (social description) that they received (koeswara, 1991). humanistic personality introduced by abraham maslow is in the form of human's description as a free and a dignified creature, and they always move to the revelation of several potencies that they have when the environment has the possibility (koeswara, 1991). oemar hamalik (1992) stated that the teacher's personality has a direct influence and cumulative toward a student's life and learning habits. these personalities such as knowledge, skill, attitude, and also their principles about another human. several trials and observation results strengthen the facts that many lessons that learned by students from their teachers. students absorb the belief, imitate the behavior, and cite the questions. experience shows that problems, such as motivation, discipline, social behavior, achievement, and a continuous study's desire are sourced from the teacher's personality. a teacher must have four main competencies related to the arrangement of the ministry of national education of indonesian republic number 16 in 2007 about academical qualification’s standard and teacher’s competency, which are (1) pedagogic competency, (2) personality competency, (3) social competency, and (4) professional competency. knowledge sharing knowledge sharing is a place for how a person, group, and organization have communicated and learned with each other (jiang & li). knowledge sharing can increase the organization's performance, competitive supremacy, organization's learning, innovation, and survival of the organization. an organization that has been rated superior and competitive is an organization that has an ability to exploit human resources' knowledge, then it merges into the organization's international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 42-47 the development of kindergarten teacher’s personality through knowledge sharing during the covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative perspective evrilia silvia ningrum, suryanto 44 | knowledge, and it aims to gain supremacy and competitiveness (suharti et al., 2009). widuri (2018) also explained the benefits of knowledge sharing, which are: 1) building up the trust trust is a basic culture for sharing. the trust is shaped through interaction and association, which are informal between personnel, and the consistent action between what is spoken and what is done. 2) building up the openness openness is related to culture and personality. the new method of searching for an idea and concept uses an interactive knowledge cafe. this method built an enjoyable and informal atmosphere as an atmosphere in a cafe. this method also emphasized various ideas by dividing participants into small groups. 3) giving a chance to study and access a knowledge one of the benefits of knowledge sharing is giving a chance for all people to access knowledge, giving the same chance for an organization's members to access knowledge and learn it. thus, knowledge is not only owned individually but also can be shared with other friends. 4) expediting work or problem accomplishments through knowledge sharing activities, it helps an individual in an organization accomplish a problem and expedite a work accomplishment. work is not delayed because one of the individuals does not have special knowledge, or it becomes a person's justification to not accomplish the work. thus, the work will be done easier, and the problem can be minimized, so the work is more effective and efficient. 5) increasing professional and an organizational competitiveness to increase an organization's competition, it needs knowledge management and skill management related to an individual and organization's competency. research method this research used a qualitative approach with case study type. the qualitative method is a research procedure that results in descriptive data in the shape of written form about people, words, or visible behavior (moleong, 2005). the case study approach in this research is used to study more and detail into context study because the focus of research lies in phenomena. in this research, the phenomenon under study is knowledge-sharing activities among teachers at kartini amadanom kindergarten. data are submitted through observation and interview, which means they were obtained directly from a research subject. informants in this research are four teachers and the head of the school in kartini amadanom kindergarten. the technique of data analysis employed descriptive analysis, which means a method to describe and analyze an object's condition. this technique of data analysis described and interpreted data that has happened when doing research and gave the real data (subana, 2009). the data analysis starts from data collection, data reduction, and drawing conclusions as research findings. result and discussion in the interview results, there are several obstacles that are faced by teachers when doing an online learning process. firstly, the control of technology is a critical thing in online learning. unfortunately, not all teachers have complete control over technology. the same condition happened with the students’ parents. not all parents have a smartphone and do not have control yet over technology. the second obstacle is lack of classroom and communication management skills. prior to the pandemic, a teacher could manage the class freely and express directly. the controlling class is managed by the teacher, which allows for direct observation of the student. in online learning, a teacher's ability to think innovatively and creatively is required in order to alter the learning process as well. on the other hand, there was an obstacle such as the teacher being unable to control the student's learning process because several students' parents were unable to accompany their children and were required to work, and thus this student did not maximize his or her learning process. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 42-47 the development of kindergarten teacher’s personality through knowledge sharing during the covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative perspective evrilia silvia ningrum, suryanto 45 | a teacher’s personality competence in covid-19 pandemic era in the pandemic era, it is necessary to empower teachers in order for them to be able to create the conditions necessary for successful learning. as stated by mitchell steward, empowerment is possible for organizations to achieve customer and market demand fast, flexible, and efficiently (sudrajat, 2020). this means a school's organization. the school needs to exercise or give a direction to the teacher about the development of the teacher's personality competence in order to have these several personalities: 1) a skill to think innovatively innovative thinking is a process done by an individual because the creation can take advantage of the organization where the individual worked (scott & bruce, 1994). in the pandemic era, a teacher must have an innovative personality in order to create an ideal online learning process. the composition of daily learning plans must be suitable for the situation nowadays. the evaluation of students' activity must be changed into the photo or video of students' documentation and the parents' report about students to the class teachers. the learning innovation can also be done by making learning through tutorial videos created by the teacher, which students will do later. according to sukardi & rozi (2019), the learning can be done virtually through tutorial videos which can be accessed through social media. a tutorial video aims for students to still see the teacher teaching. a tutorial video must satisfy the criteria of being interesting, short, and informative content, so students are more eager to study. 2) communication skills online learning demands the teacher to be more communicative towards his/her students. this online learning requires collaboration between teachers and parents, with parents having a core role. a teacher must be able to give direction and guidance to the parents about the student’s learning process at home. communication between teachers, students, and parents can be done via whatsapp group as a communication place in doing online learning. as stated by almarzooq et al. (2020), in the covid-19 pandemic, online learning can be done innovatively by using an improved program with the new technology, such as zoom or in the smartphone’s application, whatsapp. through whatsapp, a learning process can be more effective due to the existence of interaction and feedback between teachers and students. thus, it is important for the teacher to have effective communication skills for the learning process to run effectively and according to the students' needs. process of knowledge sharing the activity of knowledge sharing is a concept that describes the condition of interaction between that aims to increase and self-development of each member. for example, someone conveys their ideas to scientific discussion activities in class, and on the other hand, people listen carefully, accept people's ideas which are then stored in the memory as a result of learning. every member in the discussion forum can give each other and receive information and knowledge from other members. knowledge sharing process in the kartini amadanom kindergarten: 1) knowledge sharing program 2) teachers needed 3) determine the topic 4) determine the speaker 5) determine the place and time 6) implementation 7) evaluation and report knowledge sharing activities are basically caused by the needs of an organization that continuously wants to progress, develop, and improve the abilities of its member. with knowledge-sharing international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 42-47 the development of kindergarten teacher’s personality through knowledge sharing during the covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative perspective evrilia silvia ningrum, suryanto 46 | activities, new knowledge will grow and result from the combination of existing knowledge. therefore, knowledge-sharing activities play a role in covering the shortcomings of each teacher. the process of implementing sharing knowledge activities in kartini amadanom kindergarten can be divided into two categories, namely formal and non-formal activities. in formal activities, teachers will transfer their knowledge in an event with discussion topics that have been adapted to existing needs. as a result of this, knowledge sharing will be made that is recorded and can be used as material for future evaluation. knowledge-sharing activities can also take place outside of school, such as attending training, seminars, or workshops organized by other educational institutions. furthermore, teachers who have participated in these activities will share their knowledge with their colleagues. the nonformal knowledge sharing activities can be done by asking fellow teachers who are more senior and experienced or teachers who have just attended training or workshops to gain new knowledge. this activity can be done at any time, either by chatting while taking a break or using social media such as whatsapp and other social media. from the knowledge-sharing activities that have been carried out so far, the teachers certainly get valuable experiences. they will feel increased in knowledge, skills and can complement the ignorance that previously existed in them. basically, they can increase their knowledge and competence through sharing their knowledge and exchanging information. knowledge sharing and the development of teacher’s personality developing a teacher's personality can be done through knowledge sharing between the head of the school and teacher, each teacher who is on the same page or the external side towards the teacher. knowledge sharing can be a place for sharing information or knowledge from person to person. knowledge sharing can help increase innovation in an organization (hu et al., 2009). in order to increase innovation, knowledge sharing that is applied can give a point of view and new knowledge that can help an individual find a new way and take advantage of the organization. knowledge sharing done in kartini amadanom kindergarten transfers experience and knowledge and gives a procedure of doing assignments from the head of the school to class teachers. the head of the school, who has skills in the fields of controlling technology, communication ability, and innovative thinking, gives direction and guidance to the class teachers on how to arrange and undergo an online learning process effectively in the pandemic era. the communication of this knowledge is actively done in order to increase the teacher's personality. according to jiang dan li (2009), knowledge sharing behavior has a positive effect on the increase of individual innovation. it also happened in kartini amadanom kindergarten, and after doing knowledge sharing, there was a change and an enhancement of the teacher's personality competence. this includes an increase in technological mastery and communication abilities, as well as an increase in innovative thinking. additionally, knowledge sharing occurred between class teachers and non-kartini amadanom kindergarten teachers. teachers share their experiences through knowledge sharing in order to add new knowledge about the online learning process. it developed innovations as well that can be used to organize daily innovative and creative learning. conclusion the conclusion drawn from this study is that knowledge sharing contributes positively to the teacher's personality during the covid-19 pandemic era. this is in line with previous research conducted by susanto et al. (2021), which shows that knowledge sharing significantly affects teacher competence, where personality is one of the competencies that a teacher must possess. a teacher's competence is formed because of the knowledge transfer process obtained by a teacher from the process of transferring information obtained from various sources and references, which the teacher further develops to increase knowledge capacity. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 42-47 the development of kindergarten teacher’s personality through knowledge sharing during the covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative perspective evrilia silvia ningrum, suryanto 47 | based on the interview results in kartini amadanom kindergarten, the head of the school and teachers did knowledge sharing to increase technological mastery, communication skills, and innovative thinking. this research has a limitation, such as the research scope being limited to one school. the writer suggests that the following research can discover further the development of a teacher's personality through knowledge sharing by comparing it to data from other schools and adding it as another method to accelerate the development of a teacher's personality. this research gives an alternative solution to develop the teacher's personality to confront online learning as an effect of the covid-19 pandemic. the result of knowledge sharing aims to arrange the process of online learning. acknowledgement the authors would like to thank tk kartini amadanom for being helpful during the research. this research was supported by human resources development postgraduate school universitas airlangga. references almarzooq, z.i., lopes, m., & kochar, a. (2020). virtual learning during the covid-19 pandemic. journal of the american college of cardiology, 75(20):2635-2638. astuti, i.y., harun. (2021). tantangan guru dan orang tua dalam kegiatan belajar dari rumah anak usia dini pada masa pandemi covid-19. jurnal obsesi: jurnal pendidikan anak usia dini, 5(2): 154-1463. hamalik, o. (1992). psikologi belajar mengajar perencaan. bandung : sinar baru algensind. hu, m.l.m. (2009). knowledge sharing behavior and innovative service behavior relationship. social behavior and personality, 37(7):977-992. jalaludin. (1996). psikologi agama. jakarta : raja grafindo persada jiang, x., & li, y. (2009). an empirical investigation of knowledge management and innovative performance : the case of alliances. research policy, 38:358-368. koeswara, e. (1991). teori-teori kepribadian. bandung : pt. eresco korth, b.b., erickson, l., & hall, k.m. (2009). defining teacher educator through the eyes of classroom teachers. the professional educator, 33(1): 1-12. moleong, l.j. (2005). metodologi penelitian kualitatif. bandung : remaja rosdakarya peraturan menteri pendidikan nasional nomor 16 tahun 2007 tentang standar kualifikasi akademik dan kompetensi guru. scott, s.g., & bruce, r.a. (1994). determinants of innovative behavior : a path model of individual innovation in the workplace. academy of management journal, 37(3):580-607. subana, m.s. (2009). statistik pendidikan. bandung : pustaka setia. sudrajat, j. (2020). kompetensi guru di masa pandemi covid-19. jurnal riset ekonomi dan bisinis, 13(1):100-110. sukardi, s., & rozi, f. (2019). pengaruh model pembelajaran online dilengkapi dengan tutorial terhadap hasil belajar. jipi, 4(2):97. suharti, lieli, dan irwin, h. (2009). identifikasi kesiapan penerapan knowledge management. jurnal ekonomi dan bisnis, 15:181-196. surat edaran nomor 15 tahun 2020 tentang pedoman penyelenggarakan belajar dari rumah dalam masa darurat penyebaran covid-19 susanto, hartoyo, & syarief, r. (2021). model peningkatan kompetensi dosen: peran knowledge sharing, motivasi, dan need for cognition dosen universitas teuku umar. jurnal aplikasi manajemen dan bbisnis, 7(1): 55-65 wati, d.p., zakaria, y. (2018). knowledge sharing system dalam upaya meningkatkan kinerja guru di sma negeri 1 ciwaru. prosiding seminar nasional unimus, (1):566-574. widuri, n. r. (2018). implementasi knowledge sharing (berbagi pengetahuan) di kalangan pustakawan. jurmal pustaka iilmiah, 4(2): 659-667 kemandirian aparatur sipil negara (asn) melalui literasi keuangan available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 1 (2021) page: 44-58 corresponding author gnguyen@uwf.edu doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i1.538 research synergy foundation preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson1 giang-nguyen thi nguyen2 1, 2 university of west florida, usa abstract a thoughtful decision confronting parents considering pre-kindergarten or pre-school programs across the united states provided from the literature has focused on school readiness of children within the pre-kindergarten years. prior to children moving into kindergarten, parents are often concerned with the related potential for increased student achievement and student performance of these children in later years. public opinion concerning the “worth” of preschool education as a readiness provider for preparing children to enter kindergarten adequately prepared for learning has been a topic of dissention among educators and parents for more than a decade. this qualitative study involved conducting structured interviews with five educators (two pre-school teachers, two kindergarten teachers, and one early learning district administrator) from the same school district located in the southeast region of the united states. the current qualitative study focused on eight specific interview questions generated from the literature review. each of the eight interview question responses was examined relative to specific criteria, positioning, and information aligned from the related literature. resulting literature analyses and discussions provide specific viewpoints from the interviews of the five educators regarding the merits and potential worth of early education experiences. implications of the study findings involve describing potential future research efforts aimed at examining influences of early education or preschool experiences related to students’ performance levels and attitudes relative to later school achievement. keywords: preschool education, qualitative research, kindergarten this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction influences of preschool education on child development and the potential for preschool education to provide lasting effects on children as evidenced by early education research findings provide the major motivation for this study (barnett, 2008; learning policy institute 2021). also emphasized in the literature is the lasting effects of early learning programs involving children from the 1960s and 1970s who attended preschool programs have demonstrated lasting benefits into adulthood as compared with children who did not attend preschool (learning policy institute, 2021). examining specific characteristics and issues focused on preschool education programs and the potential influence on children for later learning provided the impetus for the current study. literature indicating that early education may improve the performance of children in later grades in school has been documented in current research efforts (learning policy institute, 2021). the current study moves the research findings forward toward examining specific qualities or characteristics of preschool education environments that might assist in improving the performance of children in later years even though research contradicting these findings may also international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 45 exist. the current study sought to explore potential merits of pre-school education relative to driving students in later school considerations. current practices for families to begin placing their children in early learning schools are leading the way toward more common practices. the objectives of this qualitative research study include: (1) reviewing pertinent literature aimed at more than 50 years of kindergarten and pre-k programs; (2) conducting extensive interviews of five pre-k and kindergarten educators to discern perspectives of professional educators regarding the role of pre-k programs in preparing children for educational prowess in later years in school.; and (3) identifying limitations of previous research, exploring current strides in pre-k education, and positing options for educators and parents for predicting success of children in later grades. literature review the importance of preschool on future learning in children and adults was captured in a study conducted by the excel p-3 project, a collaborative project between boston public schools (usa), the university of michigan, and the harvard graduate school (usa) to discern specific benefits of early childhood education (preschool) on students at later ages (mccormick, hsueh, weiland, & bangser, 2017) this longitudinal study is focused on assessing if skills attained in preschool are sustained through third grade. studies focused on assessing the impact or influence of preschool education on learner performance in later years have emphasized specific assessments and follow-up periodic testing of students rather than specific information gleaned from veteran preschool and early learning educators' perceptions and observations. the current study focuses on specific information and observations of preschool educators whose careers are vested in working with parents and preschoolers focused on moving forward in their academic and physical development. previous studies focused on long-term effects of preschool education emphasize the use of test scores as measures of sustainability and achievement. the current study focuses on preschool teachers and leaders who have extensive experience in working with preschool students, parents, and community leaders. the current study participants are experienced early childhood educators and leaders focused on working with both preschool and elementary students. the current study emphasizes the perceptions and feedback of these early education professionals as key partners for discerning the skills development transpiring within preschool students, specific influences of parents, and hands-on experiences with preschool and elementary grade students. previous studies focused on examining testing trends from preschoolers to third grade performances; whereas, the current study emphasized the direct observations of preschool teachers within the framework of theory and practice. the data retrieved by the current study stem from directly addressing teachers within interview settings and the alignment of the teacher interview data to sound theory and practice elements. the current study establishes a strong grounded baseline for future research associated with early learning sustainability and predictability in terms of early learning content and sustainability focused research efforts the theoretical interpretive framework for the current study is framed within social constructivism. the “lived experiences and interactions with others…are shaped by individual experiences with individual values honored…and are negotiated among individuals.” (creswell & international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 46 │ poth, 2018, p. 35). the premise behind social constructivism is interpretivism (denzin & lincoln, 2011) or individuals seeking to determine specific viewpoints of lived experiences. interpretivism was a key element in shaping the background for designing the qualitative methodology pertinent to the overriding research question, “what are the relationship between students’ pre-k school participation and students’ performance or achievement in later years as perceived by key educators?” research method using the foundational constructs of social constructivism, the researchers established guidelines for examining multiple realities shaped by individual experiences, observations, and interactions with others to determine specific values shared and honored among individuals (creswell & poth, 2018). the qualitative methodology selected for examining the major research question was interviewing with analyses derived from an historical and social constructivist perspective. ethical considerations associated with conducting interviews and aligned qualitative research methods were examined specifically for conducting the data collection, analyses, and reporting, (seiber & tolich, 2013). dissemination of results were also carefully examined for ethical considerations specific to pertinent audiences and for publication purposes (seiber & tolich, 2013). specific research methods utilized for the study included interviews from five educators (two pre-school teachers, two kindergarten teachers, and one district early learning administrator). each of the five interviewees was provided with the same eight specific interview questions for responses. the following eight interview questions were posited to each of the five interviewees: (1) interview question #1: what evidence do you personally feel is pertinent to support the need for every child to have the opportunity for formal pre-k education? (2) interview question #2: have you watched children who have attended formal pre-k programs move forward in reading or other academic areas? do you feel these children move forward more easily than children who have not had pre-k formal education? please explain your answer. (3) interview question #3: what characteristics of formal pre-k education programs do you feel are most helpful for children entering kindergarten? first grade? (4) interview question #4: what characteristics or skills of children are most important for kindergarten, first grade, and beyond for success in school? do you feel children from pre-k education programs have developed these skills? (5) interview question #5: working at a school where you see your pre-k students go into kindergarten and beyond, do you feel children in your school district who have attended a pre-k program are more appropriately prepared for school than children who have not attended a formal pre-k program? (6) interview question #6: keeping in mind students you see in kindergarten and above at your school, do you know of children who did not attend any type of pre-k formal education program? do you feel the children who did not attend pre-k require more time and learning experiences, less time and international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 47 learning experiences, or the same time and learning experiences as children who completed formal pre-k programs for moving forward successfully in reading and other academic areas? what is your answer based on? (7) interview question #7: describe the importance of pre-k formal education as per your opinion and/or justified rationale. (8) interview question #8: do you tell parents of the importance of pre-k formal education for later success in school? please discuss. additional information was collected by researchers from current research and texts focused on early learning. the interview responses and textual data collection were analyzed using tenets from social constructivism, i.e., patterns of meaning were generated inductively by the researchers using open-ended questioning of participants and allowing constructivist researchers to “focus on the specific contexts in which people live and work in order to understand the historical and cultural settings of the participants” (creswell & poth, 2018, p. 24). the validity and reliability of the data analyses utilized by researchers included several considerations: (1) researchers utilized an interviewer who was a former early childhood specialist for the school district and was familiar with the programs and policies of the early learning program within the school district. interview data retrieved by the interviewer (in-person and/or by phone) were entered into a protected data file. study participants included early childhood teachers/administrators who volunteered to participate in the study from a memo sent to them from a former early childhood teacher who was no longer working in the district after her 20-year career with the district. study volunteers were selected from one medium size suburban/rural county public school district located in the southeast region of the united states with approximately 30,000 students and represented early childhood and/or kindergarten teachers and one early childhood district administrator. the researchers utilized triangulation to discern the validity and interpretation of the interview data using three approaches: (1) interview data were examined relative to stated school district policies and practices manuals published by the school district; (2) interview data were sent back to the respective respondents to assess reliability and reviewed by each respondent for accuracy in reporting; and (3) researchers utilized an external source for compiling and reporting the data from rubin and rubin (2005). findings and discussion each of the eight questions was analyzed using the five qualitative analyses approach posited by rubin and rubin (2005): recognition, elaboration; integration, and coding, with the discussion of synthesis following the presentation of information as a summary of the findings. the following eight tables depict the procedures and individual context of each of the five participants’ responses and discussions. interview question #1: what evidence do you personally feel is pertinent to support the need for every child to have the opportunity for formal pre-k education? international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 48 │ table 1: interpretation of responses to q1 recognition elaboration integration coding unchangeable basal abilities of the child; child needs basic components of literacy, language, mathematics, and social-emotional skills; using pre and post assessments from the pre-k year; suggest findings of pre-k students out performing non-prek students in subsequent years we (pre-k) teachers help children to be prepared for kindergarten; we teach things beyond academics, e.g., following directions, working with others, expressing needs using language skills; we help students prepare for the rigor of kindergarten; a child who does not attend pre-k misses out on a year of instruction and may be behind in subsequent years. gormley (2017) knechtel et. al. (2017) pianta et. al., (2009) evidence for students to have pre-k: components of literacy, especially communications and language skills; pre-k evidence should include examining subsequent years examining basal abilities of child and home conditions interview question #2: have you watched children who have attended formal pre-k programs move forward in reading or other academic areas? do you feel these children move forward more easily than children who have not had pre-k formal education? please explain. table 2: interpretation of responses to q2 recognition elaboration integration coding (#) managing the state of florida vpk assessment data for 10 years indicates a high percentage of children enter vpk my pre-k students have a broad baseline for scaffolding their future learning; center for public education (2007) support for pre-k impact in later years: entering school with low skills international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 49 well below the vpk standards. my pre-k students know how to listen and follow directions and enter kindergarten with high levels of math, letter recognition, and social skills; yesmy students are better prepared than non-pre-k students my pre-k students are more willing to try new and more difficult experiences than students who have not experienced prek; many students who have not attended pre-k have a huge amount of catching up to kindergarten standards; students who have not attended pre-k are at a disadvantage. knechtel et. al. (2017); alexander et. al. (2008) gadenhence (2016); strong baseline for future learning pre-k emphasizes new and more complex experiences pre-k better preparation than no pre-k interview question #3: what characteristics of formal pre-k education programs do you feel are most helpful for children entering kindergarten? first grade? table 3: interpretation of responses to q3 recognition elaboration integration coding (#) organized play within a structured environment. reading books and working with open ended questions. pre-k setting is the building block for critical social and emotional needs; activities requiring students to think and ponder questions; alexander et. al. (2017) fitzpatrick (2008) and key characteristics of pre-k programs: appropriate curriculum with focus on preparation for standards; international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 50 │ communicating in full sentences and thoughts; all aspects of literacy, mathematics, science, and social skills and small class sizes; developmentally appropriate activities; interactions with peers and trained teachers. well-rounded and expanded curriculum; strong connection to families; activities for exposing students to preparation for the standards knechtel et. al. (2017); gadenhence (2016); gadenhence (2016); strong baseline for future learning pre-k emphasizes prep for standards pre-k better preparation than no pre-k interview question #4: what characteristics or skills of children are most important for kindergarten, first grade, and beyond for success in school? do you feel children from pre-k education programs have developed these skills? table 4: interpretation of responses to q4 recognition elaboration integration coding (#) pre-k is perfect for community and work ethic development; pre-k develops self-regulation and self-motivation; instant gratification is prominent in today’s world but meaningful transformative learning is lasting; pre-reading and communication skills; social interactions and skills developed developing key community and work ethic skills provides a support group for success of all students; self-motivation is an intrinsic necessity for success; transformative learning is the key for fsa tests not memorization; social skill development is the key for peer, teacher, adult interactions and secures a strong marcon (2002); lipsey & farren (2016); stevenson & newman (1986); gormley (2017) characteristics of pre-k students in later years: self-motivation and self-regulation skills for success; social interactions and skills evidenced in pre-k programs; meaningful learning; international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 51 successfully through the vpk program successful academic life pre-reading and communication skills; interview question #5: working at a school where you see your pre-k students go into kindergarten and beyond, do you feel children in escambia county school district who have attended a formal pre-k program are more appropriately prepared for school than children who have not attended a formal pre-k program? table 5: interpretation of responses to q5 recognition elaboration integration coding (#) yes, absolutely prek students are more prepared for entering kindergarten than students who have not experienced pre-k; this question needs strong examination by school administrators. yes, pre-k students have more academic and social skills than non-prek students to be successful in kindergarten and beyond teachers in later grades who have had my children from pre-k tell me how well they perform and how many more social and academic skills my former children demonstrate than children who did not attend a pre-k program. administrators and school officials need to examine the successes of pre-k in subsequent years. gaden-hence (2016); lipsey & farren (2016); gormley (2017) preparation of pre-k student vs non-pre-k student for entering school: support from all interviewees on pre-k higher than non-pre-k social interaction and skills evidenced in pre-k programs; pre-reading and communication skills; interview question #6: keeping in mind students you see in kindergarten and above at your school, do you know of children who did not attend any type of pre-k formal education program? do you feel the children who did not attend pre-k require more time and learning experiences, less time and learning experiences, or the same time and learning experiences as children who completed formal pre-k programs for moving forward successfully in reading and other academic areas? justify your answer. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 52 │ table 6: interpretation of responses to q6 recognition elaboration integration coding (#) this question needs strong attention of school administrators. yes, formal pre-k students have higher academic and social skills than non-pre-k students based on my observations yes, students with no formal pre-k start lower than students with formal pre-k based on florida readiness screened (frs)scores administrators and school officials need to examine the successes of pre-k vs no prek for subsequent years. i have observed pre-k students not aware of their name, knowing no colors, shapes, letters, or counting. most non-pre-k students are unable to socially interact with other children or adults and are behind on many skill areas based on discussions with kindergarten teachers and my own observations. gaden-hence (2016); lipsey & farren (2016); gormley (2017) clements et. al. (2017) preparation of pre-k student vs non-pre-k students for entering school: support from all interviewees on pre-k higher than non-pre-k social interactions and skills evidenced in pre-k programs; pre-reading, colors, shapes, counting, communication skills differences; interview question #7: describe the importance of pre-k education as per your opinion and justify. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 53 table 7: interpretation of responses to q7 recognition elaboration integration coding (#) passionate about the need for formal pre-k for all students justified by the generational poverty within escambia county schools. the topics covered now in schools are much higher than 25 years ago with kindergarten equaling first grade topics and pre-k focusing on kindergarten. pre-k sets the stage for success in school. all pre-k students are more prepared for kindergarten and beyond than students with no pre-k experience. the generational poverty in escambia county is deep and pre-k will provide the jump start for students and families in poverty. community has a responsibility to provide pre-k opportunities for all children to begin their educational lives the lack of pre-k for all is a disservice for children pre-k students begin school at an advantage socially and academically with the skills necessary for learning standards clements et. al. (2017) marcon (2002); lipsey & farren (2016); stevenson & newman (1986); fitzpatrick (2008); center for education (2008); pianta et.al. (2008) importance of pre-k from pre-k staff: support from all interviewees on prek higher than nonpre-k (4) social interactions and skills evidenced in pre-k programs; pre-reading, colors, shapes, counting, communication skills generational poverty concerns and the need for educating families and communities interview question #8: do you tell parents of the importance of pre-k formal education for later success in school? please discuss. table 8: interpretation of responses to q8 recognition elaboration integration coding (#) yes, i am involved with every child a reader in escambia where reading pals spend 45 minutes to an hour with a child pre-k programs are a very important connection to our parents and children in the community who may not have a clements et. al. (2017) lipsey & farren (2016); importance of prek for parents: support from all interviewees on pre-k higher than non-pre-k international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 54 │ weekly and visit with parents. yes, i encourage every parent i meet to enroll their children in pre-k and i stress the importance of early learning, especially in reading. yes, it is amazing how much a fouror five-year-old can learn in a short time period. connection in their home. children are not taught independence at home with the available technologies and working parents. pre-k fosters creativity, thinking, and thirst for knowledge. stevenson & newman (1986); fitzpatrick (2008); gaden-hence (2016) social interactions evidenced in formal pre-k programs; fostering learning with community/family support for pre-k results the following results emerged from the syntheses of the qualitative analyses performed on the eight interview questions posited to five interviewees. the synthesis statement with literature justification depicts the results from the qualitative interviews: synthesis statements: (a) interviewees discussed several types of evidence for the need for pre-k programs for all students also supported from the literature: (1) evidence supporting the promotion of literacy skills, especially communication and language skills (gormley, 2017); (2) evidence of the impact of pre-k on students’ outcomes in kindergarten and subsequent years (knechtel et al., 2017); and (3) use of assessments examining basal abilities of the child and home conditions (pianta et al., 2009). (b) interviewees provided testimony supporting the strong positive impact of pre-k on students’ achievement and performance in later school years emphasizing the following areas of impact also substantiated by the literature: (1) pre-k provides a strong baseline for all students’ future learning experiences (knechtel et al., 2017); (2) pre-k is essential for children entering school with low skills (pianta et al., 2009); and (3) pre-k emphasizes new and more complex experiences focusing on better preparation for children than no-prek (gaden-hence, 2016) (4) pre-k provides a better preparation for the child than no pre-k (gaden-hence, 2016). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 55 (c) interviewees provided substantive suggestions based on their experiences of the key characteristics necessary for pre-k programs also supported by the literature as follows: (1) appropriate curriculum focused on preparation for the kindergarten standards (alexander et. al., 2017; (2) strong baseline for future learning (fitzpatrick, 2008 and knechtel et. al. 2017); (3) emphasizes complex experiences (gaden-hence, 2016); and (4) pre-k provides a better preparation for the child than no pre-k (gadenhence, 2016). (d) interviewees submitted their perspectives of the characteristics of pre-k students they have observed in kindergarten and in later years also supported by the literature as follows: (1) students possess self-motivation and self-regulation skills for success (marcon, 2002); (2) students are adept with social interaction skills, especially communication skills (lipsey & farren; 2016 & gormley, 2017); and (3) students are able to comprehend meaningful learning on tests and in verbal communications (stevenson & newman, 1986). (e) interviewees presented their personal perspectives of comparing the preparedness of pre-k students versus the preparedness of non-pre-k students for entering kindergarten within their schools with supportive literature as follows: all interviewees definitively stated pre-k students enter school in much higher levels of preparedness than preparedness levels of non-pre-k students, especially in the areas of communication skills, social skills, and pre-reading skills (gaden-hence, 2016; lipsey & farren, 2016; and gormley, 2017). (f) interviewees presented their personal perspectives of comparing the preparedness of pre-k students versus the preparedness of non-pre-k students for entering kindergarten in escambia county schools with supportive literature as follows: all interviewees definitively stated pre-k students enter school in much higher levels of preparedness than preparedness levels of non-pre-k students, especially in the areas of communication skills, social skills, and pre-reading skills (gaden-hence, 2016; lipsey & farren, 2016; gormley, 2017). (g) interviewees overwhelmingly agreed that students who start kindergarten with no formal pre-k program begin much lower on virtually all skills than students who have attended a formal pre-k program and this viewpoint if corroborated in the literature (clements et. al., 2017; gaden-hence, 2016; gormley, 2017; lipsey & farren, 2016). (h) interviewees also overwhelming agreed on the strong importance of children attending a formal pre-k program prior to entering school (clements et. al., 2017) justifying this importance with the following reasons corroborated by the literature: (1) social interactions skills of pre-k students are much higher than non-pre-k students (lipsey & farren, 2016); (2) pre-reading, identification of colors, shapes, counting, and communication skills are much higher than non-pre-k students (center for education, 2007; center for education, 2008; pianta et. al, 2008); and (3) international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 56 │ generational poverty is a key reason why formal pre-k must be provided for all students to be allowed the opportunity to enter school (kindergarten) prepared to move forward with peers (stevenson & newman, 1986; fitzpatrick, 2008; lipsey & farren, 2016). (i) interviewees were in complete agreement regarding the importance of discussing the need for formal pre-k with parents (clements et. al., 2017) justifying their parent discussions with the following rationale items: (1) social interactions of children in formal pre-k programs are high functioning and preparing children for advancement in school and at home (stevenson & newman,, 1986; fitzpatrick, 2008; gaden-hence, 2016); and (2) discussing with parents about formal pre-k attendance for their children fosters learning with community and family support for formal pre-k programs (lipsey & farren, 2016; gaden-hence, 2017). (d) interviewees were in complete agreement regarding the importance of discussing the need for formal pre-k with parents (clements et. al., 2017) justifying their parent discussions with the following rationale items: (1) social interactions of children in formal pre-k programs are high functioning and preparing children for advancement in school and at home (stevenson & newman, 1986; fitzpatrick, 2008; gaden-hence, 2016); and (2) discussing with parents about formal pre-k attendance for their children fosters learning with community and family support for formal pre-k programs (lipsey & farren, 2016; gaden-hence, 2017). conclusion the three objectives posited for consideration in the current study included the following: (1) reviewing pertinent literature aimed at more than 50 years of kindergarten and pre-k programs; (2) conducting extensive interviews of five pre-k and kindergarten educators to discern perspectives of professional educators regarding the role of pre-k programs in preparing children for educational prowess in later years in school.; and (3) identifying limitations of previous research, exploring current strides in pre-k education, and positing options for educators and parents for predicting success of children in later grades. objectives (1) and (2) were completed in the aforementioned sections with interpretive and conclusive discussions. objective (3) is discussed here in three focused commentaries: (a) the limitations of previous research focused on prek education; (b) the exploration of current strides in pre-k education in the united states; and (c) positing options for educators and parents interested in predicting success of children in later grades. limitations limitations of the current research are focused on two major concerns: (1) the use of participants from the same large (over 25,000 students) school district may represent a limited perspective of preschool education and/or may not reveal the affect considerations of smaller school districts and (2) the use of only educators within the study may provide a focused educational viewpoint perhaps unlike the use of parents or taxpayers. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page 44-58 preschool/pre-kindergarten education promoting student performance in later years: a qualitative perspective carla j. thompson, giang-nguyen thi nguyen issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 57 references alexander, k. l., entiwisle, d. r., and dauber, s. l. 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(1999). designing qualitative research, 3rd edition. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc., http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-02689-000 pianta, r.c., barnett, w. s., burchina, m. and thornburg, k. r. (2009). the effects of preschool education: what we know, how public policy is or is not aligned with the evidence base, and what we need to know. psychological science in the public interest, 10(2), 49-88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100610381908 rubin, h. j. and rubin, i. s. (2005). qualitative interviewing: the art of hearing data, second edition. thousand oaks, ca: sage publishers. http://methods.sagepub.com/book/qualitativeinterviewing seiber, j. e. and tolich, m. b. (2013). planning ethically responsible research, second edition. thousand oaks, ca: sage publishers. stevenson, h. w. and newman, r. s. (1986). long-term prediction of achievement and attitudes in mathematics and reading. child development, 57, 646-659. https://www.jstor.or/stable/1130343?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents warner, r. m. (2013). applied statistics: from bivariate through multivariate techniques. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-02689-000 https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100610381908 http://methods.sagepub.com/book/qualitative-interviewing http://methods.sagepub.com/book/qualitative-interviewing https://www.jstor.or/stable/1130343?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction kemandirian aparatur sipil negara (asn) melalui literasi keuangan available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 1 (2021) page: 59-69 corresponding author parungao.es@pnu.edu.ph doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i1.539 research synergy foundation mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng1 jennie v. jocson2 1faculty of arts and languages, college of teacher development, philippine normal university 2college of graduate studies teacher education research, philippine normal university abstract this paper presents an analysis of isolde amante’s eve, a 21st century philippine fiction to reveal a contemporary worldview of motherhood. despite the success of feminist movements in society, motherhood remains fraught with romantic ideals that stem from the essentialist notions of gender and sex. this results in ‘othering’--oppressing and alienating women in the 21st century. the paper argued that the entire notion of motherhood has entered a postmodern framing—one that challenges traditional notions of motherhood and mothering. to characterize this worldview, the paper used the theories of cognitive stylistics, such as conceptual metaphor theory, to describe the mind style of the text’s focalizer, the narrator in eve. this theory granted access to the intricate mental processes which helped explain why a character behaves a certain why, what dispositions s/he hold in life, as well as what motivations form his/her thoughts, language, and action. further, the mind style is drawn from the communicative force that make up the ‘maternal discourse’ in the text, using searle’s speech act theory. the result is an unorthodox but liberating view of motherhood and mothering. the study argues the need to mainstream mind style analysis in 21st century fiction literary analysis to discover evolving and liberating ideals related to the constructions of gender, and in particular, motherhood. keywords: cognitive stylistics, gender maternal discourse, mind style, motherhood this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction motherhood and the topic of mothering has become an oft-researched area illumined in the field of humanities, often to look into its inherent capacity to polarize categorizations of sex, gender, and gender roles. patel et al. (2003), for one, links motherhood to depression incidents in goa, india. the study identified factors that associate childbirth with depression, e.g., the low involvement of husbands in child-care, unique cultural attitudes relating to gender preferences, etc. johnston and swanson (2003) identified overwhelming factors that perpetuate patriarchy amidst the ascendancy of non-traditional ideologies on motherhood. these ideologies uproot ideal yet outdated ideologies that promote motherhood as fulltime, at-home, primary career for women, second to none. fundamental to this change is the steadfast recognition of women whose values, beliefs, and attitudes may be considered postmodern. postmodern, in the context of gender studies, usually pertain to the “avant-guard situations” typified by “revising and subverting the existing discourse on motherhood: dualistic images of mothers as self-effacing, all embracing, nurturing and affectionate, and/or all powerful, devouring, and domineering” (sugiyama, 2000). this postmodern take on motherhood is one that is closely associated with analyses of maternal discourse, especially in light of its potentials to represent new mothers or to uncover new ideals on motherhood and mothering. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 60 │ literature review sugiyama (2000) has also posited that “existing theories on motherhood and motherdaughter relationship are mostly written from a daughters’ point of view, and reflect the feminist daughters’ ambivalence and sometimes resentment and hatred toward her mother and mother figure.” this poses a hindrance to the true maternal discourse—one that listens closer to the mother’s voice as herself—a woman and a mother. a new kind of motherhood in the philippines may have begun at the height of the liberation movement in the 1970s, when new kinds of maternal representations showed changing ideals on motherhood. hope sabanpan-yu (2009) rooted philippine motherhood (during the american occupation) and found that it “inherited the spanish ideology of domesticity and familialism, which continued to be the bedrock upon which philippine motherhood was organized.” but she also found changes in the economic and social sphere which cascades to women who are then given a chance to seek advancement at the expense of their motherhood roles. despite that, maternal ideology at the time, remain to be traditional. santos and jugo (2013), in a collection of essays on mothering and being mothered, notes a kind of ambivalence coming from the conflicting traditional and emerging mother identity. lessons on a rocky road, one such essay in the compilation, is where dickson weaves her own stories of motherhood with her own growing up stories with her mother, fulfilling what hirsch has initially foretold—that by giving voice to her mother, she is also marginalizing her. in the same compilation, de peralta expresses her in-denial, frustration, and finally, acceptance of the fact that she gave birth to a daughter whose eyes are slanted and a with tongue that was more often outside her mouth, features common among children with down syndrome. her discourse is one filled with intense guilt and unmotherly thought. in the end, de peralta affirmed her motherly love for a daughter that she described to be suplada, not because she is a special child, but because she is rocio, her beloved and beautiful daughter. hers is probably an example of a genuine maternal discourse— “a narrative about a mother written from a mother’s point view” and as “narrative that unifies fragmented and de -centered small narrative parts into a larger whole” (sugiyama, 2000). lessons on a rocky road and when my daughter was born are maternal narratives that reflect the way contemporary philippine fiction probably responds to the complex tension of identifying, distancing, and appropriating. the experience and the ideals of motherhood seem to have been fragmented in contemporary maternal narratives. in the past, there is only a variation of one ideal of motherhood: that of the good mother ideal. other ideals are only an extension of this good mother ideal—nurturing, loving, patient, altruistic, moral. this obviously undermines those narratives that do not fit the mould by subtly conditioning the reading process to focus only on those aspects that show this kind of ideal. shulamith firestone’s the dialectic of sex: the case for feminist revolution (1970) formerly argued that technological changes in reproductive practices would “offer a step toward gender equality by liberating women from the burden of pregnancy and birthing” (in sugiyama, 2000). this radical theory presupposes that motherhood could be fragmented into a “biological mother,” “egg donor,” “surrogate mother,” “contract mother,” “nurturing mother,” “legal mother,” and so on. in the 21st century, the notion of what it is to be a mother is challenged by this kind of fragmentation. this fragmentation (on motherhood), along with the changing perspectives on women’s bodies, identities, and roles, seem to coincide with judith butler’s postmodernist take on the issue of gender. her riveting examination of gender in gender trouble (1993; 1999) raised questions that powerfully depart from traditional categories of sex that have, for a long time, been held as constructs of identity shaping the interests and perspectives of women. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 61 as a kind of gender role, motherhood, now largely fragmented in society, following butler’s argument on gender performativity, may no longer stand exclusively in the heterosexual female’s domicile. motherhood has lost its agency in the female body in favor of emerging maternal discourses which presuppose that a ‘woman’ is something we ‘do’ rather than something we ‘are’ (butler, 1993). this calls to mind simone de beauvoir’s (1949) famous insight that ‘[o]ne is not born, but rather becomes, a woman’. butler persistently offers this notion that the subject is not a pre-existing, essential entity. to her (and to de beauvoir), one’s identity is something that we construct, and therefore, something that can further be reconstructed. this kind of reconstruction suggests that ‘woman’ as the subject is not a woman, because of her biological make-up alone. she is a ‘woman’ because of the different ways by which she has been instituted to be that ‘gender’. motherhood, traditionally upheld as a woman’s most stable identity (sugiyama, 2000), seems to have entered butler’s postmodern framing; in that, it no longer seems to represent a woman, her femininity, and her womanhood. furthermore, it may be posited, following butler, that motherhood has been de-naturalized—in both the sciences and the arts. butler’s biting criticism on the machinations of power inherent in the binary constructions of gender, sex, and sexuality, provides an insightful lens by which to gauge the plurality (and fragmentation) of 21st century maternal discourse. what constitutes maternal discourse, despite the abundance of motherhood narratives, remains disputed, especially considering a “burgeoning maternal subjectivity” (coined by hirsch, 1989) in contemporary fiction. interestingly, in the philippines, bienvenido lumbera (2015), filipino poet, critic, dramatist, in his article, the country’s literary produce for 2000, pointed out “the plurality of what used to be designated as “philippine literature”. this plurality recognized women’s creativity and allows them space in the contemporary literary scene. this was heralded by the manila critics circle in the year 2000 when it awarded the works of three women writers, cristina pantoja hidalgo (catch a falling star, 1999), reine arcache melvin (a normal life and other stories, 1999) and merlinda bobis (white turtle: a collection of short stories, 1999) as the best fiction of the previous year. other works by women writers which are fronting the mainstream of literature of the “new century” include pinay: autobiographical narratives by women writers edited by cristina pantoja hidalgo, sarilaysay: tinigng 20 babae sa sariling danas bilang manunulat, a counter-part work in tagalog and filipino, by rosario torres-yu, and the writers’ wives (2000) by narita m. gonzalez. it is interesting whether this plurality and creativity that lumbera (and the rest of the contemporary philippine literary establishment e.g., hector santos, gilda cordero-fernando, etc.) associate with women also carries hirsch’s notion of “burgeoning maternal subjectivity”. this study is specifically interested in the way this ‘burgeoning maternal subjectivity’ is reflected in contemporary philippine literature. more specifically, the study is keen on finding out how much contemporary philippine fiction has deviated from the age-old motherhood ideal aptly represented in the metaphorical adage mother, light of the home (ina, ilaw ng tahanan). this adage sums up a cultural and social ideal by which women, aspiring for motherhood, should live up to. this metaphor ina, ilaw ng tahanan, used and maintained for centuries to represent a good filipina mother embodies one of the main tenets of conceptual metaphor theory (cmt), originally expounded by lakoff and johnson (1980, 1999); in that, the metaphor used, ilaw (light), is “essentially a matter of ordinary, everyday thought, rather than just a literary device” (gomez, 2015). ilaw (light), invokes both perceptual and sensory inputs that allow people access to concrete and abstract attributes, e.g., shapes, sizes, color, race, beauty, love, time, etc. characteristically, a mother, being the light of the home, is the one who guides, illuminates (the path), directs her home as a wife and mother. this equates knowing with seeing, where the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 62 │ mother is able to see, albeit, instinctively. knowing is seeing conflates real and conceptual information, as is evident in the motherhood metaphor: ina, ilaw ng tahanan. knowing and seeing are cognitive processes that are innate and grounded in experience, enabling interaction among the mothers and children, mothers and husbands, mothers, and mothers, etc. it is as if as a mother, her opinion, character, and beliefs are almost always right and accurate. as a metaphor, it conjures tons of expressions that ultimately result in a highly romanticized mother ideal summed up in the oftquoted expression: a mother knows best. this is just one of the motherhood ideals that may have unconsciously rendered mothers with a kind of “maternal subjectivity” that fragments her physical being, and by extension, her narrative: mothers as reasonable thinking individuals vs. mothers as self-defeated entities whose sense of self is contingent upon associations and relations (as wife, mother, daughter, etc.). do contemporary filipina writers exhibit this “maternal subjectivity” (when writing as mothers /about mothers, mothering, being mothered), to the extent that, when studied, they could potentially alter/revise the concept of motherhood in the philippines? the analysis of maternal discourse is then necessary to allow for a more critical representation of the mother figure, one that may be emergent in contemporary narratives, but is in danger of being omitted/neglected, in favor of traditional motherhood representations, e.g., the good mother, the ideal mother, the nurturing mother. attention on maternal discourse may also forward a more principled approach in determining the scope of subjectivity that women, who are writing as mothers, and who are using her maternal voice, have expressed in their narratives. in particular, the study aims to analyze the ideological and structural dimensions of a contemporary maternal discourse by examining the rigors of the writer’s linguistic choices (lexicon, phrases, idioms, and metaphors) as they are used in the context of mothering. this study upholds that this emerging ideology on motherhood is one that posits butler’s argument on gender performativity and foucault’s notion of subjectification. subjectification essentially pertains to the strategic process by which human beings transform from objects of power relations to “subjects” of power relations. being a subject allows an individual to develop, negotiate, and further his/her understanding of self. this then allows the individual to achieve a sense of autonomy. beings who are in the process of subjectification characteristically possess a “critical attitude against collective norms and values, universal validity of life-conduct, tendencies of globalization and concepts of “essence of humanity as norms” (dreyfus and rabinow (eds), 1983). this fluidity and subjectivity of the self plays a major role in reshaping today’s maternal discourse. this study on maternal discourse is compelled by any slight change in the way motherhood is represented in today’s narratives. it is interested with the way contemporary writers represent themselves as mothers in a highly cosmopolitan society, driven by technology, inundated by modernity (in the areas of pregnancy, child rearing, etc.), and made aware of their personal subjectivities. as writers and mothers at the same time, how have they represented their subjectivities? what are the emerging ideals of motherhood that may be fragmented? obfuscated? subjectified? postmodern? this seemingly reflexive capacity of the human mind resembles steven mithen’s notion of “cognitive fluidity” (mithen, 1996). mithen explains that the human mind evolves over time. by examining the mind structures of early humans, he was able to argue that because of ‘cognitive fluidity’, the human mind transcends the previous cognitive make up, until it becomes “modern”. he further argues that a modern culture is a by-product of an increasing integration of the different modules of the mind-including social and linguistic intelligence modules. thus, one key to ‘cognitive fluidity’ is language. cognitive stylistics, an interdisciplinary tool for literary and linguistic analysis, provides a way to deal with the changes in the human mind, with respect to the ideals both men and women international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 63 maintain regarding contemporary motherhood. it accounts for the embodied use of language, where mind and body cannot be separated; thus, further presupposing that all languages are elaborations of basic physical circumstances of the human condition (simpson, 2004). this larger conceptual system, in discourse analysis, is usually framed by the integration of linguistic frames with mental schemas. in return, the analysis of discourse may reveal constructs/ideals that are deeply embedded in the psyche, and manifests as the individual’s idiolect—belief, attitude, and world view. in cognitive stylistics, this is equivalent to mind style. mind style, according to roger fowler (in semino, 2002), pertains to the perceivable realities in the “ideational structure of the text.” the notion of mind style, one of the major concepts in cognitive stylistics introduced by roger fowler and developed by elena semino, is used in this study to account for the maternal discourses in the chosen texts. as leech & short have pointed out, mind style may be potentially applied to all texts (in semino, 2007), since “even in apparently normal pieces of writing, the writer slants us towards a particular “mental set”. these mental sets may reveal “an unorthodox conception of the fictional world”. fowler further characterized mind styles to be projections via “systematic linguistic and textual patterns” (leech and short, 1981) and represents “[c]umulatively, consistent structural options, agreeing in cutting the presented world to one pattern or another, give rise to an impression of a world-view…(fowler in semino, 2007).” this study takes on the notion of mind style as the ‘world view’ of a particular text. the mind styles that may be found in the 21st century philippine fiction may provide links of changing and progressing (unorthodox) ideals on the notion of motherhood. mind style and cognitive stylistics the study on mind styles involves an intricate analysis of the conflicting discourses in the text (i.e., motherhood as women’s primary contribution to society vs. motherhood as an option that may be delayed or renounced). by capitalizing on a common textbase (the word-for-word processing over the course of a reading), different readers may come up with different knowledge and different personal goals to their reading, producing a range of macro-structural reading. the study upholds that language is not a system that exists exclusively for itself (e.g. the formal properties of language). rather, it is a system that is concerned with a larger discursive and poetic function that constitutes what michael halliday later on identifies as the three fundamental functions of language: ideational, interpersonal, and textual. this “hallidayan” linguistics, more popularly known as systemic functional linguistics (sfl), is useful in ferreting “ideologically significant values and beliefs on the production, distribution and consumption” (haig, 2011) of discourse. maternal discourse is a very specific part of the narrative that reports world views, attitudes and belief systems that are easily dismissed in favor of other competing discourses in the text (i.e., mother’s discourse as once a daughter to her mother, and woman’s discourse as wife to her husband). it has been asserted, then and again, that a need for a more substantive analysis of maternal discourse is in order if we are to address the ever-growing multiplicity, complexity, and anxiety among mothers in the twenty-first century. tuning in to maternal discourse, through stylistics analysis, may potentially address cogent forces that keep an alienating attitude towards unmotherly traits and thoughts (i.e., pursuit of career over household duties, passion over making babies, etc.). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 64 │ research method the study includes mapping out the categories and processes invoked in the narrative through the framework of transitivity, with focus on the textual function of language. the textual function of language is that which deals with discourse: language in context. in other words, the study will examine the production of dialogues, narrations and descriptions that thematically reveal an attitude/emotion/comment/insight on motherhood. the following roughly constitutes the steps in analyzing maternal discourse in the texts. 1. breakdown and analysis of the text’s linguistic features, including even the minimum meaningful utterance that will be found pertinent to the function of motherhood; 2. subjecting these linguistic features to stylistics analysis to see what they do in the text using searle’s speech act theory, and a combination of other stylistics tool that may be fit/as may be required by the text; 3. extending the analysis of maternal discourse to cognitive stylistics analysis to uncover the mind style that is silently projected on the text. by identifying the mind style present in the text, a postmodern ideology may surface and this postmodern ideology may contribute not only to feminists who are seeking independence from the dictates of their prescribed gender role but also to males and members of the lgbt who have long been campaigning for social recognition. results and discussions to baby talk or not to baby talk: maternal discourse in isolde amante’s eve eve is the center piece in a story about her, based on her point of view. her story revolves around the prospect of amniocentesis. the prospect of amniocentesis hints at a medical procedure for detecting fetal abnormalities. this is a story about a woman who is constrained to become a mother. her self-conscious narration shows a silent defiance of conventional motherhood—one that is constituted by pregnancy. eve is a headstrong type of woman. she holds a lot of opinion about many things concerning child-rearing. the main conflict in the story is her seeming reluctance to submit to measures that would ascertain her pregnancy. she begins very tentatively to talk about amniocentesis to imply that she is no longer at the prime of her age to conceive, reason for her to consider such medical intervention. eve also seems to believe that it is, indeed, time for her to finally become a mother. in fact, her narrative shows that the life she is living is not very far from maternal. by presenting her own favored child-rearing techniques, the narrator projects a self that is motherly—baby-sitting her nephews and attending to malnourished children in the malnutrition ward. imitating the way babies talk is common among adults who wish to connect with children in some level. but due to her inexperience, eve is unable to access the linguistic frames that enable other adults to interact with children in the language of baby talk. speaking about the way her sister sarah plies her children with baby talk, the narrator probably subconsciously hints at a kind of frustration that stems from a lack of actual experience of the phenomenon of motherhood. voicing out her disagreements with plying children with baby talk gives a raw account of mind style in the story. this disagreement with doing baby-talk when dealing with children is one that may be attributed to the woman’s lack of necessary ‘frames’ that will enable her to actually communicate and engage with children by accommodating and assimilating their language into her own. this is, by and large, a failure in schema integration. eve’s personal schema limits her from crossing the boundaries of her relations with the children she baby-sits as nephews. personal schemas, according to stockwell (2006), are “socially international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 65 and culturally determined” and where there is a “relatively greater degree of willful choice in performing a personal schema than in engaging in a situational schema.” this means that, even if the woman is able to interact with baby-talk, she would, more naturally, opt out of it considering the limitations of her personal schema. eve’s disagreement with baby-talk is also possibly reinforced by what semino calls “language schemas”—or the way humans articulate their experiences to the world. (semino in stockwell, 2006). in any case, readers benefit in the first-person point of view as it provides a clear view of the narrator’s mind style when it comes to motherhood. her opinion against baby talk clearly delineates her from the more universal maternal side of her sister. using speech acts theory analysis, the study identifies the functions of each utterance in table 1: table 1 speech acts found in the discourses of the text using searle’s speech act theory locution (actual words uttered) s p e a k e r linguistic feature/characteristic illocution (intention behind the words uttered) perlocution (influence of the words on the listeners) grammar tone word formation “what’s wrong?” n* syntactic straightfo rward; precise contracted to ask about the reason for danny’s waddling comforted “whasswro ng, dannykins?” s* (in n’s mind) shows morphoph onemic variations sweet; affectiona te morphophonemicall y challenged come here, pumpkin. you just need a teenyweeny nap. that’s all.” s syntactic creative assertive substitutes names with endearment ; uses child’s lexicon: teeny-weeny to provide for the child’s need (sleep) pumpkin? n semantic confused this analysis shows no significant perlocutionary effect on danny. this implies that whether the two women talk to him in baby talk or in normal talk, danny is bound to respond in much the same way. but while it does not have any significant reflection on danny, it does bear some effect on the two women as mothers. sarah, judging by the way she talks to danny, seems more assertive and comfortable about responding to danny’s need; whereas the narrator seems a little too hesitant, formal, and straightforward. perhaps to compensate for the lack of maternal bond between them (after all she is but the aunt and not the mother), the narrator chose, rather subconsciously, to respond to her nephew’s dilemma much like an adult who always appeals to reason, especially in dire situations. this is a meaningful display of sarah’s emphatic maternal discourse as she recruits words and phrases that are far too suitable to her adult self, but is perfectly relatable to her child’s. interestingly, this does not necessarily mean that the narrator is un-motherly, as will be proven by her succeeding discourses. the narrator is flattered to resemble kenny, the elder child of her sister sarah. but more than just being flattered, the narrator seems delighted with that sense of ownership she gets by the semblance she has with her nephew. this sense of ownership allows the narrator international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 66 │ an opportunity for shared maternity. it is this shared notion of maternity and her looming pregnancy that seem to qualify the narrator’s discourse as maternal, and which typifies julia kristeva’s notion of maternal passion. kelly oliver (2010) discusses julia kristeva’s maternal passion as “the prototype of all human passion”. in the story, this kind of maternal passion does not seem to have any source of credence judging by the way other people question her childlessness. the fact that this is a purely innocent question probably makes the reality more biting. the conversation marks the reality of her childlessness and her seeming oblivion to it as seen in table 2: table 2 maternal discourse of a pseudo-mother in eve kenny narrator “you should have babies na. your yard is so big and danny is so boring.” “why?” “because married people have babies!” “no, i meant why is danny boring?” “because he’s always running to mama.” “he’s a sissy, that’s what he is.” he scampers off before i can tell him he shouldn’t call people names. i’m the adult here, aren’t i? this innocent conversation invites a meaningful discussion of eve’s mind style processes— her “perceptions, selections, omissions, and enrichment”. as the observing consciousness in the text, her response to the questions of her nephew shows her ‘encyclopedic knowledge’ which “provides a means of explaining phenomena such as inferencing, perceived presupposition, implicature, and apparent leaps of intuition” (stockwell, 2006). more than flouting the conversation, the narrator’s discourse offers a way to negotiate a common experience in the conversation, so that a more meaningful communication will ensue between her and her nephew. this demonstrates the notion of ‘conceptual dependency’ where the speaker and hearer in the conversation, the woman and danny, “rely on their shared assumptions, environment, and wider knowledge to convey a richness of communication without enumerating in excruciating detail every facet of the message” (stockwell, 2006). despite not having children of her own, the narrator still managed to exhibit a kind of universal maternity by baby-sitting her nephews and by doing volunteer work, reading to malnourished kids in a government hospital. both preoccupations elicit in her a kind of motherly devotion that is not credited by her sister and her husband. both her sister and husband think that she needed more push to get pregnant. the conflict becomes clearer: the narrator is having trouble with getting pregnant. childlessness is a problem that symbolically represents an unfulfilled promise, a failed mission and a life worthy of others’ sympathy. as a kind of penance, she is taunted by everyone around her—including her husband, to subject herself to amniocentesis especially as the prospect of pregnancy is once again within reach. it is interesting whether the people around her will ever recognize that she is already living the life that they think she has ever yet to fulfil—motherhood. this makes her discourse even more significant for challenging the notion of motherhood as something that is unique to a woman who has given birth, and is in fact, a biological mother. it is just fitting to subject her discourse into stylistic analysis to see if any of it represents a kind of predicament traceable, to an extent, to universal mother. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 67 clearly, the narrator’s link to motherhood is weak, as far as motherhood by child-birth is concerned. but even so, it still did not keep her from providing the same (maybe even better) maternal care to motherless children. the ob-gyne’s recommendation to be at the mal ward is supposed to be temporary until she gets pregnant. but it is her decision, no less, to stay, providing the malnourished children with the same weight of affection and devotion their own mothers could have spared for them, but did not. like sarah and the other pregnant woman, the narrator, also gets to be the rope in their own tug-of-war, pulled by the children from the mal ward on one end, and by the husband on the other end. clearly, the narrator is showing a kind of ambivalence for seemingly showing this maternal passion, albeit with slight deviance. the narrator, instead of drawing from that “hollow” habitation that is growing inside her, seems invested more towards children from other mothers. the difference is that, these children are already subjects in their own, and who are never, to begin with, her double. moreover, these are children that will never be her own by any means of pregnancy. thus, she is screened, a little differently, from feeling destabilized and lost. this allows her to work through passion and dispassion for the (supposedly) new subject that will be her child and who is to become autonomous. the other mothers (sarah and the other pregnant woman) have yet to cease from becoming their children’s doubles. their identity is strongly anchored on the fact that they are mothers to their children, and by extension, wives to their husbands. they embody the kind of maternal passion as successful mothering, described more commonly as love. the following maternal discourses from sarah illustrate kristeva’s maternal passion more succinctly: “sometimes the little b-r-a-t-s drive me crazy. i wish their father would spend more time with them. might be better at discipline than i am.” sarah’s discourse is filled with the tension characterized by dispassion, where the mother works towards bringing the children away from her, for their best interest. it is also filled with the anxiety that finds confidence in the intervention of the child/ren’s father. this tension and anxiety are uncommon to the narrator for two reasons: 1) her pregnancy is yet to be officially pronounced, and 2) despite the suspected pregnancy, she did not have to feel the brunt of child-rearing, except in cases where she voluntarily subjects herself to (baby-sitting the nephews and attending to malnourished in the hospital ward). evidently, the narrator is showing proof of motherhood away from the traditional functions of maternal reproduction. the narrator’s final discourse powerfully showcases the kind of love that children, despite their own mothers’, deserve: soon, he quiets down and sucks contentedly on his bottle, one tiny pale hand on the swell of my left breast. i gently rock him to sleep, wondering when his mother knew she didn’t want him. conclusion the narrator maintains this straightforward language all throughout her discourse. this rather straightforward use of language draws her further away from the role that she has been portraying all along. because she is unable to recruit creative childlike language, unlike the mothers around her, she remains an outsider to motherhood. whatever motherly behavior she displays is ignored by the obvious lack of experience of giving birth perceivable to others. but instead of international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) 68 │ alienation, the narrator is more able to embrace the nurturing passion of mothers without as much pressure from actual motherhood. the narrator subtly plays on the conceptual figure of mothers as nurturers. nurturing her nephews and the kids in the mal ward, the narrator bridges the distance to actual motherhood. this posits that motherhood is not actually dependent upon the will to bear and deliver a child. more than anything, the narrator displays an unyielding attitude towards the fulfilment of motherhood by feeding or reading to the children in the ward. she plays on the whole schema of nurturing mothers as her strongest link at motherhood. her last discourse foregrounds the image of the narrator as a nurturing mother, purposely adopting from the universal figure of mothers whose principal connection is made through breastfeeding [soon, he quiets down and sucks contentedly (on his bottle), one tiny pale hand on the swell of my left breast.]. this part of her entire narrative is an invitation to outsiders whose view of motherhood is rather limited and disempowering. the narrator opens new ways to constitute motherhood in the contemporary society by exploiting her otherness for her otherness’ sake. this means that while she shows traditional conceptions of motherhood, she also plays on motherhood as a choice that is highly personal than societal. by exploiting the context of sarah’s and the other pregnant woman’s situation as mothers by virtue of child-birth, she is able to reveal conceptualizations that bring her experience closer to actual motherhood. by doing so, she achieves new conceptualizations of motherhood. motherhood, as a widespread universal phenomenon, should be recognized as a choice, even if this choice excludes pregnancy and child-birth, strongly emphasized by her parting discourse “i gently rock him to sleep, wondering when his mother knew she didn’t want him”. as a role, motherhood is more strongly manifested through deeds that satisfy the child’s most basic need for nourishment and care. motherhood is also a way of life. this is proven by the mind style of the narrator, characterized by the numerous instances she portrayed herself as one. these emerging conceptualizations reveal gender ideals that should be mainstreamed in literary and social discussions. furthermore, such maternal mind style should not be ignored in favor of ideals that romanticize motherhood, but hurt mothers in the real world for not fitting the mold. acknowledgement the researchers are grateful to their families, to the institution, and to the almighty for the capability to engage in this study. references butler, j. 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(1980). metaphors we live by. university of chicago press, chicago. leech, g., short, m., (2007). style in fiction: a linguistic introduction to english fictional prose. 2nd ed. https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.6018%2fijes%2f2015%2f1%2f211121 https://doi.org/10.18999/stums.3.19 https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1023905518500 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 3 (1), page: 59-73 mind style and motherhood in 21st century philippine fiction erly s. parungao-callueng, jennie v. jocson issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) │ 69 pearson, longman, london. lumbera, b. (2015). the country’s literary produce for 2000. mithen, s. (1996). the prehistory of the mind: a search for the origins of art, religion, and science. thames and hudson. london. patel, v., rodriguez, m., & desouza, n., (2002). gender, poverty, and postnatal depression: a study of mothers in goa, india. the american journal of psychiatry, 159(1), 43-47. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.1.43 santos, r., & jugo c. (eds). (2013). motherhood statements. anvil publishing. semino, e. (2002). a cognitive stylistic approach to mind style in narrative fiction. in cognitive stylistics (pp. 95-122). doi: 10.1075/lal.1.07sem semino, e. (2007). mind style twenty-five years on. style. 41(2), 153-172. http://www.engl.niu.edu/style/vol41n2.html#elena simpson, p. (2004) stylistics: a resource book for students. routledge, london. sugiyama, n. (2000). postmodern motherhood and ethnicity: maternal discourse in late twentieth-century american literature. japanese journal of american studies, 11, 71-90. retrieved from http://www.jaas.gr.jp/jjas/pdf/2000/no.11-071.pdf yu, h.s. (2009). women’s common destiny: maternal representations in the serialized cebuano fiction of hilda montaire and austregelina espina-moore. up press, philippines. citizen satisfaction index system manual for pilot testing in municipalities. bureau of local government supervision-department of interior and local government, quezon city, 2018, ch. 3 – 5. "republic act no. 1414 an act to create the province of aklan". chan robles virtual law library. 25 april 1956. archived from the original on 4 march 2016. retrieved 15 july 2018. census of population (2015). "region vi (western visayas)". total population by province, city, municipality and barangay. psa. retrieved 5 april 2018. "municipal: lezo, aklan". psgc interactive. quezon city, philippines: philippine statistics authority. retrieved 28 june 2018. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.1.43 https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.1075%2flal.1.07sem http://www.engl.niu.edu/style/vol41n2.html#elena http://www.jaas.gr.jp/jjas/pdf/2000/no.11-071.pdf this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction microsoft word 893 erna budiarti available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 2 number 2 (2022): 70-79 corresponding author erna budiarti, bbbudiarti@gmail.com faculty of teacher training and education universitas terbuka and doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i2.893 research synergy foundation problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti1 1 universitas panca sakti, indonesia abstract the covid 19 pandemic that occurred from the end of 2019 to 2021 has made all aspects of our lives undergo a complete change. education is an important sector because of the change from the offline learning process (face-to-face) to bold learning (online). the problem is then due to the unpreparedness of the education stakeholders, schools, teachers, parents, and students. this condition is almost felt by all schools in early childhood education (ece). the purpose of the study is to determine how problematics and application of digital literacy are carried out in nurul aulia kindergarten, depok. this study employed a qualitative approach through phenomenological research design. the results showed that online learning for early childhood was felt to be less effective. this was due to the unpreparedness of the infrastructure and the superstructure in the nurul aulia kindergarten, depok. keywords: digital literacy; early childhood; problematic introduction early childhood education (ece) is an effort to stimulate and give learning activities that can grow children's abilities and skills. early childhood is a child in the age range of 0 to 6 years. at this time, the growth and development of children will experience rapid progress. that is why this time is called the "golden age". in recent days, it has been necessary for parents and their surroundings to provide a good stimulus and education so that the child can develop and grow optimally (budiarti, 2016). because of that, the government has issued the minister of education and culture regulation republic of indonesia number 146 of 2014. early childhood education (ece) is the most basic education because a child's growth and development today and in the future are largely determined by various stimulations since early childhood. according to law no. 20 of 2003: national education system (2003), education is a business that is conscious and planned to realize the learning atmosphere and the learning process so that participants educate themselves by active development of potency for having religious, spiritual, self-power control, personality, intelligence, morals, and the required skills for themselves as well as society. the significance of early childhood education, for example, the united states, germany, japan, and others have already begun to do early childhood education with care, nurturing, and education as a whole and integrated into child development. so, it is important to develop children at an early age as a step in power strengthening carried out by nations worldwide. we must all adapt quickly to the rapid development of increasingly digital technology, whether we want it or not, whether we like or dislike the message, and whether we reject the reality that must be faced to share goodness as educators. as a parent, of course, this occurs because digital systems are a part of and international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 70-79 problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 71 inherent in today's life. digital developments have given color to new ways of life in the economic, political, socio-cultural, and educational sectors. especially when the covid-19 pandemic occurs, everything must be done from home, including maintaining physical and emotional contact with others. digital technology has become essential for online learning. with the rapid advancement of technology, digital technology has permeated all levels of society, from children to adults, though nothing is yet capable of using technology for good and true. technology is like a double-edged knife. when used for positive interests and appropriately by the user, it will greatly benefit people. but if used for negative interests and carried out by people who do not have good intentions, it will cause damage massively and will accumulate a negative impact on the individual or social life because digital literacy must be distributed and expanded to address society. at the same time, problems almost always happen in all schools, especially in kindergarten and ece. there are limitations to good infrastructure and digital learning in particular. the introduction of digital literacy, as mentioned by rachmat & hartati (2020), requires three series of roles, namely parents, teachers, and children, with the teacher playing a critical role in teaching children to have ethics in the use of the internet. for teaching development, digital technology is challenging to learn how to think fast and creatively. digital development requires speed and dexterity, which must be owned by a teacher to be able to control the learning process and teach without depending on one learning system. the whole learning system is part of the developmental process. if an educator is not capable of following development progress in technology learning, it will be very detrimental not only to him but also to the future of children's education and the future of our education. for parents, digital literacy and understanding are also a must to accompany, supervise, and carry out evaluations independently of their children's learning process. at the same time, the appearance of various digital platforms is a form of new creativity in learning moments. on the one hand, it gives them an easier time and improves their effectiveness in learning. that appearance becomes a highlight. these various digital platforms also have many constraints in their implementation. based on the background that has been parsed above, then the focus of this study is on the problem of digital literacy implementation faced by nurul aulia kindergarten in depok, indonesia. the study aims to determine how problematics and application of digital literacy are carried out in nurul aulia kindergarten, depok. it also becomes a problem to know to what extent the effectiveness of digital media is in learning. literature review definition of digital literacy suherdi (2021) explains in his book “the role of digital literacy in the pandemic period” that digital literacy is the knowledge and skills of users in utilizing digital media, such as communication tools, internet networks, and so on. skills needed in the use of digital media include being able to find, use, create, and use media wisely, follow the flow of frameworks, establish relationships, and communicate with other people in everyday life (suherdi, 2021). according to unesco (2011), there is a link between digital literacy and life skills (these abilities involve not only technology but also the ability to learn, think critically, create and innovate. according to the guidelines of the national literacy movement (the ministry of education and culture, 2017), the scope of digital literacy covers six basics of literacy: literacy skills including reading and writing; literacy numeracy; science and technology literacy; digital literacy; literacy culture; as well as literacy citizenship. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 70-79 problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti issn 2685-4074 (online) 72 │ digital literacy is not only interpreted as the ability just to use the computer but also the ability to understand all the information circulating in various media. martin alan mentions that digital literacy is a collaboration of the ability to use computer technology at the same time as the ability to access information through technology and media communications (martin, 2008). for the time being, livingstone believes that digital literacy refers to the skills and competencies possessed by someone who can use and utilize digital technology in order to avoid all risks of harm caused by it (livingstone, 2011). digital literacy can also be interpreted as the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate, create, and correct information using digital technology. digital literacy exists as the basic skill required for anyone to contribute to the digital world today. this is in accordance with a statement from nasrullah et al. (2017). digital literacy is very important for development as it needs to participate in the world of digitalization as it should be with reading, writing, arithmetic, and science. it is also important to pay attention to children. according to jimoyiannis and gravani (2011); anggeraini, (2019), digital literacy helps students gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to operate digital media effectively, use digital media in everyday life, understand aspects of social media, and realize the influence of digital media on society. additionally, digital literacy helps students develop positive attitudes toward digital media and readiness for technology development. digital literacy in early childhood learning early childhood education (ece) is a targeted effort for children from birth to the age of six (6) years, which is carried out through present-day stimulation education for growth and development, both physical and spiritual so that children are prepared to enter education more fully in accordance with the constitution. law no. 20 of 2003: national education system (2003) chapter 1 article 1 point 14 and article 28 also mentions that ece is implemented through three (3) paths: formal education in kindergarten or its equivalent, child care, similar education units, and other comparable informal forms and channels, such as family education or education held in a family environment. as mentioned in budiarti (2016), the concept of meaningful ece is the cultivation of independence from an early age; therefore, every aspect of the activity must be comprehensive. digital literacy is very important for development so that people can participate in the world of digitization as it should be with reading, writing, arithmetic, and other sciences. digital literacy is also very important to introduce to children at an early age. according to jimoyiannis and gravani ( anggeraini , 2019), digital literacy helps students get the knowledge, skills, and techniques required to operate digital media effectively. children can take advantage of digital media daily to solve life's problems. according to yusuf (2020), digital literacy in context education plays a role in developing knowledge (cognitive) in children through stimulating curiosity and creativity in early childhood. hence, the ability to use digital technology can be done in a simple way. digital literacy in children's early years covers the ability to use simple and easy digital technology (anggrita , 2019; safitri, 2021). this is a portrait reality moment. use of gadgets is almost universally used by all classes, including young children. parents use gadgets to timetable their son's moments of anger. parents consider that giving gadgets to children will cause complete trouble. but the method is the right way to handle children when upset, have tantrums, and so on. parents can give gadgets to children but need to control and limit the time that has been determined. parents of children are already using their cell phones to record and capture the cuteness. cell phones have replaced the position of parents. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 70-79 problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 73 the ministry of education and culture (2017) defines digital literacy in early childhood as attitudes, knowledge, and skills for children to find and use information, learn, play, and search for entertainment with parental assistance or the adults around them. electronic learning (e-learning) was first proposed by jay cross in 1999. due to the progress and development of technological tools, various explanations and terminology have emerged, such as internet-based training, web-based training, online learning, network learning, and distance learning, as applied in indonesia. that is why holzberger et al. (2013) define digital learning as the delivery of digital media content (e.g., text or images) via the internet, and content learning and teaching methods are provided to increase student learning and aim to increase the effectiveness in teaching or increase knowledge and skills in private. learning digitally in a systematic and complete way by recording all online teaching materials is one of the advantages of digital learning. different points of view have different definitions based on position or angle. the most representative is the definition put forward by the american society of training and education (astd). this defines e-learning as a learning process that applies digital media to study. digital media includes the internet, network companies, computers, broadcast satellites, audio cassettes, video cassettes, interactive television, and compact disc. it also includes learning-based networking, learning-based computers, virtual classrooms, and digital collaboration. digital learning is a tool for acquiring digital teaching materials for online or offline activities via network, cable, or wireless (hockly, 2012). aside from that base theory above, these researchers also try to connect with several relevant previous scientific works to get links with the scientific work above, as follows: 1. the effect of digital technology on student learning motivation (muhasim, 2017) many researchers discuss the impact of digital technology in research, especially in studies using the giveaway technique for students. the novelty of seeing this is on the side of the problems faced by educators as well as parents and students. 2. the role of technology in education in globalization (lestari, 2018) in this study, the discussion of technological developments in education is in accordance with reality. this has become a necessity in facing the era of globalization 4.0. researchers discussed the readiness and problems faced by educators, as well as parents and students. 3. the problems of early childhood learning in the covid-19 period (wahab et al., 2018) according to this research, more and more people are discussing the common problems caused by learning changes that combine offline systems with online learning. so, the more general the description of the problems faced by educational institutions in online learning. the novelty of seeing this is the problems faced by educators as well as parents and students at nurul aulia depok kindergarten. research method this study employed a qualitative approach through phenomenological research design. this design strives for quality investigations with substance explanations of phenomena centered on the researcher, the respondents in the research, and the research location (creswell, 2009). this research was done at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok. it will involve the researcher as a teacher and also observe directly each class consisting of 10-15 children. data collection and identification using a method equipped with a descriptive study, observation, and analysis of documents as an instrument of research. as for the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 70-79 problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti issn 2685-4074 (online) 74 │ data analysis, it is looked for this through three of the stages of the model (referring to the theory of miles and huberman (1994): data reduction, data presentation, and data conclusion. the steps that will be carried out in data analysis to obtain findings are as follows: (1) data reduction, which is a selection process for data sets and discarding the non-required. information data obtained from the field will be summarized and compiled so that the data can be easily verified. (2) data presentation. all data obtained will be analyzed after explanation, sorted, and viewed to identify reducing data bias. data results via interview or documentation will be narrated for ease of use. (3) drawing conclusions from data will be conducted continuously to get the conclusions that have been verified. when more evidence is found, the strong and supportive researcher reviews the records, forming a firm conclusion. findings and discussion the covid-19 pandemic that hit all over the world, especially in indonesia, has forced us to adapt to new habits and ways of life. when there is a pandemic, schools prohibit students from bringing and using smartphones to school. excessive use of social media and gaming applications is a problem. especially during the pandemic, it has become part of important learning. learning distance is supported with media assistance in the form of embedded digital gadgets (smartphones) through the internet network. it is also called the "dare to learn”. this method gives an opportunity for children to catch up with digital and connected technology through the internet (suhendro, 2020). with draft online learning with the application, digital interaction literacy causes experience straight away. education could be upgraded through technology and media during the learning process. as mentioned by garsia and herrero (2008), technology, information, and communication (ict) play a main role and positively change the environment. it allows for a more diverse and interactive environment where knowledge can be generated, including active and cooperative learning techniques and interactions among peers of the same age. the utilization of digital technology starts with a global pandemic in the world of education for the learning process to be more creative. digital technology requires educators and parents to strengthen and facilitate children to adapt to the environment to find alternative ways, document various ways, cultivate media literacy, and transfer appropriate teaching materials to meet their needs. collaboration between teachers and parents increases motivation for study by using non-monotone and more creative learning models. in ece learning, the covid pandemic requires parents to maintain the same empathetic competencies that must be possessed as an educator, including personality skills, pedagogic skills, and professional skills. ece character building is needed in dealing with the speed and uncertainty of digital development in the future, as well as the ability to apply digital literacy. however, every child playing has freedom in choosing activities which is an important process. the rich and abundant nature, as well as the history of various cultures, are alternative sources of digital literacy. the idea of teachers, parents, and children to comply with necessary mutually agreed upon rules. learning activities can be carried out not only at school but also at home or anywhere. so in a covid pandemic situation like this, it is hoped that the existence of a study program at home can help maintain the implementation of activities for children where study programs from home are held in their own homes. existing policy research at home compels parents repeatedly reaffirm their commitment as first educators, especially for their children. at home, there is only one teacher: father and mother. so parents international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 70-79 problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 75 are the people who play the most role in educating children as it should be delivered (kurniasari et al., 2020). these are learners, and they have unlimited access to matrices and learning resources. parental involvement can also be interpreted as a form of education for children in the digital literacy era of technology at this moment. because children will see their parents using digital technology in their activities, coaching and supervision are necessary. children will never do what parents do, even if not all but one child will adopt things that are good to see. it exemplifies the use of digital media, which is critical for every parent to do in educating their children in the current digital technology era. parental assistance to children will reduce the negative impact of digital technology. when parents dominate technology, then technology can be used by parents to educate children with various positive learning strategies using digital media so that the impact is positive for growing children. parents' responsibilities to their children include providing assistance to children, establishing good communication, providing opportunities for trust, providing supervision for children, maintaining good supervision and direction, directing children, and providing effective parenting and learning (ingram et al., 2015). the covid-19 pandemic places a responsibility on parents to become educators for their children, as a companion for children in work assignments, implementing methods to help children work, learn from their environment, and educate their children. as explained by the ministry of education and culture, digital literacy in early childhood is the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that children age early in using existing digital media to find and use information, learn, play, and search for entertainment, with parent assistance or the adults around them. application digital literacy in nurul aulia kindergarten, depok, is still limited to general public media use, i.e., whatsapp media. this is due to limitations in many aspects of the existing but still very limited infrastructure network. not all parents have cell phones as a means of learning via whatsapp messenger. the main issues in implementing digital literacy in nurul aulia kindergarten in depok city are illustrated in the following data in table 1. online learning model in covid-19 pandemic at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok an-naml group table 1. online learning schedule of the an-naml group no day learning model total of students time note 1 monday give tasks through whatsapp. then the duty sent to the teacher through whatsapp 15 60 minutes followed by 5 people 2 tuesday learning via zoom 15 60 minutes followed by people 3 wednesday google classroom 15 60 minutes followed by 3 people 4 thursday give tasks through whatsapp. then the duty sent to the teacher through whatsapp 15 60 minutes followed by 5 people 5 friday give tasks through whatsapp. then the duty sent to the teacher through whatsapp 15 60 minutes followed by 5 people teachers try to innovate in methods, conduct home visits, and use whatsapp and the like to make the learning process happen. they make every effort with their creativity. educators at nurul aulia depok international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 70-79 problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti issn 2685-4074 (online) 76 │ kindergarten try to maximize communication and visits for children to educate so that the teaching and learning process continues to work through limitations. the difficulty of operating a gadget is also an obstacle to the nature of parents accompanying their children to study. low technology ability by parents when a courageous education is a common obstacle. remember, if no parent is capable of operating a gadget in the new education, it means that communication between parents and teachers is critical in this new education. teachers can minimize the level of difficulty in the use of gadgets for parents who have complaints about gadget operation. a teacher can share a short message from a professional student's past with parents while also assisting the child in fully accepting it. besides, these efforts are always carried out incorrectly. the only thing is to do a home visit as part of a strategy to anticipate limitations. digital technology in-home visit activities, besides loading activities, are also used for learning through video shows. the educational material prepared by the teacher also contains simple knowledge about the use of digital learning by the teacher to the guide of the nurul aulia kindergarten, depok. schools recognize that parents' ability to fulfill the facility of online education is also very low. for example, they use internet networks that require little cost, though this could be mentioned as a phenomenon common to many schools, especially at an early age. dare to learn in comparison to other countries with fulfillment capabilities. nurul aulia kindergarten, depok-home visit learning model in the covid-19 pandemic table 2. schedule learning through home visit activities no day learning model time note 1 monday introduction: educational videos 90 minutes followed by 5 people 2 tuesday introduction: tell a story videos 90 minutes followed by 5 people 3 wednesday introduction: animation videos 90 minutes followed by 3 people 4 thursday introduction: tell a story videos 90 minutes followed by 5 people 5 friday introduction: letters and numbers via animation videos 90 minutes followed by 5 people in activities learning, the level of participation is still very low, especially in things that need 100 percent mentoring by adults, like by their brothers, their parents, or those closest to them who can accompany them in a happy learning process. parents do not have enough time to accompany their children to study because they must do their household chores. the covid-19 pandemic is the right time when the role of parents is needed for children. that's because parents are the earliest educators for children in the family. this often happens because of the tight schedule of parents' work outside. from the data above, the participation rate only reached 30 percent or 5 people out of a total of 15 students. while in the second group, the level of learning participation is as follows: international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 2 (2), 70-79 problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 77 online learning model in covid-19 pandemic at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok table 3. online learning schedule of the an-nahl group no day learning model total of students time note 1 monday give tasks through whatsapp. then the duty sent to the teacher through whatsapp 13 60 minutes followed by 4 people 2 tuesday learning via zoom 13 60 minutes followed by 3 people 3 wednesday google classroom 13 60 minutes followed by 3 people 4 thursday give tasks through whatsapp. then the duty sent to the teacher through whatsapp 13 60 minutes followed by 4 people 5 friday give tasks through whatsapp. then the duty sent to the teacher through whatsapp 13 60 minutes followed by 4 people according to table 3, the second group (the an-nahl group) also has very low participation for a variety of reasons, such as busy parents or close relatives, preventing them from accompanying children in learning, smartphone learning, or having to use media with their older sister, which can be seen more closely, or the lack of an internet data plan. this is what has made the learning process at nurul aulia depok kindergarten since the pandemic hit the country "very ineffective". we recognize that integrating digital technology into schools and implementing digital learning is a moderate challenge that is complicated by various factors. one of them is because of the confusing word in accessing and adopting technology "but not in the time frame or as society expects" (howard & mozejko, 2015). community expectations are exacerbated by the fact that the process of change is very complex and inconsistent (blundell et al., 2016). introduction to digital literacy is carried out by tiers and done by the environment closest to the child, such as parents at home and teachers at school. according to rachmat & hartati (2020), it takes three roles in an effort to educate a child as follows: parents, children, and teachers play an important role in teaching children to have happy surfing or internet ethics. as a result, parents and teachers should receive digital literacy training. lack of parental competence to develop technology or technological stuttering will endanger the privacy and safety of children. parents should be committed to parental privacy by setting a good example. various efforts were made by both the teacher and the nurul aulia kindergarten in depok to realize digital literacy, even though it was still very limited. the continuity of the educational process in any condition and situation must work as a form of responsibility and concern for the future of the nation's children's education. children are the future that must be prepared. therefore, government involvement is needed as a stakeholder. conclusion technology is increasingly developing among the upper class, from children to adults, from the family environment to the social environment. everyone can use technology wherever and whenever needed. the role of educators and parents in solving digital literacy problems at ece is important and international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 2 (2), 70-79 problematics of digital literacy implementation in early children at nurul aulia kindergarten, depok erna budiarti issn 2685-4074 (online) 78 │ impossible to do, even though a child has been educated in an institution equipped with digital technology, due to the lack of understanding of digital literacy among education stakeholders. educators must use creativity and innovation to make learning more enjoyable for children. the main obstacle faced by nurul aulia kindergarten, depok, is the busyness of parents who do not allow them to provide direct assistance to their children. the main issue is the lack of availability of internet data quota on infrastructure-based communication devices such as smartphones and internet networks. apart from hr considerations and so on, the limitations of digital devices, especially smartphones, one family can only have one cell phone. to overcome this problem, digital literacy is needed for educators and parents to be achieved in accordance with the expected effectiveness of the process of teaching and learning activities at nurul aulia kindergarten during the covid-19 pandemic. references anggeraini, y., faridi, a., mujiyanto, j., & bharati, d. a. l. 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(2021). the role of digital literacy in a pandemic period, deli serdang: cattleya darmaya fortuna, p . 2-3. the ministry of education and culture. (2017). national literacy movement. https://gln.kemdikbud.go.id/glnsite/tentang-gln/ unesco. 2011. digital literacy in education. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000214485 wahab, g., afwan, m. n., & ahmad, b. (2022). problematika guru dalam pembelajaran di masa covid-19. prosiding pendidikan dan pembelajaran berbasis multidisciplinary di era society 5.0, 1, 68-71. yusuf, m., witro, d., diana, r., santosa, t. a., alfikri, a. a., & jalwis, j. (2020). digital parenting to children using the internet. pedagogik journal of islamic elementary school, 3(1), 1-14. law no. 20 of 2003: national education system (2003). education, vocational guidance and training. https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex4.detail?p_lang=en&p_isn=84435. article 02-26_layout international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 79-93 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.26 i ssn 2 6 5 59 9 86 (pr int), i ssn 2 6 8 54 0 74 (o nline) article history: received june 27th, 2019 ; accepted november 11th, 2019; published november 30th, 2019 implementation of character-based central learning program in kindergarten alirsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto novan ardy wiyani iain purwokerto fenomenajiwa@gmail.com abstract this research is naturalistic qualitative research aimed at describing the implementation of character-based learning center programs in kindergarten al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto. the results showed that the implementation of learning centers carried out three main activities, namely the initial activities, opening activities, and core activities. in the core activities, three activities are carried out, namely the footing before playing, the footing when playing and the footing after playing. internalization of character values in early childhood can be done both in the initial activities, opening activities, and core activities. internalization of character values through center learning can be done optimally in the core activities. in stepping activities before playing children are introduced to the rules of the game that can make children have discipline. in the foothold when playing children play creatively and collaboratively according to the rules of the game. while in foothold activities after playing children are taught to be independent, namely by solving their problems and tidying up the toy equipment they use. the center learning program will be more effectively carried out to shape the character of students if it is accompanied by the implementation of habituation activities in the initial activities, opening activities, and final activities. keywords: learning, center, character. this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction the indonesian nation is now facing a state of education that tends to experience the dynamics of change in orientation related to the expected educational goals. the application of the competency-based curriculum has succeeded in improving the quality of science and technology, but on the other hand education has ignored aspects of character. character is a national foundation that can be instilled early on in children. measures of educational success are not returned to the character of students (soft skills) but on the achievement of students' knowledge and skills (hard skill) needed by the world of work (tutuk ningsih, 2015). so it can be said that education in indonesia prioritizes aspects of knowledge and skills (cognitive and psychomotor/hardskill) rather than aspects of the character (affective/soft skill). another problem that is being faced by this nation is that the current early education system is oriented to the development of the left brain (cognitive) and less attention to the development of the right brain (affective, empathy, and taste). in fact, the formation of character in early childhood is closely related to the optimization of right-brain function. the above is contrary to the function and purpose of national education as set out in ri law international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 79-93 80 number 20 of 2003 concerning the national education system. article 3 states that national education functions to develop capabilities and shape the dignified character and civilization of the nation in the context of intellectual life of the nation. while national education aims to develop the potential of students to become human beings who believe in and fear god almighty, have noble, healthy, knowledgeable, capable, creative, independent and become democratic and responsible citizens. based on article 3, education in indonesia prioritizes the formation of children's character from an early age, rather than on the creation of children who are intellectually intelligent. in islamic teachings, character building for early childhood can be done by accustoming children to carry out daily tasks such as dressing, eating, drinking, bathing, learning to sleep in accordance with islamic teachings. formation of character in early childhood is directed so that children are willing and able to emulate the prophet muhammad who has an honest, trustworthy, independent, disciplined, diligent, confident, and fair character. character education in early childhood is carried out through collaboration between teachers in paud institutions, parents, and the community. at paud, all elements of the institution, from the head of paud, the teacher, to the cleaning service act as character role models, such as friendliness, warmth, discipline, responsibility, tolerance, and others. based on the results of interviews and preliminary observations obtained three images related to character problems and facts in the city of purwokerto. first, early childhood has not been able to become a person who can take care of his words and actions. facts that lead to this include: children like to say dirty and rude, children like to insult, children like to hurt their friends, and children like to damage toys and objects around them. second, early childhood becomes a person who easily defies the orders of parents and teachers. facts that lead to this include: children easily break rules at home and at school, children do not want to be ruled by parents and teachers, children are not accustomed to carrying out daily tasks in accordance with their religious teachings, and children are reluctant and are not accustomed to worship. third, early childhood becomes a person who is not polite to parents and other people who are older and less concerned about others. facts that lead to this include: children easily speak rudely to parents, children are less polite when crossing in front of older people, children are reluctant to say sorry when guilty and say thanks after being helped, and children like to impose wills on parents. the emergence of various problems of early childhood characters above are caused by four things. first, the limited ability and time of parents in shaping the character of children. second, the limited ability of paud teachers in shaping the character of children. third, the paud curriculum is factually more focused on reading, writing and arithmetic (calistung) activities. fourth, the head of paud has not been able to manage paud institutions that focus on implementing character education program activities. the fourth cause of the novan ardy wiyani/ implementation of character-based central learning... 81 problem becomes the dominant factor in the emergence of the third and second cause of the problem. based on the results of interviews and preliminary observations obtained two facts related to the problem of character education management in paud institutions in the city of purwokerto. first, the vision as the ultimate goal in the administration of islamic paud services has been oriented towards character building but cannot yet be translated into a form of planning for the provision of paud services that focus on the implementation of character education. this is compounded by the irrelevance between the vision and the established mission. the mission formulated by paud has not yet described the main steps taken to achieve the vision. second, paud institutions have not been able to develop a paud curriculum that is oriented towards the implementation of character education for early childhood. the teacher has not been able to draw up a learning implementation plan that integrates character values in it. however, there are paud institutions that have special features in implementing character education management, namely tk al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto. alirsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto kindergarten became a model for paud institutions in purwokerto city and banyumas district in shaping early childhood character through a central learning model supported by the implementation of various habituation activities. this then makes the writer interested in researching about the implementation of characterbased learning center programs in kindergarten alirsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto. it is hoped that the results of this study can be used as other paud institutions that want to shape the character of their students through the central learning program. theoretical perspectives research method this research uses a naturalistic qualitative research approach. the naturalistic qualitative approach is taken because the situation and condition at the research location is as it is, without engineering, and takes place naturally. meanwhile, the research method used is descriptive qualitative research method. this research was conducted at kindergarten al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto by making the implementation of the center learning model as the object of study. in this study data were collected using interview techniques using interview sheet instruments, observation techniques using field note instruments, and documentation using checklist sheet instruments. then the data analysis technique used in this study is a qualitative data analysis technique using a general inductive approach(lexy j. moleong, 2012) literature review learning centers in paud institutions carried out with four steps. first, the environmental footing is playing. on this step before the child comes, the teacher prepares and arranges tools and materials in accordance with the plan and schedule of activities that have been prepared. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 79-93 82 second, step before playing (15 minutes). on this basis the teacher and child are circular. the teacher greets and asks how the children are, absent and asks the child to take turns to lead the prayer. next the teacher conveys the theme of the day and is associated with the child's life. then the teacher reads a story that is related to the theme and asks the contents of the story with play activities carried out by the child and introduces the child to all the places and tools that have been prepared. the next step the teacher conveys the rules of the game, presenting children choose playmates and toys, how to use play equipment, when to start and end playing. after that, invite children to play. this is done to bring out the attitude of discipline in children by obeying the rules and commands to play from the teacher. third, step during play (60 minutes). on this step the teacher goes around among the children who are playing, gives examples for those who cannot use the play equipment, provides support with positive questions and statements that are related to the activities carried out by the child, provides assistance if needed, and notes what is done child. if there are only 5 minutes left, the teacher tells the child to get ready to complete the activity. fourth, footing after playing (30 minutes). on this foothold the teacher supports children to recall play experiences and share experiences with each other and give time to children to tidy up or arrange their toys as positive learning experiences that can make children behave in a disciplined manner (mursid, 2015). in implementing the learning center activity program, one teacher is responsible for only 7 to 12 children with daily moving classes from one center to another(ninik masruroh, 2014). in implementing the learning center activities program also includes a program of habituation activities such as respecting people who are talking, speaking politely and slowly, being patient to get their turn, and respect for teachers and friends. in the implementation of the learning center program activities built 18 attitudes, namely quality, sincere, patient, diligent, positive thinking, respectful, friendly, affectionate, humble, clean, responsibility, gratitude, honesty, piety, istiqomah, solemn, qonaah, and discipline . to all these attitudes that will bring children into personal character (mukhtar latif, 2014) centers that can be implemented in learning centers at paud institutions include preparatory centers, beam centers, large role playing centers, small role playing centers, natural material centers, art centers, faith centers and piety (mukhtar latif, 2014) when children obey the rules of the game at each center, they are being formed to become individuals who are characterized by discipline, obedience, self-confidence, able to control themselves, care, independent, brave, and others. implementation of learning centers to shape the character of early childhood is supported by a variety of implementation of habituation activities for novan ardy wiyani/ implementation of character-based central learning... 83 early childhood when they are on a footing before playing and footing after playing. habituation activities for young children is an effort that can be done to accustom children to think, act and act in accordance with the teachings of islam (muhammad fadlillah dan lilif mualifatu khorida, 2013). in the field of educational psychology, habituation is known as operant conditioning. habituation will evoke the internalization of values quickly because value is a determination of the quality of objects concerning a type of aspiration or interest(e. mulyasa, 2013). if children are accustomed to doing good deeds early on then they will like these actions and it is no longer possible to leave them. islam demands that parents and teachers train their children to do good deeds with habituation(abdullah nashih ulwan, 2012). context: findings and discussion the center learning program to shape the character of early childhood in kindergarten al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto is carried out based on a predetermined center learning schedule. the center's learning schedule is based on the time allocation for each theme. when a theme has been completed then the teacher organizes a program of activities outside the learning center which is carried out outside the al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto kindergarten environment. the aim is to bring children with the theme clearly. for example the theme "animals created by god". the activity program outside the learning center includes outdoor study, qurban spread, qurban student training, and hajj rituals. the rppm and rpph serve as the operational basis for implementing the learning center program to shape the character of early childhood. based on the results of research observations can be known description of the implementation of the center learning program to shape the character of early childhood in kindergarten al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto: 1. initial activuty initial activities carried out from 07.00 until 08.00. this initial activity was facilitated by the teacher for children by carrying out activities to welcome children. the teachers welcomed the children in front of the school with smiles, greetings, and greetings (3s). children also respond to the warm attitude of the teacher with warmth too, although not all do it. seen several children who came to school with frowning faces. the reason is because children on that day are reluctant to go to school. seeing this, the teacher is not reluctant to continue to welcome these children with the hope that there will be motivation for children to want to learn. in welcoming children, the teacher accustoms children to: a. farewell to parents who drove him to school. b. say greetings, give a smile, greet the teacher, and proceed with shaking hands (done by shaking hands and kissing the teacher's hand). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 79-93 84 c. take off and put your shoes in your own locker. each child has a shoe locker provided by the school. d. washing hands. the shady school yard becomes the infrastructure used to carry out the activities above. al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto kindergarten also provides shoe lockers for children. children are accustomed to keeping their shoes neatly in a locker. this is done to actualize the character values of discipline in children. besides that, sinks in every corner of the school are also provided by the school to wash children's hands. the children were seen waiting in an orderly manner waiting for their turn to wash their hands. the initial activity was carried out to actualize the character values of caring for oneself, manners, independence and discipline. there is no child who doesn't want to queue up. they seem to have a habit of waiting in line waiting their turn. the four activities above must be carried out because it has become a rule for children. there are consequences for children if they do not do one or more of the four activities. based on the results of the study, it was found that the habituation makes children have courtesy to parents and teachers, communicative with parents and teachers, independent, disciplined, concerned about personal health, and responsibility. at that time there was a child who did not want to enter the classroom and remained standing in the yard. a counselor teacher then approaches and asks the child why he does not want to go into class. it turned out that the cause was because the child was afraid of meeting his friend who had had a fight yesterday. then the teacher explains to the child that fighting is a bad thing and should not be done again. god is very angry with children who like to fight. so that god is not angry, children who fight must apologize to each other and not repeat it again. then the children are invited to the class, meet up with their friends and they are asked to forgive each other. the effort made by the teacher is intended to instill the value of the character of respect for friends and communicative. the teacher at that time explained to the researcher that the implementation of children's character formation would be effectively carried out if coupled with programmed habituation activities and spontaneous habituation activities. in this spontaneous habituation is also carried out the introduction of good and bad behavior to children and motivate children to behave well. based on the description above it can be found that the implementation of initial activities is dominated by the implementation of habituation activities. in practice, the teacher positions himself as an active party in establishing relationships with children. 2. opening activity novan ardy wiyani/ implementation of character-based central learning... 85 the opening activity is carried out and facilitated by the teacher from 8:00 to 09:00. in the opening activities the teacher accustoms children to pray together before learning, murojaah al-qur'an, memorization of the qur'an, doing ablution, and praying dhuha. praying activities before learning can be used as a medium by the teacher to prepare children to participate in learning activities centers. in al-qur'an murojaah activities, children learn to read the qur'an in groups under the guidance of a teacher. short letters to juz amma (juz 30) become letters memorized by children. facilities and infrastructure used by children in the implementation of the five habituation activities above include places of ablution and prayer room. in the ablution place, there are 12 faucets. that makes the child queuing queue not long. children also feel no objection to waiting in line. some places are used by teachers to be used as prayer rooms and religious centers. the place chosen is a place that is clean and has good air circulation (not stuffy). in the implementation of the five habituation activities the child shows his obedience to allah and his responsibilities as a muslim and study hard. during the rote activity, a child told me that he did not feel bored with memorizing the qur'an. the success of other children in memorizing the qur'an becomes motivation for them to be able to memorize the qur'an. this is also experienced by other children. here there is a competition that gives rise to a diligent attitude to learn in children. the teacher revealed that there is a reward for children who excel in memorizing the qur'an. habituation activities at the opening activities are carried out to optimize the development of children's religious and moral values and shape the child's islamic behavior. the teacher termed the implementation of the five habituation activities with the term "morning qur'ani". this activity is carried out for 30 minutes programmed. in these activities the teacher positions himself as the party that actively gives orders, prohibitions, reinforcement and supervision of the child. children become passive parties receive various commands from the teacher and carry out them. after the five habituation activities are completed, the child is then invited to play by the teacher for 30 minutes. educational games provided by the teacher to children such as free drawing activities, syllable games, islamic harmony, and others. this activity is referred to as "morning fresh". the activities are carried out in the library, park and terrace of the school by utilizing books and educational games that have been prepared by the teacher. the spacious and comfortable garden and terrace of the school make children feel at home in playing. they run around. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 79-93 86 in this play activity there is a change of relations between the teacher and the child, from what was originally passive, the child becomes an active individual. the teacher gives broad freedom to children in playing and choosing toys. it makes children look very creative in following various games. two things that must be fulfilled in playing activities are the games that are played are educational games and collaborative games. these collaborative games can make children able to communicate and care for others. basically the purpose of carrying out the opening activity is to prepare the children's psyche before learning at each center. however, the teacher makes a moment in this activity to shape the character of children through habituation and play activities. based on the results of the study can be found that the opening activities internalized the following character values: a. obedience, the value of this character is shown by the attitude of children when obeying orders from paud teachers to pray together, pray al-qur'an, memorize deposits, and perform ablution before prayer. b. communicative, the value of this character is shown by the child's attitude when working with other children when playing. c. creative, the value of this character is shown by the child's attitude when choosing and playing a game. d. concern, the value of this character is shown by the child's attitude when treating books given by the teacher to him. e. responsible, the value of this character is shown by the attitude of children in cleaning toys into the box / place of toys and placing books that they have learned with the guidance of the teacher on the bookshelf. 3. core activity the core activities are carried out and facilitated by the person in charge of the center from 09.00 to 11.00. at this core activity, learning centers are carried out to shape the character of early childhood. based on the results of the study it can be seen that the learning center is carried out through three stages, namely the footing before playing, footing when playing, and footing after playing. the three stages must be carried out by each center. the following is a description of the implementation of the three stages in several centers in al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto kindergarten: a. technology center 1) footing before playing on the basis of playing before the teacher discusses the theme of "animals created by god", sub-theme "animal sacrifices". the children seemed enthusiastic to see the picture of the cow presented by the teacher. the picture becomes a learning medium that has been novan ardy wiyani/ implementation of character-based central learning... 87 prepared by the teacher before the learning activities are carried out. the picture of the cow is presented by the teacher in the form of a poster. the teacher takes a picture of the cow by utilizing the ict facilities owned by tk alirsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto. then the teacher encourages the child to ask questions about the body part of the cow. this is done so that children have the courage to express opinions and express opinions politely. the children scramble to answer questions from the teacher. it shows that children are very enthusiastic in participating in learning center activities. after that the teacher explains the play activities to be carried out by the child along with the rules of the game. this is done to instill the character values of obedience and discipline in children. 2) foothold when playing on a foothold when playing, children observe a tool (in the form of a puzzle) that will be used to play. the tool has indeed been prepared by the teacher before the center learning takes place. children are guessing games for qurban animals. the picture is presented in the form of a puzzle. children arrange letter puzzles into the word "cow". then the child cuts the pattern to form a cow doll. all playing instruments, including scissors, were provided by tk al-irsyad alislamiyyah purwokerto. children play cow dolls as a medium to talk about cows. the cow doll is an educational game tool (ape) made by the teacher. the internalized character values are obedience, study hard and creative. 3) foothold after playing on a foothold after playing, the teacher asks the child to clean the playground, tell the experience while playing, tell about his feelings during play. the teacher also emphasizes the child's behavior, conveys what the child will do tomorrow, and invites the child to wash their hands, pray, eat together, brush their teeth, and play. based on the results of the study it can be seen that the six activities are carried out so that the child becomes a devout, diligent, communicative, and creative person. obedience and craft will make children become disciplined individuals. b. role playing centers 1) foothold before playing on the basis of playing before the teacher does the question and answer about animals qurban (qurban animal body parts, how to care, and others). the questions given are simple questions and are based on children's experiences when celebrating eid, for example, such as who witnesses the sacrifice of qurban animals, what animals are slaughtered? what is the meat used for? children are very enthusiastic about answering questions from the teacher. it seems that this international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 79-93 88 is because every child has a memorable experience related to the celebration of eid. then the teacher introduces play activities and rules. this is done to instill obedience in children against a rule. obedience is what will make the child a disciplined person. the method used in this activity is the demonstration method. 2) foothold when playing on a foothold when playing, children observe images of sacrificial animals. the picture of the sacrificial animal is presented in a poster prepared by the teacher. then the child asks questions and answers about the way of life of a sacrificial animal, physical characteristics, and how to care for it. this is done so that children have a communicative character. then children play the role of being buyers and traders of qurban animals and processing qurban meat. the teacher also introduces rules when playing and applies these rules to children so that the play activities take place conducive. in this activity children are taught how to buy and sell procedures according to islam, the internalized character is obedience, politeness, and caring. 3) foothold after playing on a foothold after playing the child keeps the instrument in its place, tells the experience while playing, tells the feeling when playing. then the teacher affirms the child's behavior, conveys the activities that will be carried out tomorrow, reads hamdalah, and instructs the child to wash hands, eat, and clean the place to eat. based on the results of the study it can be seen that the seven activities were carried out to instill the value of the character of being obedient, studious, responsible, communicative, and confident. obedience is what makes children become disciplined. c. beam centers 1) foothold before playing on the basis of playing before the teacher discusses the sub-theme "tells about the types of animals qurban (goats) and how to care for them. the method used is the lecture method. children are invited to observe pictures of goats. the picture has been prepared by the teacher before learning. the teacher seeks out the picture by utilizing ict facilities in al-irsyad al-islamiyyah purwokerto kindergarten. the teacher also encourages children to ask questions about body parts of the goat. this is done so that children become confident individuals. even children don't seem awkward to ask questions. 2) foothold when playing on a foothold when playing, children observe the equipment used to play (in the form of block play). the equipment has been provided by the teacher before the learning activities are prepared. children play blocks to form a goat cage according to the child's novan ardy wiyani/ implementation of character-based central learning... 89 creativity. then the children play grouping shapes in circles, triangles and rectangles on the geometry rug. the teacher also invites children to play drawing cards goats 1-3. based on the results of this research, it can be seen that the five activities are carried out to internalize the values of creative characters and to study hard on children. the diligent character of learning is expected to make children a disciplined person. 3) foothold after playing on a foothold after playing the teacher asks the children to clean up their toys, tell their experiences while playing, tell their feelings during play. the teacher also affirms the child's behavior, conveys activities to be carried out tomorrow, and instructs the child to wash their hands, pray, and eat together, brush their teeth, play. based on the results of the study it can be seen that the six activities above are used to internalize the values of obedient, communicative, confident, and independent characters. obedience and independence are expected to make children a disciplined person. d. music center 1) foothold before playing on the basis of playing before the teacher conveys the theme of "animals created by god", sub-themes "animal sacrifices". the explanation is done by lecturing. the teacher also seems to observe the child entering the music center. at that time the teacher did not conduct question and answer activities related to the themes and sub themes that he explained. it happened because many children were late to class. the teacher immediately conditions the children who arrive late. 2) foothold when playing on a foothold when playing the teacher tells the story of a sacrificial animal and how to care for it. this is done again because in the foothold activities before playing there are children who arrive late. the teacher then invites the children to talk about chicken followed by teaching the movements and the song "squawking chicken". then the teacher asks the children to draw chickens and sing cocks of chickens while dancing and make sounds from cans and bottles. the activity was carried out to internalize the value of creative characters to children. children's creativity can be seen when they sing the song "cock squawking" accompanied by drums and drums. 3) foothold after playing on a foothold after playing, the teacher guides the child to read hamdalah after playing and asks that the child get used to putting back cans and bottles. based on the results of the study it can be seen that the above activities are carried out to instill international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 79-93 90 obedient character and responsibility to children with the hope that children become disciplined individuals. e. science center 1) foothold before playing on a foothold before playing, the teacher discusses the theme of "recreation of the gift of god", the sub theme "visiting the botanical garden". the teacher uses the interactive lecture method to convey the subtheme. then the teacher shows pictures of flowers to the child. the picture has been prepared by the teacher before the learning activities are carried out. the teacher then encourages children to ask questions about flowers and the botanical garden. this is done to develop children's confidence and ability to establish communication. the child also does not seem awkward in answering questions because he is accustomed to answering questions and also has the experience of going to the baturraden botanical garden. followed by the teacher explaining the rules and procedures for play activities for children. this is done so that children obey the rules that apply to him. obedience to the rules will make children discipline in playing. 2) foothold when playing on a foothold when playing, the teacher tells about the botanical garden in baturaden, followed by explaining how to treat plants with hand puppet media. then the teacher accompanies the child to make flowers from paper and straws and asks the children to arrange their artificial flowers in a vase that has been provided by the paud teacher. the activity was carried out to internalize the values of caring and creative characters. 3) foothold after playing on a foothold when playing, the teacher asks the child to tidy up his playing tools, tell his experiences when playing, and express his feelings when playing. the teacher also affirms the child's behavior and then conveys what activities will be carried out tomorrow. at the end of the activity, the teacher leads the children to wash their hands, pray, and eat together. based on the results of the study it can be seen that the activity is carried out to internalize the values of obedient, disciplined, responsible, independent, communicative, and confident characters. based on the description above, it can be seen that in the footing before playing the teacher becomes an active party in establishing relations with children. the child's active attitude on the footing before playing is only apparent when the child asks about the theme or sub-theme being studied. even then, the child is willing and able to ask questions when the teacher gives stimulus to the child. novan ardy wiyani/ implementation of character-based central learning... 91 conversely, on a foothold when playing children become active parties. in this activity it is seen that the world of children is a world of play and children learn by playing. the teacher in this activity focuses more on supervising the behavior displayed by children during play. this is where the child's behavior is recorded in a diary while the child whose behavior is deviated is recorded in the anecdotal note. then on a foothold after playing children are still active parties. children actively tidy up their toys, tell their experiences and feelings during play. in this activity the teacher is more focused on providing feedback on the behavior displayed by children during play. based on the description on the core activities, it can be found that starting from the footing activities before playing, footing while playing, and footing after playing the teacher uses a scientific approach in the 2013 curriculum whose implementation is regulated in minister of education and culture regulation no. 81a in 2013 concerning the implementation of the 2013 curriculum. n the scientific approach the activities of observing, asking, gathering information, associating, and communicating are carried out. the five activities in a scientific approach are carried out systematically. observing, questioning and associating activities are carried out on the footing before playing. associating activities carried out on a foothold when playing. while communicating activities carried out on a foothold after playing. observing activities carried out by children are used as a medium to internalize the values of polite and caring characters. questioning activities carried out by children serve as a medium to internalize the values of polite, courageous, communicative, and confident characters. the activity of gathering information carried out by children is used as a medium to internalize the values of diligent characters. associating activities carried out by children serve as a medium to internalize the values of diligent, communicative, cooperative, and caring character. whereas the communication activities carried out by children are used as a medium to internalize the values of courageous, confident, and communicative characters. 4. final activity the final activity is carried out after the children eat together. the activity of eating together is carried out after the child follows the learning center activities. this activity is carried out from 11:00 to 11:30. based on the results of the study can be obtained research findings that various activities carried out at the end of the activity include: a. discussion about daily activities. in the discussion about daily activities, reflection activities on children's behavior in their daily lives are carried out. the main goal is to provide teaching to children about good and bad deeds. with this introduction children are expected to be motivated to do good. the teacher explains international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 79-93 92 what benefits children can get when they do good to themselves, others, and the environment. the character values internalized in this activity are obedience, caring, and communicative. b.tell the story of an example or song. the exemplary stories told by the teacher to children have a variety of lessons that children can take lessons and apply. the stories are taken from the life stories of the prophet and the apostle, the story of the prophet's companions and the story of the heroes of islam. in this activity the teacher explains the wisdom of what is in the lesson to the child and invites the child to emulate the characters he tells. in addition, in this activity children are also asked to take turns telling a story that has been conveyed by the teacher in turn. story books are a means used by teachers in carrying out this activity. the story books are in the library room. the character values internalized in this activity are obedience, caring, and communicative. c. pray, greet, and go home. discussion activities about daily activities and storytelling are also used as a medium to condition the child so that children stay focused in learning even though they are coming home soon. after the two activities are completed, pray, shake hands, and go home. the prayer activities are carried out together then the children say goodbye to the teacher with shaking hands. the character values internalized in this activity are obedience, discipline, and politeness. the facilities used in this activity are the sound system. in the center learning program, learning evaluation is carried out during the learning process. learning evaluation techniques used are observation and performance. observation results are reported in a diary. in the diary the teacher's commentary on the child's behavior displayed during the learning activities is described. the teacher's comments like the child did not follow the activity completely and the child followed the activity completely. then the performance results are reported in the assessment report of the work of the child. the teacher also notes the deviant behaviors carried out by the child. conclusion according to researchers, the implementation of this learning center has advantages and disadvantages. its strengths are that learning is more accommodating to children's talents and interests, the themes in learning centers are more realistic and makes children able to understand learning material easily, and the steps in learning centers are in accordance with the characteristics of children who love to play. while its weaknesses include the need for a comprehensive and varied educational game tool (ape) in accordance with the themes, as well as requiring a broad learning space based on the number of centers available in paud institutions. in the implementation of learning centers carried out three main activities, namely the initial activities, opening activities, and core activities. in novan ardy wiyani/ implementation of character-based central learning... 93 the core activities three activities are carried out, namely the footing before playing, the footing when playing and the footing after playing. internalization of character values in early childhood can be done both in the initial activities, opening activities, and core activities. according to researchers, the internalization of character values through learning centers can be done optimally in the core activities. in stepping activities before playing children are introduced to the rules of the game that can make children have discipline. in the foothold when playing children play creatively and collaboratively according to the rules of the game. whereas in foothold activities after playing children are taught to be independent, namely by solving their problems and tidying up the toy equipment they use. the center learning program will be more effectively implemented to shape the character of students if it is accompanied by the implementation of habituation activities in the initial activities, opening activities, and final activities. references abdullah nashih ulwan. (2012). pendidikan anak dalam islam. solo: insan kamil. e. mulyasa. (2013). manajemen pendiidkan karakter. jakarta: bumi aksara. lexy j. moleong. (2012). metodologi penelitian kualitatif. bandung: rosda. muhammad fadlillah dan lilif mualifatu khorida. (2013). pendidikan karakter anak usia dini. yogyakarta: 2013. mukhtar latif. (2014). orientasi baru pendidikan anak usia dini: teori dan aplikasi. jakarta: kencana. mursid. (2015). pengembangan pembelajaran paud. bandung: rosda. ninik masruroh. (2014). manajemen inovasi pembelajaran: studi multi situs penerapan metode sentra dan lingkaran pada paud unggulan nasional berbasis islam di tiga kota jawa timur. jakarta: mitra wacana media. tutuk ningsih. (2015). implementasi pendidikan karakter. purwokerto: stain press. article 05-50_layout international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 117 doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v1i2.50 i ssn 2 6 5 59 9 86 (pr int), i ssn 2 6 8 54 0 74 (o nline) received august 14th, 2019 ; accepted november 11st, 2019; published november 30th, 2019 paud is my second child: how early childhood in indonesia strives to develop heny solekhaha, 1 aresearch synergy foundation, indonesia 1heny.solekhah@gmail.com abstract this research is aimed to investigate how the teachers of early childhood education (ece) in indonesia or pendidikan anak usia dini (paud) have been struggling to sustain and develop their schools. the data was collected through a focus group discussion with teachers in kelompok bermain (kb) from four sub-districts in kendal, central java. it is followed by individual interviews and the teachers’ document analysis. the government policies are also gathered and analyzed to know to what extent the government supports the teachers and their schools. the research found that despite the different reasons for being paud teachers, they established (ece) from ‘zero’ and put their schools as a priority over themselves; being proactive and communicative the only ways to develop both their professionalism and institutions; dana desa and dana kelurahan are two desired financial resources; and they hope that the government could raise their status from non-formal educators to be formal and bring equality. in conclusion, the teachers have struggled to advance their professionalism and institutions despite disadvantaged circumstances and expecting that in the future they will gain more government support. keywords: early childhood education, paud teachers, dana desa, women workers in early childhood education, dana desa, and dana kelurahan. this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license introduction early childhood education around the world has different characteristics and uniqueness. indonesia as a developing country has the policy that each urban village/village should have at least one paud. this policy has spread to all provinces and areas in indonesia, including kendal. this policy, of course, has an impact on the communities, especially women in kendal to participate. this paper would explain the early childhood education (ece) in indonesia and the condition of kendal regency briefly. early childhood education in indonesia indonesia is a country with the fourth-largest population in the world. the population of young children age between three and six years old is high. the government itself maintains that 33 million young children need early childhood education or paud (kemdikbud, 2017a). it is argued that children develop their brains very fast during their early ages and they should be supported by a positive learning environment. indonesian government’s commitment to early childhood education (ece) got stronger since indonesia ratified the dakar framework for action in 2000. the government has agreed to expand and improve early childhood care and education comprehensively through families and more structured programs, and it should reach all children international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 117-127 118 from ages 3 to 6 years old by 2015 (unesco, 2000). the definition and the categories of ece are then explained based on the national education system act no. 20/2003. this act states that early childhood education or paud is the activities done by stimulating the children age zero to six years old to develop their physical growth and psychological development before they study at elementary schools. further, it states taman kanak-kanak (tk) and raudatul athfal (ra) are formal early childhood education, while kelompok bermain (kb) and tempat penitipan anak (tpa) are nonformal. the government mandates the program of satu desa/satu kelurahan, satu paud, meaning that each village (desa) or each urban village (kelurahan) should have at least one early childhood education centre (paud) in 2011. after several years of the program, the ministry of education and culture states that recently twelve million of seventeen million children have got access to early childhood education (kemdikbud, 2017b). the government would continue its commitment that every child should experience early childhood education. in kendal regency there are 631 kindergartens or tk/ra (3 public and 628 private), 347 playgroups or kb (private), 14 child cares or tpa (private), and 38 early childhood run by posyandu or sps (private). in total, there are 1,030 early childhood schools in kendal with 55.5% is tk, 33.7% kb, 5.7% ra, 3.7% sps, and 1.4% tpa (lumbung data pendidikan, 2019). most of the schools are private with limited government financial assistance. the teachers are also mostly high school graduates. kendal regency kabupaten kendal is one of 35 regencies in central java. kendal is located in the north coastal line of java with around 46% of its land is the agricultural area (pemerintah kabupaten kendal, n.d.). geographically, it has beaches in the north part and mountains in the south, with 20 subdistricts and 286 areas consisting of kelurahan and desa (bps kendal, 2014). its population in 2015 was 952,966 people (bps kendal, 2015). the expense of per capita per year for one person in kendal is around ten million rupiahs (bps kendal, 2016). among 952,966 people, there are 11.10% of the total population or 106.070 people living in poverty with the poverty line idr 335.497 (usd 24) per capita per month (bps kabupaten kendal, 2017). most people work as farmers and rely on agricultural products, while others have various occupation. to obtain a higher wage, many parents especially women work in abroad as migrant workers. bnp2tki or the bureau of placement and protection for indonesian migrant workers states that central java is a province with the second highest number of migrant workers in indonesia (badan nasional penempatan dan perlindungan tenaga kerja indonesia, 2018b). kendal is a regency with the highest number of indonesian migrant workers or tenaga kerja indonesia in central java with 11,216 workers in 2014 (badan pusat statistik jawa tengah, 2018). the number of migrant workers from central java in 2018 is 56.100 people (badan nasional penempatan dan perlindungan tenaga kerja indonesia, 2018a). the department of manpower and transmigration (disnakertans) stated that between january and june 2017, kendal sent 4,038 informal migrant workers and 528 formal migrant workers (pujangga, 2017). the migrant workers often leave their children for years and let their relatives usually the grandparents to take care of their grandchildren. therefore, early childhood education or paud plays important roles in kendal, especially in poor areas. research question by considering that many early childhood education schools are surviving in difficult conditions, the research questions would be “despite their limitation, how could the teachers in early childhood heny solekhah /paud is my second child: how early childhood in indonesia strives to develo 119 education in kendal develop both their competencies and their schools?” theoretical perspectives the number of researches focusing on early childhood teachers is very limited. some researchers argue that paud relies too much on low-income communities, especially the national housewives association or pkk, the group of mothers who work voluntarily with the value of self-sustaining and egalitarian cooperation within the community (newberry, 2017; octarra & hendriati, 2018). it is undeniable that the financial problems varied among communities could highly bring impact on the availability of the schools’ funding. pkk, widely known as a group of women who actively get involved to the community is a key actor to build and sustain the early childhood institutions in the communities both in metropolitan and rural areas. the women’s roles in community-based development itself are caused by post new order, democratisation, and the increase of the middle class (newberry, 2017). the demand to increase the family income raises the number of women working in industry, leaving the children at home with minimum supervision. thus, there is a change of responsibility in educating the children which are previously by a mother at home to early childhood teachers at schools. in addition, there are pressures for pkk women to contribute, the intention to have a better chance, and the intention to improve children’s development and all of three (newberry & marpinjun, 2018). still, they have an extremely limited chance to obtain higher education or to be certified teachers and trapped in this job. the previous research found that these women are ‘trapped’. nevertheless, there should be another story to tell that might bring different stories and motives of why many women decide to continue their participation in early childhood education. then, it is necessary to investigate whether teachers in kendal have the same experiences or have slightly different conditions. like other qualitative research, this study puts the positionality to bring the teachers’ voices focusing on the lense of socio-cultural aspects (crotty, 1998). the teachers’ experiences and opinions about their job including the demands were captured and interpreted as the people struggling for not only the development of the society but also justice for teachers’ contributions. the issues related to the government are also discussed as a form of advocacy to the early childhood teachers. therefore, this study attempts to share the stories understanding of what happens in the early childhood in indonesia and teachers’ expectation to raise the people awareness and support for them. a casestudywas then conducted in kendal regency, jawa tengah by having a focus group discussion with six bunda (teachers) in kelompok bermain (kb), followed by individual interviews through whatsapp. the teachers are coming from four different sub-districts ranging from four to eleven years working experiences: bunda ayun and bunda yati from two kelurahan in kota kendal, bunda ana from kb run by a yayasan (foundation) located in a village south kaliwungu, bunda ziya from a village in ngampel, and bunda hesti and bunda isma from the same village in kangkung. some names in the interview, however, have been changed due to confidentiality. the focus group discussion and interviews were done from january to early february 2019. some teachers’ documents and the government policy are analysed to both confirm and add information. the triangulation was done, and the themes were constructed to build know what the paud teachers have done to sustain their institutions while developing their teaching professions. context: findings and discussion the research has some findings related to the process of starting the schools, the financial problems, the effort in networking, the desire to use dana desa and dana kelurahan, and the demand for justice. the explanation is as followed. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 117-127 120 ‘starting from ‘zero’ all teachers who were interviewed have reasons to teach in early childhood education. bunda ayun has a passion in early childhood education (ece) and has taught in paud since 2004 in ambawara before moving to kendal and started her kb (play group) with her neighbour in kendal in 2011. another teacher, bunda yati, feeling regret that her five-year-old son started elementary school too early, she agreed to build a kb and teacher her neighbours in 2014. bunda ziya, after returning from kalimantan, joined her neighbour’s kb in 2011 after being convinced that children whose parents working abroad needed support from adults. bunda isma and bunda hesti were cadres in pembinaan kesejahteraan keluarga (pkk) since 2003 and started a new kb in 2011 due to one village one paud policy. the most experienced teacher is bunda ana, a posyandu cadre who started her kb in 2007. all of them, except bunda ziya, had experienced working with children and established kb. establishing schools was a difficult task especially if there was no available infrastructure. bunda ayun previously rented a house one year before moving to a new building lent by the department of irrigation. bunda isma and bunda hesti were lucky enough that their neighbor lent her house to be used as kb for years. then they moved to a building that has also been used for taman pendidikan quran (tpq), a place for young children to learn qoran in 2013. they have shared the same building where kb ran the morning and tpq in the afternoon for five years while waiting for a new building funded by dana desa. bunda ana used a building provided by the kindergarten of her yayasan, while bunda yati was very lucky that her kelurahan built a new building funded by pnpm. only bunda ziya who did not need to find a new building since her kb building belongs to her neighbor. only some of them received the government’s stimulant funding while the others did not. while establishing a school need infrastructure, educational human resources are very limited. the requirement of being an early childhood teacher, based on permendiknas number 16 in 2007 paud (tk/ra) is at least diploma iv or a bachelor of either early childhood education or psychology. since the recruitment of their, kb relied on the volunteerism and it was not surprising that they did not have a linear educational qualification. bunda ayun graduated from bachelor of economics education from a university in surakarta, while bunda ana had diploma iii in economics management from a university in yogyakarta. the other teachers were high school graduates. now bunda ayun, bunda ana, bunda isma, and bunda hesti had obtained the bachelor’s degree of paud, while bunda yati and bunda ziya are doing the study the fourth and the eight semesters. the other teachers in their schools also still have various educational backgrounds. it takes time, and more importantly financial ability to study in university. from 600,000 paud teachers in indonesia, only 20% of them have qualified the bachelor of early childhood education (kemdikbud, 2017b). this number seems small but appreciated appreciation by the government. the teachers in fgd are proud that despite limited financial ability, they could study in universities and are qualified based on the government’s regulation. regarding the teachers’ quality, octarra and hendriati (2018) state that the government has policies that the teachers of early childhood education should obtain formal qualifications although the research done by bapennas in 2014 found that there was no direct correlation between the teachers’ educational qualifications and their interactions with children. however, the national policy ignores the uniqueness of each ece schools and the inequality of teachers’ professionalization, leaving the teachers questioning themselves about their professional identity (yulindrasari & ujianti, 2018). the ‘educational malpractice’ is a scary heny solekhah /paud is my second child: how early childhood in indonesia strives to develo 121 nightmare for the teachers in dealing with their educational background and the challenges to teaching early childhood students. “my salary is yen in bank central akherat” it is widely known that the teachers’ wage is the main problem in paud. there is a (sad) joke that paud teacher’s salary is ‘sajuta’ in west java (ruang guru paud, 2018). it is almost spelled as ‘sejuta’ (one million), the considerably acceptable salary for a teacher, but the true meaning is the acronym for sabar, jujur, and tawakal (being patient, being honest, and be letting god do the rest). the teachers in this research also brought their own (sad) joke that their salaries are yen in bca. yen is not japanese currency but javanese word for ‘if’ meaning that ‘if any’ or ‘if it is available’, while bca is not the name of a famous bank indonesia (bank central asia) but bank central akherat, meaning that the reward would be in the hereafter life. their salaries were extremely low ranging from usd 10 to 50 per month. even they mostly should pay for the school expenses due to the low students’ school fees. kb teachers ever received usd 15 per month in 2014 from kendal regency (wiyono, 2014) but it was temporary due to the limited budget. the teachers admit their salaries are not paid professionals but still to bear different tasks. they have organizational structures such as the school principal, the secretary, the treasurer, and the school operator for the national school database or dapodik. some of them also do the cleaning while others hire another person. in fact, sometimes they share the job together due to limited computer skills and times. those who have babies do fewer responsibilities and the other teachers help her. the ‘kinship’ system is more suitable for them because they cannot pay a higher salary. related to this issue, marpinjun and ramsey (2017) maintain that gender, culture, and religion influence the policy in early childhood education. the gender divisions have put men as breadwinners while women are more likely to participate in domestic works, mostly unpaid (hoyt & simon, 2017). indeed, the dichotomy between male and female jobs put women to ‘feminise’ paud with poor payment (marpinjun, 2009, as cited in newberry, 2012), especially women in poor areas pay the cost of the policy (newberry & marpinjun, 2018). javanese culture encourages more on community and family, instead of focusing on individualism (adamson, 2007), encouraging them to contribute more than it should be. the religion also affects them to continue volunteering for the sake of worshipping god. indonesia is the most generous country in the world with the highest participation in volunteering (heriyanto, 2018). indeed, the indonesian government has put women have a central position to national change (jones, 2010). however, they do not receive enough compensation. they rely much on self-supported funding in running the school. networking as an advancement’s factor women leaders usually experience barriers in having role models, networking, and sponsors (van esch, assylkhan, & bilimoria, 2017 cited ibarra et al., 2013). during the fgd, the teachers state that they see senior teachers as role models, especially those who experience the same conditions but could survive and have developed schools. the networks that they approach are including the teachers’ forums, the community gatherings, and the parents’ group. the sponsors are uneasy to find but they prefer to communicate with the village leaders to support the schools. the teachers register themselves to different groups of paud to improve their leadership capabilities and have more access to obtain information such as himpunan pendidikan anak usia dini (himpaudi), pedoman pembinaan gugus (pkg), and kelompok kerja guru (kkg). these organisations provide information related to available training, seminars, and the possibilities to get the government’s funding. they also share their teaching experiences and skills. their participation in international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 117-127 122 these organisations, especially those who are actively involved would have the possibility to get a grant to attend a free workshop. the seminars, pieces of training, and workshops are available every year in kendal. however, it cost about usd 8 per day, while the teachers’ income is very low. they cannot depend on the government to provide free training due to limited quota. usually, one sub-district only has a quota for one or two teachers. besides, it does not guarantee that the speakers are capable enough to deliver the topic. the facilities of the venue are also limited and might not be comfortable for them to do sessions in a whole day. they share their experiences when they got an invitation to attend training by the government, but they found that the chairs were almost broken or there was no air conditioning in the room. the very good training is usually funded by the central government but only for those who lucky, that could be selected to participate. hence, they prefer to self-fund their pieces of training in order to increase their teaching competencies. the other networks are attending community gatherings to promote their schools as well as to raise the neighbours’ awareness. the regular participation in pkk, posyandu, and pengajian (islamic religious gatherings) could strengthen the emotional bonding and sometimes influence the activity of fundraising especially when they know that kb in their villages needs financial assistance. the amount of money donated is helpful. the teachers should spend the money frugally. some parents also have sympathy for the teachers. bu ayun and her teachers are given uniforms and hijabs by the parents, while the kindergarten (tk) teachers in the foundation where bu ana and her teachers working also buy them uniforms. all teachers through individual interviews also stated that every year the parents buy them keepsakes such as carpets, cupboard, fan, and books. since the school fee per month is only between usd 2.5 and usd 7 paid by 23 to 40 students, it is not surprising that the rest of the school budget might not be able to afford the wornout equipment. thus, being open about discussing school problems is important. dana desa and dana kelurahan are new hopes the government funding to paud is called biaya operasional pendidikan (bop). the amount of it received by schools are varied according to the number of students. each student will receive idr 600,000 (usd 43) annually (purwadi, 2017). to receive the funding, every kb in kendal should submit a bop proposal each year and make an annual report. this funding is helpful to at least to purchase stationaries and daily necessities of the school. however, it can only be used to fund the teachers’ transportation cost such as to attend the teachers’ forum or training session. it cannot be used to buy electronics such as a television, a printer, or a vcd player either. hence, the teachers should tightly manage the school budget to purchase the equipment. the teachers shared experiences in reporting the bop. it is an annual report that makes them so busy that they should work overtime. the format of reporting is complicated and changed a lot every year. what makes them annoyed is that the government staff usually do not explain the clear draft or layout in doing the report. many times, they should do multiple revisions because of the unclear procedure. it is not efficient and wasting both paper and their own money. it is also time-consuming and burdening especially those who live in very rural areas and should go back and forth to dinas pendidikan kabupaten, the department of education and culture government regency office. consequently, the teachers usually rely on the leader of himpaudi to help them. the bop is helpful but also burdening. fortunately, the kb in desa (village) has more chance to receive much more funding from this grant. heny solekhah /paud is my second child: how early childhood in indonesia strives to develo 123 dana desa is the grant given to villages by the ministry of village, development of disadvantaged regions, and transmigration (kemendes pdtt) since 2015. the amount of this grant has increased from 20.67 trillion rupiahs in 2015 to 60 trillion rupiahs in 2017. it means that a village received 280 million rupiahs in 2015, and 800 million rupiahs in 2017 (kemendesa, 2017). the use of dana desa based on the ministry rule (permen) number 21 in 2015 prioritises the infrastructure, economic development, and basic services (kemendesa, 2016b). based on permendesa number 2 in 2016 on developing village index, there should be at least one paud in each village (kemendesa, 2016a). therefore, between 2015 and 2018, dana desa has been used to establish 50,854 paud (kemendesa, 2018). desa that do not implement the regulation will have the sanction of punishment from the government. the government are optimistic that dana desa and biaya operasional pendidikan (bop) can increase the young children’s participation at schools (ruang guru paud, 2018). recently, around 27% of children have no experience in ece (kemdikbud, 2017b). indonesian ministry of education is also ready to cooperate with the kemendesa to give 300 hours training to the teachers by considering that it should as qualified as the graduates of diploma iii or bachelor degree (kemdikbud, 2017b). according to kendal regent’s rule number 6 in 2018 on the procedure for dividing and determining the amount of dana desa, dana desa is prioritised to develop poor villagers and the amount is based on the calculation of the number of residents, the level of poverty, the extent of the village, and the difficulty index to reach the village (bupati kendal, 2018). in the fgd, only kb of bunda hesti and bunda isma (they work in the same kb), and that of bunda ziya that receive dana desa, while bunda ayun and bunda yati said that their kbs are located in kelurahan and did not receive it. bunda ana also said that despite its location in desa, her kb did not deserve that. it was not specifically mentioned how much money they receive but bunda hesti and bunda isma said that they were waiting for the finishing of their kb building construction, while bunda ziya’s school was looking for a location to expand the school’s building. on another hand, bunda ayun and bunda yati need to be more patient because dana kelurahan is not as much as dana desa. according to the government regulation (pp) number 17 in 2018 on kecamatan (sub-district), it is stated that each regional government has responsibility to fund kelurahan and it should be allocated by each subdistrict (setkab, 2018). kelurahan located in a city with less than 5% of its area is rural village deserves 5% of anggaran pendapatan dan belanja derah (apbd) kendal, or the regional budget for income and expenditure, after the apbd is deducted by dana alokasi khusus (dak), of the special allocation fund (silalahi, 2018). it is also not mentioned how much money they received from dana kelurahan. the government plans to raise the amount of dana kelurahan. it is expected that in 2019, one kelurahan would receive around 350 million to 380 million rupiahs (sunariyah, 2018). therefore, dana kelurahan granted by the indonesian government is only to support the regional government. however, this new regulation needs kemendagri’s explanation in details (kusuma, 2018). however, the three trillion rupiahs of dana kelurahan is taken from dana desa, which was previously 73 trillion rupiahs becomes 70 trillion (sitepu, 2018). it means that each village will only receive 100 million rupiahs because there would be more desa receive this grant. the paud teachers should be more proactive to access the funding. “we need equality” paud teachers, especially those working in kb are underprivileged despite their efforts to develop both their institutions and professionalism. moreover, kb teachers feel the gap between them and tk (kindergarten) teachers. kb is non-formal international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education vol. 1, no. 2, november 2019, pp. 117-127 124 ece while tk is formal. the status of tk teachers as civil servants or pns also makes kb teachers less confident. in kendal, there is a custom that paud teachers wear keki, a civil servant uniform. kb teachers sometimes feel disapproved when they wear it because people may assume that they are already promoted, whereas they still have to strive to survive and sustain their enthusiasm to be paud teachers. in december 2018, on behalf of 385 thousands of paud teachers, yusril ihza mahendra, a well-known lawyer sues to change the act no 14 in 2015 on teachers and lecturers (aji, 2018). he and paud teachers demand the same status for the non-formal early childhood teachers due to the underpayment compared to other teachers in formal education institutions. each paud teacher in kendal contributes idr 10,000 (usd 0.71) to pay the process. it is undeniable that paud teachers experienceboth pride and exhaustion in selfsustaining their schools (newberry & marpinjun, 2018). their sacrifices for early childhood education should be paid off. anything is done by kb teachers for the sake of their schools, while they hardly receive the financial support that specifically purposed to raise their wages. indonesian people are generous to help but it does not mean that they are allowed to be neglected. kb teachers are not lower in the spirit of educating young children. as many of them have graduated from the bachelor of paud and attended various pieces of training, it is reasonable that they deserve equality, and more importantly, the reward. the teachers are hoping that someday they will receive certification, the government compensation for their teaching profession. it would take a longer time, but these teachers are always optimistic. they believe that, according to their religion, their dedication to education would be granted by god; they still receive bank central akherat. they are hoping and struggling that someday yen would change into the real rupiah. conclusion the existence of paud in kendal is crucial, not only because of its responsibility to educate children, but also the limitation of many aspects, especially in the funding and the teachers’ salary. the teachers should sacrifice themselves for the sake of the schools. they pay more rather than receive acceptable salary; they still put their efforts to handle their schools’ expenses and more importantly to educate themselves. the teachers’ intention to continue the study is highly appreciated and deserve more government attention. the networking is their strength; the contribution of the communities is appreciated yet insufficient. therefore, it is the government’s responsibility to do more not only to fund the village but start to increase the teachers’ welfare. the research confirms the previous research about the condition of the early childhood schools and teachers. it also brings more picture about how the teachers put huge effort to both increase their teaching competencies and develop their own institution. yet, this research is limited to the number of interviewees in few sub-districts in kendal regency. its funding is therefore cannot be used to generalise the condition of other kelompok bermain in other areas. there should be more investigation related to the teachers’ difficult experiences in running pendidikan anak usia dini. however, many teachers in poor areas are relatively experiencing financial problems. this research is also limited to the access to interview the government officers in order to clarify and add detailed information about the policies related to early childhood education (ece) in indonesia and kendal regency. it is suggested that upcoming research have a better investigation. dana desa and dana kelurahan are influential in sustaining paud in indonesia. further research heny solekhah /paud is my second child: how early childhood in indonesia strives to develo 125 about the impact of this funding would be interesting and important to evaluate the success of the program for both the teachers and the schools. references adamson, c. 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(2018). “trapped in the reform”: kindergarten teachers’ experiences of teacher professionalisation in buleleng, indonesia. policy futures in education, 16(1), 66-79. microsoft word 2. ijeiece-727-jm-article text-3244-1-4-20211031.edited by le.docx available online at: https://researchsynergy.org/ijeiece/ international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 2 (2021): 18-27 corresponding author firda.rizqy.amalia-2020@pasca.unair.ac.id; suryanto@psikologi.unair.ac.id doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i2.727 research synergy foundation sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia1, suryanto2 1, 2 human resource development, universitas airlangga, indonesia abstract as science and technology advance along with the growth of industry 4.0, teachers are expected to adjust their skills to current demands. in a specific subject, skills or knowledge defined by professionalism become an essential item as the field's flagship. competence is required in all disciplines, including teaching methods. the role of teachers in educating and attempts to maximize all brain cells in children are inextricably linked to the success of early childhood education. given the golden age in humans is 0-6 years. thus, this study aims to identify the readiness of teacher competencies to educate students in the face of an ever-increasing flow of technology. the objective of this study was to discuss the it training provided at ppt permata hati to help teachers enhance their it skills in creating online lesson plans. a qualitative method was employed in this study, utilizing a case study approach. data was gathered through interviews, documentation, and activity pictures. the results of this study revealed the progression of the educational process at ppt permata hati in bendul merisi village, wonocolo district, from the creation of learning activity plans by teachers using the sim paud application to online performance reporting through the surabaya city department of education's website. the training outlined the principal's training, which included everything from an introduction to using the program. a presentation and on-the-job training methodology were employed as the training model. the originality or value of this study is that it discusses the training given to early childhood teachers on how to use the surabaya city department of education's information technology "paud sim" to create weekly learning implementation plans. the implication of this research was done to prepare for the needs for training, both in the form of infrastructure and logistics needed. the existence of sim paud as a means of exchanging information on the performance of educators, absenteeism, weekly learning program plan documents between schools, teachers, and the surabaya city education office. keywords: training, educators, human resources, science, and technology. this is an open access article under the cc-by-nc license. introduction environmental conditions and rapid technological advances influence increasingly advanced education. this progress can be seen from technology development that allows for easier and faster access to information. rapidly growing information cannot be separated from the developments in computer engineering. the most influential application in computer technology and information technology in the field of education is the use of computer networks and the internet. (mikrotik, 2014). technological progres will not be able to run optimally if the available resources cannot keep up. in this case, the resources in question are human resources and artificial resources such as technology, the internet, infrastructure, and others. the main human resources in the education sector are educators. the ability of educators to face the era of increasingly advanced technology. education in the development process provides a very large contribution to the progress of a nation because education is a means of building the character of the nation. program policies to improve the quality of education cover three main aspects: first, the development of a sustainable curriculum at all levels and types of education. second, improve the welfare and professionalism of teachers. third, the utilization of educational facilities and infrastructure (mulyasa, 2014). in terms of manpower, the low quality of human resources is a fundamental problem that can hinder the development of the national economy. in discussions at school, teacher competence is extremely important to student activities and learning outcomes (mustari, 2014). therefore, we international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto 18 | need qualified teachers who have the will and ability to continuously improve their quality (continuous quality improvement) (mulyasa, 2014). the current conditions that have occurred since the emergence of the covid-19 viruses in 2019, which have not yet reached their peak in 2021, require that the online learning process be good (kamil, 2021). the process in this network is to minimize physical contact between humans, maintain a safe distance, and stop the spread of the existing virus. so the learning planning process, learning activities, to reporting learning outcomes must use the internet. this is regulated in circular letter no. 15 of 2020 on guidelines for organizing learning from home in an emergency period for the spread of coronavirus disease (covid-19). this rule is based on the first law of government regulation no. 17 of 2010 on management and implementation of education as amended by government regulation no. 66 of 2010 on amendments to government regulation no. 17 of 2010 on management and implementation of education. and second, regulation of the minister of education and culture no. 33 of 2019 on disaster safe education units (kebudayaan, n.d.). based on the background described previously, the following research questions were formulated: 1. how is the training implemented by the school for educators in dealing with era 4.0 education at ppt permata hati? 2. how is the training process for teaching performance results reported online (in the network)? 3. what training model does the principal apply to teachers at ppt permata hati? based on research questions, the objectives of this study are: 1. describe the training implemented by schools to educators in dealing with education in the 4.0 era 2. describe the training process of teaching performance results reported online (in the network). 3. describe what training model is applied by the principal to teachers at ppt permata hati literature review according to soekidjo notoatmadjo, human resource management or personnel management acknowledges the importance of human resources or labor in organizations and their use in various functions and activities to achieve organizational goals (keselamatan et al., 2014). the operation of total quality management in education has several main things that need to be considered, namely, continuous improvement, where this concept implies that the manager always makes various improvements and continuous improvements to ensure that all components of education providers have achieved the quality standards applied. it also means that the institution is always trying to update the process as needed (sallis, 2012). the existence of a continuous improvement process requires good human resource management. various terms regarding human resource management are used, namely human resource management (hrm), personnel management, labor management, personnel administration (employment), and industrial relations. human resource management emerged as a new problem in the 1960s; before that, more or less in the 1940s, personnel management was dominant (sukrispiyanto, 2019). human resource management is part of general management that focuses on the people owned. the hr management functions and general management functions are managerial: planning, organizing, directing, controlling. operational functions: manpower procurement, compensation, integration, maintenance, termination of employment. in educational institutions, education personnel in general are: (1). educational staff consists of educators (teachers, supervisors, examiners), education unit managers, librarians, laboratory assistants, and other learning resource technicians. (2). other personnel who deal with managerial or educational administrative matters (suparto, 2016). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto | 19 training is a process by which a group of people can achieve certain abilities to help achieve organizational goals. therefore, this process is tied to various organizational goals; training can be viewed narrowly or broadly. on a limited basis, training provides employees with specific and recognizable knowledge and skills used in their current job. sometimes there is a line between training and development, with development being broader in scope and focusing on the individual to achieve new abilities that are useful both for his current job and future, according to mathis (hakim & si, 2007). gary dessler (2009) defines training as the process of teaching new or existing employees the basic skills they need to carry out their jobs. training is one of the efforts to improve the quality of human resources in the world of work. employees, both new and old, need to attend training because of job demands that can change due to changes in the work environment, strategies, and so on. the general purpose of the training provided to the target is to develop expertise in a particular field to complete work according to predetermined targets. in addition, the purpose of training is to add insight to develop knowledge so that work can be completed rationally. and the last is to develop an attitude of good cooperation among employees, colleagues, and managers (sedarmayanti, 2009). methods in training have various types according to the objectives to be achieved. according to john, there are 12 training methods (nugroho, 2019): 1. presentation method this method focuses on the quality of communication with a passive one-way or two-way communication system. participants receive material directly from the instructor with the concept of studying in general. the information conveyed can be in the form of data, facts, and problem-solving techniques. 2. lecture method the method takes place when an instructor communicates verbally to the participants. this method can be said to be effective if an instructor is the only good source of information. in addition, the instructor can provide a lot of information. however, the weakness of this model is that it will create a boring atmosphere due to the one-way communication. 3. method of discussion or conference this method goes both ways, giving each other feedback on the theme being discussed. various kinds of media can be used to support the information or the smooth delivery of messages. the advantage of this method is that feedback is not only the focus of the instructor. 4. audiovisual method this method is supported by the use of audio and visual devices such as slide shows, overhead, video, and so on. this tool aims to support a more effective information delivery process. the use of video in training will improve the reasoning ability of the participants and even the technical ability of how a training content is presented attractively and visualized in a structured manner. 5. on-the-job training method in this method, participants will be actively involved in every activity organized by the instructor. this method takes place when a team member experiences the learning process in work activities directly. managers or mentors will provide examples of how to carry out various sets of work processes. 6. self-directed learning method the trainees are personally responsible for the training materials and the learning process. they study the content or material they get. the role of an instructor is as a facilitator who wants to be asked. 7. apprenticeship method this method can also be referred to as the apprenticeship method, an activity that can be done outside the classroom. this means that participants can directly practice in the internship place. this method is effective if the goal is to gain knowledge, skills, and work skills through work experience. 8. simulation method international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto 20 | training on the actual situation brought into the scope of the training as if in that situation a simulation can also be carried out using games or games. 9. case study method a description of the real situation that is brought into the training and used as training material. the difference with simulation is that the case has already occurred and is discussed to find the best solution. 10. business games method in this method, participants are required to identify all the information provided, analyze and then make decisions regarding the problems in the game. 11. roleplay method this method is also referred to as the role-playing method on several occasions. participants who acted as a trainer wrote that this method was the most fun. in the context of work, roleplaying can be modified in such a way that it can be applied to the situation and conditions of the company. 12. behavior modeling method. this method is based on the principles of social learning theory. participants were asked to look at an example of a person demonstrating behavior that they should imitate and practice. there are two important things about this method: learning does not occur because of the observation of certain behaviors shown by a model. secondly, reinforcement occurs in a person through behavior change. information technology is limited to computer technology (hardware and software) that will be used to process and store information and includes communication technology to send/disseminate information (m husaini, 2014). computer technology is technology related to computers, including computer-related equipment. medium communication technology is technology related to long-distance communication devices, such as telephone, fax, and television. when used wisely for education and training, technology can improve quality and reach and has a very important meaning for well-being (haris budiman, 2017). methodology this research was a case study where the researcher observed what was being studied in descriptive form. a case study is a type of qualitative approach that examines a particular “case” in the context of contemporary real-life (sugiyono, 2018). this research was conducted at the permata hati integrated early childhood education for non-formal early childhood education. students who study at this school have a range of ages from 2 years to 5 years. it is located on jl bendul merisi indah no 3 surabaya, bendul merisi village, wonocolo district, surabaya city. the subjects in this study were selected purposively who were judged to have the capacity as informants, namely ppt permata hati educators as the party conducting the treatment, school operators as web holders, and parties controlling virtual activities carried out, vice principal in the curriculum field as the person in charge, the running of the education process, and the principal as the manager and decision-maker on the policies set at the school. data collection in this study used: (1) interviews with related parties, (2) blog or website observations (3) data collection, document analysis. this study used an analytical induction approach, which was based on the problem or research question. mason stated that the data collection technique was developed through analysis of the data sources of each research question, then the data collection techniques were; (1) qualitative interview, (2) participatory observation, (3) document analysis, and (4) site analysis with interview preparation and planning procedures (sugiyono, 2018). researchers took pictures of what they wanted to study, also described their position as instruments in the data collection process. therefore, the validity of the data in this study is effective and can later produce a result that can be accounted for validity and accuracy. this study used an interactive model of data analysis. miles and huberman (sugiyono, 2018) stated that empirical data and then looking for abstractions could be analyzed by interactive model analysis. the data analysis used in this research was interactive model analysis, namely data collection, data display (data presentation), data reduction, conclusion: drawing or verification, and data within the realm (infield) and outside the realm. validity and reliability of data in this research ensured using qualitative model, i.e., reference correspondence and member check. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto | 21 the existence of a continuous improvement process requires good human resource management. various terms regarding human resource management are used, namely human resource management (hrm), human resource management, personnel management, labor management, personnel administration (employment), and industrial relations. human resource management emerged as a new problem in the 1960s; before that, more or less in the 1940s, personnel management was dominant. result and discussion the existence of information technology for the world of education means the availability of channels or facilities that can be used to spread learning programs both unidirectionally and interactively. the utilization of information technology is essential considering the geographical conditions of indonesia, in general, are in mountainous areas which are scattered into many islands. with the advent of information technology, it is now possible to hold remote learning, allowing for the equal distribution of education throughout indonesia's territory, including those that can be accessed by land transportation and those that cannot. the existence of technological advances must be balanced with the ability of human resources owned. in this context, the teacher becomes the main human resource. capacity development at ppt permata hari is carried out through training. it is intended that the human resources owned can be competitive with educators from other schools and increase the capacity to carry out the learning process for students. the training provided by school principals from sub-district offices is carried out representatively by gathering school operators in one place to later be able to transmit this knowledge to other teachers in the scope of work of school operators. the principal prepares activities by determining the needs during the training, namely the availability of infrastructure suggestions such as laptops, internet connection networks, lighting, comfortable places, to the necessary logistics. after the plan is formed, the training is carried out. the training was carried out through the principal explaining in advance the components of how to enter the server, then selecting the sub-chapters that were accessed. the following is a management information system application used in ppt permata hati. (1) initial image will access paud sim server this application contains various features that can be used to exchange information between school principals, educators, city education supervisors, or supervisors. this study focuses on training in making learning program plans. teachers and principals can enter as an education unit. meanwhile, the supervisor acts as an observer and data monitor. teachers and principals can access the education unit web by entering the npsn. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto 22 | (2) list of menus and guidance links provided by the education department of surabaya city. the education office provides independent tutorial facilities for teachers who want to learn individually. teachers can pay attention to video tutorials made by the education office. the video can be played and stopped according to the needs and understanding of the teacher, but the teacher cannot ask what questions if some errors and problems are not understood. the ability and understanding of information technology are needed to match today's needs (m husaini, 2014). independent videos of the use of the weekly learning program plan application include examples on the selection of learning themes, the required period, the teaching semester, the month of activity, the time from the start of learning to the target date of completion of learning. (4) this is the appearance of the new rppm form in this form, some data need to be done according to the needs. starting from the selection of learning themes, the semester in learning activities, the month of learning implementation, the start of the time to the end date. don't forget the name of the teacher who made the rppm. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto | 23 (5) image of the display of compiling the rppm for early childhood education in this column, the teacher can enter the indicator competencies and basic competencies to be achieved during the learning process in this rppm. then the teacher can write down the materials to be carried out. for example, the teacher wants to achieve basic motor competence, the teacher will provide activities in the form of cutting and sticking to improve fine motor skills and provide ball-throwing activities to improve gross motor skills in students. (7) display of lesson plans that educators have previously made at ppt permata hati. what if the teacher has felt enough in writing the lesson plan? then the principal will explain the next procedure, namely by saving the draft then printing and uploading it so that the supervisor can assess the lesson plan that has been made. supervisors can provide input and direction to grant implementation permits to educational units. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto 24 | (8) the results of one of the rpms were made based on the training provided by the principal with the school operator to all educators in ppt permata hati. the training is carried out using the on-the-job training model because it is based on all educators in every activity organized by the instructor. this activity took place at the beginning of the principal, providing directions and examples in the implementation of the information system operation. the training is carried out for 3 days with a period of 3-4 hours per day to maximize knowledge and avoid mistakes in the future. the educators are divided into 2 large groups based on the teaching class: class a which educates students aged 2-3 years, and group b, which educates students aged 4-5 years. educators prepare plans for learning activities directly on the application and will later be corrected by the principal. the results of the evaluation will be submitted at the end of the training activity meeting. in addition to direct training with instructors, teachers, or educators at ppt, permata hati can use the video tutorial facility in using the paud sim application to increase their knowledge. the obstacles found were the discipline of educators and the shame of educators in asking when they did not understand. finally, an error occurred in entering data. but this is communicated and find a solution together. in addition to preparing a program of teaching activities, this application can include teacher performance results in the form of online teacher attendance, which can be reported directly to the surabaya city education office. attendance is carried out individually by providing what information must be done and what data is needed in reporting teaching activities to the education office. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto | 25 (9) display attendance for teaching and learning activities and reports on the performance of school principals to supervisors, which the surabaya city education office operator can also access. (10) the form of absenteeism performance that must be reported. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto 26 | (11) file reports that must be attached to the results of the performance of teachers and school principals to the education office. sim paud applications can include teacher work activities by reporting learning outcomes carried out on students through various teaching methods. the teaching methods commonly used by permata hati ppt teachers are learning videos and student worksheets. all were reported with photo evidence of activities attached to the website of the education office of the city of surabaya (haris budiman, 2017). this is directly proportional to the function of computer technology, namely technology related to computers, including equipment related to computers, where both parties are between teachers, principals, and supervisors to achieve the goal of good quality education (bush, 2012). conclusion the result of this research is the application of presentation model training and on-the-job training carried out by the principal to increase the knowledge and abilities of teachers in the field of technology. where the principal provides examples and explanations at the beginning of the session, and then the teacher plays an active role in trying the skills that have been informed previously. this is useful to improve the ability of human resources owned. before starting the training by the principal, she formed a lesson planning preparation team which was carried out online using the internet. this is done to prepare for the needs for training, both in the form of infrastructure and logistics needed. the existence of sim paud as a means of exchanging information on the performance of educators, absenteeism, weekly learning program plan documents between schools, teachers, and the surabaya city education office. acknowledgement thanks to various parties who have assisted in carrying out this research so that this paper can be completed. thank you to the principal of ppt permata hati and all the teachers who have been the resource persons for this research. references bush, t. m. c. (2012). manajemen mutu. ircisod. hakim, d. a., & si, m. (2007). pengaruh kompetensi dan pengembangan karir terhadap kinerja sumber daya manusia melalui komitmen organisasi sebagai variabel intervening (studi pada kantor kecamatan mijen kabupaten demak). haris budiman. (2017). peran teknologi informasi dan komunikasi dalam pendidikan. altadzkiyyah: jurnal pendidikan islam, 8(1). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 18-27 sim paud application training in improving teacher it skills at ppt permata hati bendul merisi wonocolo district firda rizqy amalia, suryanto | 27 kamil, i. (2021). setahun covid-19 di indonesia: refleksi pembelajaran jarak jauh dan harapan tatap muka lagi. kompas.com. https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/03/02/06583651/setahun-covid-19-diindonesia-refleksi-pembelajaran-jarak-jauh-dan-harapan?page=all kebudayaan, k. p. dan. (n.d.). surat edaran nomor 15 tahun 202020 tentang pedoman penyelenggaraan belajar dari rumah dalam masa darurat penyebaran corona virus disease (covid-19). kebudayaan, kementerian pendidikan dan. keselamatan, p., kerja, k., dan, k., & riyan, m. (2014). ( studi pada pekerja bagian produksi pt . sekawan karyatama mandiri sidoarjo ). 9(1), 1–9. m husaini. (2014). pemanfaatan teknologi informasi dalam bidang pendidikan (e-education). jurnal mikrotik, 2(1). mikrotik, j. (2014). pemanfaatan teknologi informasi dalam bidang. 2(1). mulyasa. (2014). pengembangan dan implementasi kurikulum. remaja rosdakarya. mustari, m. (2014). manajemen pendidikan (1st ed.). pt rajagrafindo persada. nugroho, y. a. b. (2019). pelatihan dan pengembangan sdm. universitas katolik indonesia atma jaya. sallis, e. (2012). total quality management in education. ircisod. sedarmayanti. (2009). sumber daya manusia dan produktivitas kerja. cv mandar maju. sugiyono. (2018). metode penelitian kualitatif (s. y. suryandari (ed.); 3rd ed.). cv alfabeta. sukrispiyanto. (2019). manajemen sumber daya manusia. indomedia pustaka. suparto. (2016). manajemen sumber daya manusia ( sdm ) guru dalam peningkatan mutu pendidikan di madrasah ibtidaiyah al-islam kota bengkulu. 275–285. microsoft word 894-article text-4101-1-4-20220427.edited by le.docx available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 4 number 1 (2022): 12-22 corresponding author tatmi@ecampus.ut.ac.id doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i1.894 research synergy foundation implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih1 1universitas terbuka, indonesia abstract digital literacy is a person's interests, attitudes, abilities, and skills in using digital technology-based devices. these skills are used to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate the information needed and obtained, build new knowledge and create relationships or communication with others to participate effectively in society. this study aims to explore and explain the application of digital literacy in early childhood education (ece) institutions. the research method is descriptive and quantitative with a survey technique. the instrument used is a questionnaire in the form of a google-form (g-form), which is distributed online via instagram, whatsapp, and email. the population is ece teachers, and a sample of 318 ece teachers from various provinces was collected randomly. the data collected were analyzed descriptively with simple quantification. the results of the study indicate that the application of digital literacy in ece can be implemented in a limited way, and the implementation process must involve teachers and parents/guardians. the recommendation conveyed was the need for strict supervision for the implementation of digital literacy in early childhood. keywords: digital literacy; early childhood education; teachers. this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction at the beginning of 2021, the covid-19 pandemic has not yet passed. the whole community is getting used to various health rules and protocols. although some people are against various regulations made by the government, in reality, they still adhere to health protocols, such as wearing masks, maintaining distance, avoiding crowds, and not visiting public areas (malls and entertainment venues). one of the rules applied is that it is not permitted to organize learning in schools or educational institutions (lampiran skb tiga menteri, 2021), including in early childhood education. in line with these regulations, the learning process at ece is also carried out online or online using the zoom meeting application, google classroom, or microsoft teams. thus the learning process requires children to use internet-based devices, whether computers, laptops, tablets, or mobile phones (cell phones) (astuti & harun, 2020). this requirement is a bit contrary to the opinion so far, which states that children should not be allowed to use internet-based devices (takamatsu & takai, 2018). takamatsu's opinion is somewhat less relevant to the current conditions known as the millennial era or the digital era. the era when almost all things and information spread very quickly through social media. everyone can find the information they want and need with just the tap of a finger on an internet-based device (fadlurrohim et al., 2020). internet users, including children who are still at an early age at this time, cannot be stopped. the phenomenon in the field that we often see today, many small children are engrossed in playing with their cellphones. they sat quietly, silent, and focused on staring at their cellphone screens. however, when referring to the definition of digital literacy in general, these early childhood children may not be able to absorb and use digital information appropriately. this is in line with the opinion of jati (2021) dan sumarlan (2020), which state that international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih │ 13 early childhood thinking is still concrete while the information contained and spread on internetbased platforms is abstract, virtual, or virtual data. literature review digital literacy is an individual's interest, attitude, and ability to use digital technology and communication tools to access, manage, integrate, analyze and evaluate information, build new knowledge, and create and communicate with others to participate effectively in society. (macdonald et al., 2021). efforts for digital-based community literacy are not limited to the introduction of digital media or internet-based digital devices but should strive to implement continuity between the daily activities carried out by individuals and the efforts of these individuals or communities in increasing their productivity. digital literacy can also mean a person's efforts to find, use and disseminate information effectively and efficiently (yumiarty et al., 2021). digital literacy is also known as computer literacy which means expertise or ability to use computers, the internet, and other digital tools and is an effort to know, search, understand, analyze, and use digital technology (tatminingsih, 2020). in general, there are seven elements of digital literacy contained in the digital literacy development guide in jisc, 2014 (rahmadi & hayati, 2020), which include: (1) information literacy is the ability to find, evaluate and use the information needed effectively, (2) digital scholarship is an element that includes the active participation of digital media users in academic activities, (3) learning skills is effective learning of various technologies which has complete features for formal and informal learning activities, (4) ict literacy (literacy of information and communication technology) including the ability to use computers or digital devices (e.g., lcd) to communicate, (5) career and identity management related to management online identity. (6) communication and collaboration is a form of active participation in learning and research through digital networks, and (7) media literacy includes critical reading and creative skills of academic and professional communication in various media. it is related to the seven elements of digital literacy that this research was carried out, namely to analyze its application to early childhood, especially in the learning process at ece institutions. the literature review represents the theoretical core of an article. the purpose of a literature review is to “look again” what other researchers have done regarding a specific topic. a literature review is a means to an end, namely to provide background to and serve as motivation for the objectives and hypotheses that guide one's research. a good literature review should not merely provide a summary of previous relevant research; the researcher is also expected to critically evaluate, re-organize and synthesize the work of others. research method this study uses a quantitative descriptive method with a survey technique with the instrument in the form of a questionnaire. the research instrument includes indicators contained in digital literacy elements totaling 26 questions for application to early childhood and 24 statement items for application to teachers. each indicator item in the instrument is measured by a likert scale with a score of 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree. the population is ece teachers who were randomly selected using the purposive random sampling technique. the data collection process is carried out online via google form. instrument links are distributed through social media such as whatsapp (wa), facebook, and instagram, as well as via email. the distribution of the instruments was carried out from 28 may to 5 september 2021. the data collected was in the form of answers to the instruments obtained from 318 ece teachers. after sorting the completeness of the contents of the answers, only 309 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih 14 │ answers were eligible for further analysis. nine answers could not be processed and analyzed further because they were incomplete or there were empty answers. the data was processed by simple quantification with the rounding up process and analyzed descriptively. this study applies a research code of ethics, namely: all respondents are treated free from prejudice, meaning they are independent of culture, race and religious identity, politics, and gender discrimination. all respondents have the freedom to express opinions and have a fair and appropriate contribution to the research process, or their answers are processed without discrimination. respondents also have the right to keep their identities confidential. findings and discussion finding 1. description of respondents respondents in this study totaled 309 people, all of whom were kindergarten teachers. respondents are predominantly female. this is very reasonable because, until now, ece teachers are still identical to women, as stated by, who stated that the interest in entering the ece program was dominated by women (siti maulidan, 2021). in terms of age, the respondents in this study were ece teachers, most of whom were aged 21-40 years, which was 77%. this may be because the instrument is distributed through online media, so those who have sufficient ict skills. this is in line with data on internet users in indonesia, namely the age group of 20-24 years with a penetration of 88.5% and the age group of 25-29 years with a penetration of 82.7%, the age group of 30-34 years with a penetration of 76.5%, and age group 35-39 years with a penetration of 68.5% (haryanto, 2019). regarding experience or length of teaching, respondents are quite evenly distributed in each range delivered, which is around 21-28%. only about 4% of respondents have experienced or teaching length of less than one year. data about the identity of the respondents are presented in table 1. interesting data related to the last education of the respondents showed that there were still 23% who did not have undergraduate academic qualifications. another interesting thing is that respondents who have undergraduate academic qualifications are only 92 out of 199 or 46% whose qualifications are linear with their work, namely ece bachelor. table 1 data on respondent identity aspects/indicators n % sex a. male 15 5 b. female 249 95 age a. <20 years 39 13 b. 21-30 years 102 33 c. 31-40 years 136 44 d. > 41 years 32 10 teaching experience a. <1 year 12 4 b. 1-5 years 78 25 c. 5-10 years 87 28 d. 10-15 years 67 22 e. >15 years 65 21 education international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih │ 15 aspects/indicators n % a. high school 67 22 b. diploma 3 1 c. bachelor 199 64 d. magister 36 12 e. doctoral 4 1 region a. jabodetabek* 145 47 b. central java 39 13 c. bali 26 8 d. mataram (west nusa tenggara) 50 16 e. palembang -lampung (sumatra) 45 15 f. other 4 1 *jakarta, bogor, depok, tangerang, bekasi (indonesia's capital buffer zone) 2. data on the implementation of digital literacy the results of respondents' answers to research questions that focus on elements of digital literacy in the implementation of children and teachers are presented in tables 2 and 3. table 2 data on the implementation of digital literacy in children elemen t indicator scale 1 2 3 4 n % n % n % n % informa tion literacy a. children are taught to open internet-based devices (computers or cellphones or others) 11 5 37 104 34 75 24 15 5 b. children are taught how to find information on internet-based devices 12 3 40 87 28 87 28 12 4 c. children are taught to sort out the information that is appropriate for him 45 15 34 11 12 4 40 10 6 34 d. children are taught to apply information obtained from the internet 64 21 34 11 17 8 58 33 11 e. children are allowed to use the computer as he pleases while he is at school 23 7 192 62 71 23 23 7 digital scholars hip a. children are allowed to access internet-based devices at school 11 2 36 98 32 51 17 48 16 b. children are trained to find information according to the theme being taught 90 29 16 5 15 2 49 51 17 learnin g skills a. most (more than 50%) children can use mobile phones 86 28 56 18 81 26 86 28 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih 16 │ elemen t indicator scale 1 2 3 4 n % n % n % n % b. most children have at least one internet-based device 10 3 35 11 53 17 21 1 68 c. most children have their cellphones 11 5 37 99 32 74 24 21 7 d. most children use cell phones belonging to family members for learning 10 4 34 115 37 74 24 16 5 ict literacy a. children can use learning applications used by schools (for example, zoom meeting, google classroom, and others) 30 10 108 35 10 0 32 % 71 23 b. children can operate learning applications used in schools 18 7 61 98 32 9 3 15 5 c. children don't need help when learning online 18 6 60 100 32 8 3 15 5 d. children can use digital devices (with or without internet) 17 7 57 109 35 8 3 15 5 career and identity a. each child uses their accounts in learning applications (example: zoom meeting, google classroom, and others) 18 2 59 95 31 13 4 19 6 b. each child has an email addresses 14 3 46 142 46 15 5 9 3 c. each child knows their email address 18 7 61 98 32 20 6 4 1 d. each child has at least one social media account 20 0 65 99 32 4 1 6 2 e. each child creates their password 20 6 67 100 32 1 0,4 2 0,6 commu nication and collaboration a. children are active on at least one social media 11 4 37 115 37 65 21 15 5 b. children are active in conversation in class groups 12 3 40 100 32 72 23 14 5 media literacy a. children access social media applications (e.g., tik tok, youtube) 15 6 50 98 32 44 14 11 4 b. children can mention at least one program for children on social media (example: youtube) 12 6 41 101 32 68 22 16 5 c. children can program on tik tok 14 5 47 104 34 24 8 36 12 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih │ 17 elemen t indicator scale 1 2 3 4 n % n % n % n % d. children choose the program they want to access on social media 13 6 44 112 36 44 14 17 6 table 3 data on the implementation of digital literacy among teacher element indicator scale 1 2 3 4 n % n % n % n % information literacy a. you are looking for materials for online learning yourself 74 24 19 6 104 34 112 36 b. you choose material from social media (e.g., youtube) according to your learning needs 27 9 53 17 120 39 109 35 c. you take advantage of learning materials from various sources through search 23 7 19 6 101 33 166 54 digital scholarship a. you are an active social media user 154 50 111 36 26 8 18 6 b. you often upload status on social media 177 57 90 29 26 8 16 5 c. you upload various content on your social media, including the learning process 178 58 78 25 16 5 37 12 learning skills a. you can take advantage of all the features on your digital device (e.g., mobile phone or computer) 141 46 143 46 13 4 12 4 b. you learn the features of digital devices on your own without the help of others 187 61 98 32 20 6 4 1 c. you try every feature in a digital device without fear of being wrong. 201 65 98 32 3 1 7 2 ict literacy a. you can use digital media to search for learning materials 132 43 67 22 10 3 100 32 b. you can operate the learning application used for teaching yourself 21 7 65 21 123 40 100 32 c. you need an it officer at school when carrying out online learning 14 5 23 7 174 56 98 32 international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih 18 │ element indicator scale 1 2 3 4 n % n % n % n % d. you can operate the features in the digital device you use 115 37 104 34 75 24 15 5 career and identity management a. you have an account on every learning app you use 123 40 88 28 86 28 12 4 b. you use your school account for learning 42 14 29 9 132 43 106 34 c. you use one email address for all social media accounts 64 21 34 11 178 58 33 11 communication and collaboration a. you take the initiative to form a student conversation group in your class 23 7 192 62 71 23 23 7 b. you took the initiative to form a parent-student conversation group in your class 112 36 98 32 51 17 48 16 c. you always respond to questions/feedback in group conversations 90 29 16 5 152 49 51 17 d. you always convey information related to learning in class group conversations (e.g., wa group) 56 18 56 18 102 33 95 31 e. you invite every parent to a class conversation group 9 3 37 12 52 17 211 68 f. you always try to activate students who are not active in group conversations 89 29 17 6 152 49 51 17 media literacy a. a. you often use social media for learning (e.g., tik tok, youtube) 83 27 56 18 87 28 83 27 b. b. you can create content to upload on social media 12 4 33 11 200 65 64 21 discussion the implementation of digital literacy in children in early childhood education, which is presented in table 2, shows that in the elements: 1) information literacy, it appears that in ece. children are not taught to open digital devices and how to find information through digital devices. but children are taught to sort and apply information from digital devices. regarding the use of computers in schools, 69% said they did not agree. this is probably based on the availability of computers in institutions and the characteristics of children, including children who tend to like to move and tend to be careless; therefore, children are more directed to socialize and do physical activities. (sheridan, 2011), (yulindrasari et al. (eds), 2020); 2) digital scholarship, the results of the study show something somewhat contradictory, namely children are not allowed to access internet-based devices at school, but children are trained to find information according to international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih │ 19 the theme being taught. this is done by the principle of learning in early childhood, which is holistic, integrative, and simultaneously strengthens all aspects of child development (hadiansah et al., 2021); 3) learning skills, the results showed that respondents stated that they did not agree that their students had and used cellphones belonging to their family members, although respondents stated that their students on average had at least one device and could use cellphones.; (4) ict literacy, 5) career and identity management, 6) communication and collaboration as well as 7) media literacy; the results of the study showed that all of the respondents stated that they disagreed and strongly disagreed with the indicators of these two elements, namely related to social media identity and the use of applications on internet-based devices. this is by various concepts which state that early childhood is not enough in terms of age, ability, maturity, thinking, and knowledge of children related to literacy and personal identity management. (asmawati, 2021; endarta, 2016; hadiansah et al., 2021);(chairilsyah, 2021; darihastining et al., 2020; fadlurrohim et al., 2020; heri budianto., leila mona ganiem., n.d.; ridlo et al., 2021; sumarlan, 2020; takamatsu & takai, 2018). the implementation of literacy in early childhood education teachers presented in table 3 shows that in the elements: 1) information literacy, it appears that ece teachers can search for, choose, and utilize various materials from various learning sources through online searches. (tatminingsih, 2020); 2) digital scholarship, the results of the study show that most paud teachers are not people who are active in social media. even during this pandemic, many teachers suddenly become influencers who upload learning materials and processes on social media platforms such as youtube and others (eka fajar rahmani, 2021; sum & taran, 2020; wiyono, 2000); 3) learning skills, the results showed that respondents stated that they did not agree that their students had and used cellphones belonging to their family members, although respondents stated that their students on average had at least one device and could use cellphones.; the data shows that the ability of early childhood teachers to learn and take advantage of features on their digital devices (e.g., mobile phones or computers) is very limited. most of the teachers stated that they did not try to learn or use it either in their daily life or in their learning process. the reason given was because they were technologically savvy, and no one could help them learn it. these results contradict (keller & hrastinski, 2009), which states that teachers and students of higher education have a desire to learn digital literacy in their learning and learning. these results contradict which states that teachers and students of higher education have a desire to learn digital literacy in their learning and learning. however, this result is supported by research that states that teachers have busy jobs, so they do not have the opportunity to develop themselves (mohamed taher, 2022).; 4) ict literacy; in this element, respondents stated that they needed other people who were more skilled in operating the applications used for teaching. they can only operate the basic features of each application, but if they experience the slightest problem. they will look to someone else to help. this makes a lot of sense considering they are busy preparing for learning, so they don't have time to learn the features in the applications they use (mohamed taher, 2022); 5) career and identity management, 6) communication and collaboration, and 7) media literacy, each teacher has a personal account for each social media they have. some teachers use these accounts in learning, but others prefer to use accounts provided by the school. this helps make teaching easier and makes them more confident in developing learning content. each teacher has a personal account for each social media they have. some teachers use these accounts in learning, but others prefer to use accounts provided by the school. this helps make teaching easier and makes them more confident in developing learning content. they are also international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih 20 │ more confident in communicating and collaborating with fellow teachers and parents (karimov, 2022; keller & hrastinski, 2009; walsh, 2009; wordu et al., 2021). conclusion the application of digital literacy in early childhood, especially in kindergarten children, has not been implemented effectively because early childhood is still concrete. the application carried out in the learning process is limited to the knowledge that is appropriate to the child's developmental age. the application is very limited, considering the ability of children to use internet-based devices is still very minimal. children also cannot sort the appropriate material for themselves. the role of teachers and parents is needed in controlling the use and utilization of digital communication and information tools. the recommendation that can be conveyed is that in implementing digital literacy, parents and teachers must play an active role in controlling the use of devices used by children, and children must be given intensive direction regarding the content that can be selected and when to use internet-based media devices both for learning and as a source of information. entertainment tool. limitations & further research the limitations of this study lie in the limited number of samples that can be collected through the online platform and the use of online instruments, so it is difficult to detect whether the respondents answered according to the actual conditions or provided they were filled in. therefore, further research can collect data with a larger sample and is equipped with direct observation instruments so that the data obtained is more in-depth and detailed. references asmawati, l. 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(2021). digital literacy and teachers job performance in universities in rivers state, nigeria. international journal of innovative social & science education research, 9(2), 112–119. https://seahipaj.org/ international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 12-22 implementation of digital literacy in indonesia early childhood education sri tatminingsih 22 │ yulindrasari et al. (eds). (2020). early childhood education in the 21st century. proceedings of the 4th international conference on early childhood education (icece 2018), 1–59. https://doi.org/doi: https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429434914 yumiarty, y., komalasari, b., & kristiawan, m. (2021). the urgency of learning the history of islamic culture: digital literation based. ajis: academic journal of islamic studies, 6(1), 49. https://doi.org/10.29240/ajis.v6i1.2328 microsoft word 880-article text-4016-1-2-20220402.edited by le.docx available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 4 number 1 (2022): 42-50 corresponding author johnmichaelsasan27@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i1.880 research synergy foundation the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan1,2, ma. theresa g. kaligid3, mary aianne villegas4 1research coordinator, 2research adviser, 3student research, 4research consultant 1,2,3,4 department of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, pau excellencia global academy foundation, inc., cebu, philippines abstract parenting style is a psychological construct that describes how parents raise their children in general. this article examines the several parenting techniques used by families. parenting techniques are becoming increasingly important in modern society. this research demonstrates the various strategies that parents take when raising their children, as well as the numerous issues with modern parenting. the core cause of most teenage mental health problems is found to be related to parenting style. most parents employ a variety of parenting styles based on their culture and societal demands. it describes parenting styles and how they affect children's development. the impact of socioeconomic class on parenting style is also examined in the study. keywords: parenting style, patterns of parenting styles, issue of parenting styles, impact of poor parenting skill this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction ineffective parenting is frequently linked to acting out or misbehaviour (hossain, et al., 2015). inadequate parenting is most likely the result of a lack of cooperation between the child and the parent in order to meet both needs and desires and create a common ground for both. lack of parenting skills and techniques will have a negative influence depending on the age of the child. minors' mental health difficulties might have a long-term impact on their life prospects. early childhood behaviour disorders are the most prevalent mental health problem, affecting 5–10% of young children (angold a, costello ej., 2001.). the role of the parent in the life of a child is critical, and poor parenting practices and skills can lead to misbehaviour. negative parenting behaviour, a lack of attention to children's needs, or greater family dysfunction can all result from parental psychological issues. when a child becomes worried, aggressive, hostile, antisocial, demanding, reliant, undisciplined, and develops a hateful goal, this is considered negative behaviour. parents' reactions to being over-controlled by directives, bad behaviour reminders, and warnings result in these bad behavioural features. minors may experience several negative feelings as a result of these activities, including anxiety and distress. the quality of parent-child relationships has a significant impact on adolescents' development outcomes, especially mental health (sowski et al., 2014). parenting, according to cleaner casiellino michenery and terry villarcial [2005], is a term that encompasses a range of behaviours that occur throughout life in reactions between organisms that are usually the same but belong to distinct cohorts. poor parenting skills may have an impact on the child, resulting in trauma. according to trauma studies, there is a link between parental adjustment and children's functioning, as well as the sometimes-intergenerational influence of traumatic events. the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 42-50 the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan; ma. theresa g. kaligid; mary aianne villegas 43 impact of traumatic experiences on children has been shown to be mediated by the impact on the parents of the children (gewirtz, 2009). mental health difficulties affect the majority of today's minors. at this time, several of them have been reported to have committed suicide. suicides among teenagers remain a significant problem (problem of suicides among teenagers) (2020, aug 27). for children and adolescents, suicide is the second greatest cause of death. one of the leading causes of the rising number of suicides is depression (hidalgo et al., 2020). according to the world health organization, depression has just surpassed diabetes as the biggest cause of disability worldwide. poor parenting, according to the american spcc, renders a child more prone to criminal behaviour. children who have been neglected or who have been subjected to abuse are more likely to be charged with juvenile delinquency. failure to thrive and poor physical and mental growth and development are some prevalent consequences of poor parenting. thus, the goal of this study was to see how inadequate parenting abilities affect the mental health of children and teenagers. research objectives: 1. the goal of this study is to raise awareness of the negative consequences of poor parenting skills among children and teenagers. 2. this study intends to determine the impact of poor parenting skills affect the mental health of children and teenagers. 3. to gain a better understanding of how depression affects children and teenagers. research questions: this study aims to investigate the deteriorating effect of poor parenting skills on children's and teens' mental health. this study aims to answer the following questions: 1. how do poor parenting skills affect the mental health of children and teenagers? 2. what are the consequences of poor parenting skills? 3. what impact does inadequate parenting have on a child's behavior? review of related literature good parenting is parenting that prepares children to meet the demands of the particular culture or subculture in which they live. however, we can draw some conclusions about the components of good parenting that would apply in most contexts. we can go a long way in understanding effective parenting styles that prepare children for social encounters. darling and steinberg (1993) defined parenting styles as the overall climate of parent-child interactions. it is an effective context of sorts that sets the tone for the parent’s interaction with the child. parenting styles are a determinant factor in child development. parental acceptance/responsiveness (also referred to as parental warmth or supportiveness) refers to "the extent to which parents intentionally foster individuality, self-regulation, and self-the assertion by being attuned, supportive, and acquiescent to children's special needs and demands" (baumrind, 1991). parental demandingness (also referred to as behavioural control) refers to "the claims parents make on children to become integrated into the family whole, by their maturity demands, supervision, disciplinary efforts, and willingness to confront the child who disobeys" (baumrind, 1991). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 42-50 the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan; ma. theresa g. kaligid; mary aianne villegas 44 children of permissive parents were very immature. they had difficulty controlling their impulses and were very disobedient and rebellious when asked to do something that conflicted with their momentary desires. they were overly demanding and dependent on adults, and they showed less persistence on tasks at pre-school than children whose parents exerted more control (mustafa fazli, 2019). the link between parenting and dependant, non-achieving behaviour was especially strong for boys (berk, 1998). subsequent research has shown that the worst development outcomes were associated with a neglectful, uninvolved style of parenting (mustafa fazli, 2019). children of neglectful parents are notable for behavioural problems such as aggression and frequent temper tantrums at age three. they tend to become hostile and antisocial in adolescents (sigelman, 1999). harsh or abusive parenting in the wider literature includes emotional, sexual, and physical abuse and neglect, as well as a range of parenting practices that have been shown to negatively impact child development and well-being. abusive parenting can be active, such as striking or assaulting a child, as well as passive, through neglecting or ignoring a child (browne, davies, and stratton, 1998). bad parenting can cause psychological disorders in a child (american spcc, 2014). this happens especially if the child grows up in a family where there is a lot of abuse, whether physical or emotional. this also occurs when a child suffers from neglect as a child. such children may have difficulty in making friends and trusting people as they find it easier to push people away than to open up. permissive parenting often results in children who rank low in happiness and self-regulation (mustafa fazli, 2019). these children are more likely to experience problems with authority and tend to perform poorly in school. the permissive style of child-rearing is nurturant and accepting, but it avoids making demands or imposing controls of any kind. permissive parents allow children to make any of their own decisions at an age when they are not capable of doing so (mustafa fazli, 2019). they do not have to learn good manners or do any household chores. although some permissive parents truly believe that this style of child-rearing is best, many others lack confidence in their ability to influence their child’s behaviour and are disorganized and ineffective in running their households (berk, 1998). children with permissive parents tend to have high self-esteem and good social skills but are more prone to problem behaviour. accepting responsibility is hard for them (mustafa fazli, 2019). authoritative parenting styles tend to result in children who are happy, capable, and successful (mustafa fazli, 2019). authoritative parenting without physical punishment produces the most positive results and the fewest problems for children in today's world. children who have been collected in authoritative houses have a higher score on a variety of competence, social development, self-perceptions, and mental health than those raised in authoritarian, permissive, or neglectful homes (joseph m. v., john j., 2008). this is true not only in childhood but also during adolescence, as evidenced by higher academic achievement and psychological development and fewer behavioural problems (ballantine, 2001). (simons, whitbeck, conger, and melby, 1990) make an important distinction between constructive (supportive positive) and destructive (harsh negative) parenting behaviours, social learning, and exchange model. though they did now no longer gift proof of the specific effect of optimistic and adverse parenting on children`s melancholy, they discovered that parental melancholy changed into associated international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 42-50 the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan; ma. theresa g. kaligid; mary aianne villegas 45 with using greater harsh–bad parenting practices; however, now no longer optimistic, supportive– tremendous parenting. this shows that parental melancholy can be greater strongly associated with excessive stages of harsh–bad parenting behaviours than with low stages of supportive–tremendous parenting behaviours (j clin child adolesc psychol., 2006). depression and low self-esteem can also be caused by bad parenting (american spcc, 2014). a child who is never allowed to make decisions, who is constantly criticized, belittled, and who goes through abuse is likely to have low self-esteem. it becomes worse when the child goes through sexual abuse as a child. such forms of abuse are also known to make children more prone to violent behaviors. children who are exposed to abuse and violence are likely to become violent people. they grow up believing that violence is the only way to solve issues. a recent study of nearly 10,000 adults found that half of those who experienced major psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder, reported symptoms before age 14 (danielle h. dallaire et al., 2006). kessler and colleagues reported that many people who later experience major depressive episodes often report initially asymptomatic symptoms such as mild sadness or shyness (j clin child adolescent psychol., 2006). these results highlight the need for researchers to evaluate precursor and familial conditions that can induce and maintain childhood depression. methodology 2.1 research design to determine the negative effects of poor parenting, a qualitative research methodology with a case study approach was used, with primary data acquired through in-depth interviews with students. generally, the methodology of qualitative research is used when the researchers are intended to explore the why and how questions. 2.2 research participants the data has been collected from (n=6) respondents of toledo city, cebu, philippines. the researcher purposely selected three (3) residents of toledo city aged 6-12 years old (category a) and three (3) aged 13-19 years old (category b). the respondents voluntarily participated in the study and agreed on the interview process. furthermore, they were verbally informed that they have the right to withdraw from the study at any time with any adverse consequences. the researcher ensured the anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents' responses. lastly, the researcher asked permission from their parents to interview their child, and they agreed. the data was gathered from (n=6) toledo city, cebu, and philippine's participants. the researcher purposely selected three (3) residents of toledo city aged 6-12 years old (category a) and three (3) aged 13-19 years old (category b). the participants volunteered for the study and agreed to the interview process. participants were also told verbally that they had the right to withdraw from the study at any moment if there were any negative outcomes. the responses of the participants were kept anonymous and confidential by the researchers. finally, the researchers asked for and received permission from the parents to interview their children. 2.3 data gathering semi-structured interviews were used as the primary data collecting tool in this study, with the researcher also relying on notes taken during the interviews. the researcher devised a semi-structured international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 42-50 the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan; ma. theresa g. kaligid; mary aianne villegas 46 interview method with three open-ended questions. a semi-structured interview is a type of interview in which the interviewer asks only a few predetermined questions while the rest of the questions are not planned. since semi-structured interviews combine both the structured and unstructured interview styles, they can offer the advantages of both (oliverparks, 2020). 2.4 data analysis the term "data analysis" refers to the process of organizing, structuring, and eliciting meaning from data. qualitative data analysis is a collaborative and dynamic process (polit et al. 2001:383). data analysis commenced after conducting the first interview. the data was collected using a variety of methods and approaches. the data were examined utilizing a six-step thematic analysis approach, which included: 1. familiarization 2. coding 3. generating themes 4. reviewing themes 5. defining and naming themes 6. writing up. results and discussion psychologists have long advocated for the relevance of family processes in child development (ogbu, 1981; bronfenbrenner, 1979; belsky, steinberg & draper, 1991). this parenting style, which involves parent-child interaction, parent-child articulation activities, and parents' involvement in their children's education, is essential in socialization and children's functioning, according to these psychologists (smetana, 2017). adults' social reality has ramifications for their child-rearing approaches and parental behavior (mamat et al., 2015). parenting skills are a critical risk factor for children's violence within the family and among young people, which is increasingly recognized as a major public health concern and as a problem (gardner et al., 2013). knowledge of child development by parents was frequently identified as a factor affecting child development outcomes (matthew r sanders, ph.d., alina morawska, ph.d., 2014). adolescents' behavior is shaped and molded in large part by their parents (sarwar et al., 2016). furthermore, poor parenting skills have an adverse effect on a child's mental health. childhood mental health issues can have a long-term impact on a child's life chances. the most prevalent mental health concern in early childhood is behavior disorders, which affect 5–10% of children (angold a, costello e, 2001). there were six participants who participated in the research. category a is for children aged 6 to 12 years old, and category b is for those aged 13 to 19. they all agreed that they had been abused and had been subjected to violence. furthermore, some of them agreed that poor parenting abilities have an adverse effect on their mental health and development. i also asked category a's parents for permission to interview their child, and they consented. according to research, poor parenting abilities have a significant impact on a child's mental health (integris health, 2022). almost everyone agreed that poor parenting techniques cause depression, trauma, behavior issues, and a proclivity for criminal behavior. parents must express their love and support for their children in order to avoid poor parenting. one of the things that help them increase their self-esteem is unconditional love. make time for your child, and set limits with disciplining the child. be a good role model. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 42-50 the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan; ma. theresa g. kaligid; mary aianne villegas 47 3.2. category a aged (6-12) the interview was conducted with the approval of the parents. the open-ended question, the focused question, and the close-ended questions were all performed by the researchers. the researchers' initial step was to establish trust with the child. the story is told by child a, who claims that her father beat her with a belt because she left without asking permission and returned home at 10:00 p.m., which was extremely late. her father was enraged and smacked her across the face with a belt. she was terrified and traumatized as a result. child b shared his story with the researchers, revealing that his father once came home drunk. since there was no food left, his father became upset and beat him with a belt. he was scared and crying. child c reported to the researchers that his father shouted at him and beat him because he asked for money. his father, he said, was in a terrible mood at the moment. he also informed me that his father drank late at night when he came home. every time he saw his father, he was frightened and terrified. the researchers noticed that children a, b, and c were stuttering as they recalled the traumatic events in their lives. they continued to play with their hands and were really tense. every time i asked a question, they felt uneasy. 3.3 category b aged (13-19) the researchers' utilized open-ended questions focused questions, and closed-ended questions to interview the individuals. the researcher promised to keep their identity hidden. they all agreed that poor parenting abilities could have an impact on a child's mental health and development. child a shared with us that she grew up in a home with a lot of abuse. she confided to us that she has anxiety and that she cries a lot at night. she is often thinking about killing herself. she was the one who suffered the most. her father attempted to rape her but failed. she knew her mother wouldn't believe her, so she couldn't tell her. aside from that, she had a narcissistic mother who was often envious of her. her siblings resent her and become abusive when she is blamed for something she did not intend or do. child b asserts that his father has criticized and beat her because of her poor grades. she was worried and frequently cried at night. she told me she envies her classmates' parents since they don't put them under any pressure. she told us that she gets scared every time she receives a bad grade because her father will be disappointed in her. child c claimed that his stepfather abused him at home. he claimed that his stepfather was an alcoholic and a violent man, and he was almost killed with a knife. he despises silence since it triggers his trauma and phobia. 3.4 parenting styles implementing the most effective methods in the vast majority of circumstances, becoming a parent is an exciting adventure (fitkidusa, 2020). however, this comes with a lot of responsibility. while the majority of individuals are prepared, others may be scared or unsure of how to begin this journey. parents, on the other hand, want their children to international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 42-50 the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan; ma. theresa g. kaligid; mary aianne villegas 48 do the best they can with the information they have. parenting styles can always be adjusted as needed, and the best approach for our children's healthy development can always be applied (fitkidusa, 2020). diana baumrind has outlined four parenting styles. the parent presents each feature, and the child expresses the result. parents frequently choose one of these four styles based on whether their children have been informed of how they are developing, their belief system, and whether they have been taught how to grow. however, the characteristics of the four forms frequently overlap. understanding this allows us to think of parent styles as a continuum, with different styles being used depending on the temperament of the child and the circumstances (fitkidusa, 2020). as a progressive program, the skillz child development center and the certified pediatric ninja specialists who lead them have the latest science and psychology to form the basis of the system. coupled with the methods used by teachers in each class, parents have been supported through parenting skills seminars and complementary curriculums to provide knowledge of the most effective approaches. the information and skills are quick and easy to implement but have enormous benefits (fitkidusa, 2020). parenting can be both rewarding and difficult(emina ferizovic, 2020). when we understand the different parenting styles and how they affect our children in the long run, we can move towards the parenting approach to achieve the best outcome for each child(fitkidusa, 2020). child abuse exists in every society in the world. maltreatment can lead to a variety of mental health and well-being issues, including feelings of abandonment, fear, anxiety, depression, self-harm, and even suicide. some organizations and individuals have successfully pioneered programs to prevent child maltreatment on a global scale or have been influential in influencing strategy or policy to safeguard children's rights (hardcastle et al., 2015). 4. methods to avoid poor parenting parenting programs are designed to help parents improve their skills, knowledge, and confidence in order to support their children's growth better and manage their behavior. programs can be offered to all parents, but they can also be targeted at high-risk families and parents of children who are at risk of developing conduct disorders. during the first two or three years of a child's life, programs are often administered by a professional such as a nurse or social worker. some programs, on the other hand, may start before birth. programs can be delivered one-on-one or in small groups within the community. school security education programs aim to teach children how to recognize potentially dangerous situations and how to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate types of touching (kitano et al., 2018). children are taught how to say "no" to unwanted advances and how to avoid or escape threat situations, as well as how to report abuse to trusted adults (world health organization regional office for europe, 2015). children exposed to school-based programs exhibit improvements in self-protective behaviors, according to a 2015 cochrane review, and participation in these programs may also increase disclosure. conclusion to conclude, parenting style can be thought of as an overall structure that represents the general emotional environment between the parent and the child. the actions and involvement of parents have a significant impact on the development of social and cognitive skills in children. diverse civilizations international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 42-50 the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan; ma. theresa g. kaligid; mary aianne villegas 49 have different parenting behaviors and influences. this indicates that social culture has an impact on how family members interact with one another. every culture and civilization has its own parenting pattern, and what is deemed stupid or appropriate in one culture may be deemed inappropriate in another (mustafa fazli et al., 2019). parent-child relationships allow children to develop physically, emotionally, and socially. it's a one-of-akind link that every child and parent values and appreciates. the child's personality, life choices, and general behavior are all shaped by this relationship. it may also have an impact on their social, physical, mental, and emotional well-being (parenting ni, 2018). good parenting practices are more important than a good school for a child's academic success (dr. rosetta williams, 2016). when their parents assist them with their homework, young people perform at their best. you might also participate in school activities to emphasize the importance of education. in short, the finest teachers for any child are their parents. all moral values, manners, and discipline are instilled in children at home. their good education is what will enable them to succeed in the future. parenthood is, without a doubt, the most important public health issue that our society faces. this is the single most important factor associated with childhood illnesses and accidents. teenage pregnancy and substance abuse; school refusal, school turmoil, and failure to achieve; child abuse; employability; juvenile delinquency; and madness. these are inherently serious, but they are considerably more so as precursors of problems in adulthood and the next generation ( kolvin i, muller fj, scott d, gatzanis, 1990). being a parent is significant because it serves as a buffer against adversity (such as the impacts of poverty and crime) or as a mediator (such as child abuse). parenting usually includes, but is not limited to, biological parents (nicholas long, 1996). parents, teachers, nurses, and others are responsible for their children's education. parenting is made up of three primary elements. to begin with, compassion protects children from harm (long et al., 1996). second, management entails establishing and enforcing boundaries to guarantee the safety of children and others in expanding areas of activity. third, development means optimizing a child's potential and maximizing the opportunity to use it. there is a reasonable consensus on "bad parenting," but there is no consensus, especially in a diverse and rapidly changing society. (hoghughi et al.,1998). the parenting style of a parent has a significant impact on the development of a child. the parenting style of a family has an impact on a child's social and emotional development. parenting styles must be given more attention by parents, teachers, and mental health experts, and society must take steps to make parents aware of their importance. references ayoub, c., & jacewitz, m. m. (1982). families at risk of poor parenting: a model for service delivery, assessment, and intervention. child abuse & neglect, 6(3), 351-358. cohn, a. h. (1983). an approach to preventing child abuse. chicago, il: national committee for prevention of child abuse. fazli, m.(2019) impact of parenting styles on child development. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 42-50 the deteriorating effect of poor parental skills on children and teens mental health john michael sasan; ma. theresa g. kaligid; mary aianne villegas 50 hoghughi m. (1998). the importance of parenting in child health. doctors, as well as the government, should do more to support parents. bmj (clinical research ed.), 316(7144), 1545. huh, d., tristan, j., wade, e., & stice, e. (2006). does problem behavior elicit poor parenting? a prospective study of adolescent girls. journal of adolescent research, 21(2), 185-204. humm, s. r. (1990). criminalizing poor parenting skills as a means to contain violence by and against children. u. pa. l. rev., 139, 1123. jenkins, j. m., & handa, s. (2019). parenting skills and early childhood development: production function estimates from longitudinal data. review of economics of the household, 17 (1), 121-147. joseph, m. v., & john, j. (2008). impact of parenting styles on child development. global academic society journal: social science insight, 1(5), 16-25. knerr, w., gardner, f., & cluver, l. (2013). improving positive parenting skills and reducing harsh and abusive parenting in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review. prevention science, 14(4), 352-363. locke, t. f., & newcomb, m. (2004). child maltreatment, parent alcohol-and drug-related problems, polydrug problems, and parenting practices: a test of gender differences and four theoretical perspectives. journal of family psychology, 18(1), 120. maalouf, w. e. (2010). the role of parenting skills in the intergenerational transmission of marijuana use behavior. proquest information & learning. nanninga, m., jansen, d. e., knorth, e. j., & reijneveld, s. a. (2015). enrolment of children and adolescents in psychosocial care: more likely with low family social support and poor parenting skills. european child & adolescent psychiatry, 24(4), 407-416. newcomb, m. d., & loeb, t. b. (1999). poor parenting as an adult problem behavior: general deviance, deviant attitudes, inadequate family support and bonding, or just bad parents?. journal of family psychology, 13(2), 175. prevatt, f. f. (2003). the contribution of parenting practices in a risk and resiliency model of children's adjustment. british journal of developmental psychology, 21(4), 469-480. sandstrom, h., & huerta, s. (2013). the negative effects of instability on child development: a research synthesis. seay, a., freysteinson, w. m., & mcfarlane, j. (2014, july). positive parenting. in nursing forum (vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 200-208). spoth, r., redmond, c., haggerty, k., & ward, t. (1995). a controlled parenting skills outcome study examining individual differences and attendance effects. journal of marriage and the family, 449-464. wolfe, d. a., & mcisaac, c. (2011). distinguishing between poor/dysfunctional parenting and child emotional maltreatment. child abuse & neglect, 35(10), 802-813. microsoft word 895 mukti amini available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) volume 4 number 2 (2022): 29-41 corresponding author mukti amini, muktiamini@ecampus.ut.ac.id faculty of teacher training and education universitas terbuka and doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i2.895 research synergy foundation family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini1 1 univertias terbuka, indonesia abstract the ability of children aged 5-6 years old at mentari kindergarten, tangerang, can recognize letters is still not optimal. parents also do not understand early childhood reading stimulation at home, so it is necessary to carry out a family literacy program. this study aims to improve the ability of children aged 5-6 years to recognize letters through a family literacy program. this type of research is action research. learning activities carried out at mentari kindergarten are still carried out online, namely lfh (learning from home) with family due to the covid-19 pandemic. the research subjects were 13 children, consisting of 5 boys and 8 girls. evaluation of learning activities before and after receiving improvements in the form of checklists and the output of learning outcomes in the form of worksheets and photo evidence of lfh activities. at the end of the study, there was an increase in children's ability to recognize letters well by 80%. these results have exceeded the research success criteria, so it can be concluded that the family literacy program can improve the ability of early childhood to recognize letters. keywords: early childhood; family literacy; know the letters; literacy development; literacy skills this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction early childhood is a period of the rapid development process in various aspects, one of which is the language aspect. the first five years of a child's life is an important period of development, especially language, and the involvement of people around him is very important in acquiring language in children (suardi & samad, 2020). language development in children is very important in supporting development in other aspects, such as the ability to recognize and name emotions, communicate and develop children's social skills (kuntoro et al., 2019). language is the key for a child to understand and recognize something he touches and feels and is a tool for interacting with the environment (honig, 2007). one aspect of early childhood development that is important to develop is language development, which includes the ability to receive and express language. in language activities, there are four language skills that everyone needs to have, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. the four language skills can be divided into two: receptive and productive. receptive language skills include listening and reading, while productive language skills consist of speaking and writing. these four language skills will be acquired by children gradually. language development during childhood is very important and influential in the future. a child who enters school age with language and literacy skills has better academic achievement than other children. (noble et al., 2019)therefore, it is very important to optimize language development and minimize language barriers in children international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) 30 │ based on observations at mentari kindergarten, tangerang indonesia, about language acquisition, most children's language literacy skills have not yet developed. from observations made at mentari's kindergarten, it was found that children still have difficulty pronouncing letters and words; sometimes, there are letters and words that are wrong or upside down. children still have difficulty recognizing the shape and sound of letters and often reverse in writing letters. children still have difficulty connecting pictures with simple writing, and children often write down and say the sounds of letters, especially for letters b, d, h, n, f, p, w, and y. this prevents children from fulfilling their curiosity about reading pictures and story content in a book. based on observation of children aged 5-6 years at regular school tk mentari, not with special needs with the middle socioeconomic status, it is necessary to conduct research. what letters are found to be difficult to recognize in terms of shape and sound, and what letters are often written backward by children? the initial data is used as a basis for improving children's ability to recognize letters through research. what is an effective way to improve the ability of early childhood to recognize letters? this research was conducted during the covid-19 pandemic, so learning activities were carried out from home; online learning is conducted using zoom meetings where teachers teach online meetings, and children do homework at home with the help of parents. kindergarten implements an online system (online) through zoom meetings and video calls without face-to-face with the teacher. therefore, strengthening children's literacy is also carried out at home with the family. the analysis of the causes of the problems above are: (1) the teacher does not have enough time to provide the stimulus, (2) the instructions or stages of the activity are not conveyed properly because it is done online (online), and (3) learning activities are carried out at home only through worksheets so that children feel bored. various studies show the big role of parents in child development in various aspects of life (risnawati, 2021; risnawati et al., 2021). previous research has shown that the role of the surrounding environment is very important in the acquisition and development of language in early childhood. children's language development is influenced by how parents communicate with children and how children observe and imitate how both parents interact (ribot et al., 2018). mol & neuman (2014) also explained that the development of expression vocabulary is related to the environmental context where children develop, and parents have a powerful effect on children's language development. the role of parents in reading stories and providing vocabulary stimulation to children can develop letter recognition skills, words improve language skills in children and children's social development (honig, 2007; kuntoro et al., 2019; noble et al., 2019; risnawati & buana, 2019; suardi & samad, 2020) based on the results of previous research, we suggest making a family literacy program solution in an effort to improve children's ability to recognize letters. so the purpose of this study is to improve the ability of children aged 5-6 years to recognize letters through a family literacy program at mentari kindergarten, tangerang literature review literacy in early childhood the development of literacy in early childhood is at the basic literacy stage. children's literacy skills develop from infancy and develop along with neurological maturity and environmental stimulation. the development of children's early literacy is one of the benchmarks for the success of future language development (papalia, 2009). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 31 the first five years of a child's life is a critical period in literacy development, starting with recognizing letters and words and then interpreting and understanding words in a complete series (gonzales j & mena, 2011). children aged five years, according to piaget's theory, can already represent the world in the form of words; therefore, appropriate learning is needed so that literacy achievement in children can be fulfilled. children are often seen scribbling on paper with writing that is still unclear. early childhood acquires initial knowledge about reading and writing through simple behavior, observing, and participating in adult-initiated literacy activities. this is to the explanation of jackel (2016) that the first time children hold a book or pencil, see adults reading or writing, or see a nameplate, the child is learning about literacy, and it can be concluded that the child's behavior has shown the existence of a basic literacy stage. so early childhood literacy is the ability that children have related to ability to read and write. the introduction of early literacy in children is carried out in a fun and meaningful way according to their age or stage of development without any form of intimidation (acevedo, 2017). children's literacy development is the ability to read and write to support children in solving problems, learning new information, and understanding contexts, which at a later stage are used in the reading and writing process (bewer, 2014). the ability to know letters learning to recognize letters in early childhood is done to achieve early reading abilities. the concept developed is the concept of printed letters. children need to be allowed to interact with printed letters through various activities. according to jirout & zimmerman (2015), the process of letter recognition is in line with the process of language skills physically and psychologically. the physical process is in the form of visual activities related to children's vision, observation, attention, responses, and perceptions about something, among others; (1) recognizing everyday objects, (2) comparing objects from simple to more complex objects; (3) knowing the size, shape, and color of objects; (4) knowing that there are parts of objects that are missing when an incomplete picture is shown; (5) answer a question about a picture from another series; (6) arrange puzzle pieces from simple to more complex; (7) recognize his name in writing; (8) recognize letters and numbers. at the same time, the psychological process in question is that the child's language acquisition is influenced by the environment in which the child is often located. the style of language that will be used by children as a means of communication depends on what is often heard and witnessed (rowland, 2020). in conclusion, the process of recognizing letters and sounding their letter symbols is part of the reading process under the direction of teachers and parents. therefore, introducing letters and learning to read in early childhood can be done through playing activities at home, at school, and wherever children are. family literacy program children's development is influenced by their interactions with their parents (reid et al., 2015; rettew, 2021; risnawati, 2021; risnawati et al., 2021). parent-child communication has an impact on the acquisition of vocabulary or language development in children (caroline f. rowland, 2020; mol & neuman, 2014; teepe et al., 2019). in addition, previous research shows that sharing and reading books with parents has a significant impact on children's literacy development. various previous studies have shown that literacy programs that are implemented at home greatly help children to expand their literacy skills and language development. (de temple & snow, 2003; mol & neuman, 2014; noble et al., 2019). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) 32 │ the master design of the national literacy movement stated that the family literacy movement is a series of activities that are planned and carried out in the family to improve the literacy skills of all family members. the following are indicators of the application of the family literacy movement: (1) the number and variety of reading materials owned by the family; (2) the frequency of reading in the family every day; (3) the number of readings read by family members; and (4) the amount of literacy training that is applicable and has an impact on families (effendy, 2017). based on the government's appeal regarding lfh rules to break the chain of the spread of the covid-19 virus, learning is carried out from home with family members as learning companions. the strategy of family literacy activities can be a choice to improve the ability of children aged 5-6 years to recognize letters so that the learning objectives that have been set can be achieved. research method this research uses the classroom action research method. the action research class method is able to offer approaches and procedures that have an impact directly and can be used as a treatment for improving teachers to manage the learning process in the classroom. classroom action research is research that describes the occurrence of the causes and effects of the treatment, as well as explaining what when treatment is given, and describes the whole process from the start until the impact of the treatment. this research kemmis-taggart model, which includes planning, implementation, observation, reflection, and re-planning. the research was conducted for children of group b of mentari kindergarten, tangerang city. the study was conducted from april to june 2021. in the initial conditions before cycle i, it was found that during reading stimulation activities, most of the children were still unable to recognize letters, so children often reversed writing or mentioned letter sounds, especially the letters b, d, h, n, f, p, w, and y. the main cause of the difficulty is that, during the covid-19 pandemic, learning activities with teachers are carried out online only, while offline learning activities are mostly done at home with family. teachers provide and socialize learning plans for a week, also detailing which activities children will do with teachers online and which children's activities are carried out at home with parents. the plan of repair activities in cycle i is as follows. table 1. cycle i repair plan day activities detail of activities 1. singing "happy heart"  read a book  pat, the syllable, selects a word that has a letter that the child does not yet know. 2. tells the story of the wind  exploration about objects can move because of air.  mentioning the sound of letters (p, n, u) on the card, the words: ‘kapas’ (cotton), ‘angin’ (wind), and ‘udara’ (air). 3. the discussion of air is god's creation.  draw freely and write the name of the object drawn and then say the letters. 4. tell stories using a storybook about cleanliness.  the practice of drying clothes  imitating the words contains n, p, h, n: ‘mencuci’ (washing), ‘pakaian’ (dress), ‘halaman’ (yard) 5. guessing the title of the song.  attaching labels to objects in the living room and mentioning the sound of the letters on the label international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 33 the scenario on the first day of cycle i was singing the song “hati gembira” (happy hear). in the main activity, parents at home read storybooks for grade one, namely storybooks with little writing, large font sizes, and pictures. then invite the children to play with the syllables. on the 2nd day, circle time activities are storytelling about the air around us, the importance of air to our lives, and the wind moving air. in the core activity, parents ask children to think about how to move an object without moving it; then, the child is asked to blow on light objects such as plastic balls, tissue, and cotton. next, the teacher explains that light objects can move with the help of the wind. on the 3rd day, the activity opened with a q&a about the air as god's creation. in the core activities, children draw freely and write the name of the object drawn. on the 4th day, during the opening activity, children listen to illustrated stories about the love of cleanliness, and in the core activity, children learn life skills, namely the practice of drying clothes. parents provide information that the wind can help dry clothes. next, the children are invited to imitate the writing on the worksheet. on the 5th day, the activity was opened by playing and guessing the title of the song, with the parents humming and then the children guessing the title of the song. in the core activity, the child labels the objects in the living room. the child writes the name of the object in the living room on a label sticker and then attaches it to the object. identification of the problem in the second cycle is that some children still do not know the letters and often reverse in writing the form of letters; some children are not interested in reading books because they do not have curiosity about the sound of reading and the content of the story. teachers have not been maximal in creating good communication with parents, so lfh is still ongoing. the family literacy program in cycle ii was done at home by reading stories at least 5 minutes before going to bed every day and doing other literacy activities. the plan of repair activities in cycle ii is as follows. table 2. cycle ii repair plan day activities detail of activities 1 whisper the chain and read out the writing of the serial whisper and sing a happy heart song.  search for and circle the letters p, h, and letter n.  strengthening the family literacy program: read a book for at least 5 minutes each day. 2 discussion about:  what happens if the building is blown by strong winds?  how to make a solid building?  make a sturdy building from objects in the home (cans, cardboard, and others).  strengthening the family literacy program: read a book for at least 5 minutes every day. 3 play sculptures and music, and mention letters on word cards.  make a letter shape using the buttons of the shirt and pair it with a picture of an object that has the same front letter.  strengthening the family literacy program: read a book for at least 5 minutes every day. 4 tell pictures about air pollution  search for pictures of air pollution and name familiar letters in those pictures.  strengthening the family literacy program: read a book for at least 5 minutes every day. 5 tells about the prophet jonah, who was sailing  write down the name of the object on the word card and color the image. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) 34 │ day activities detail of activities  strengthening the family literacy program: read a book for at least 5 minutes every day. the scenario on the first day of cycle ii was in the form of an opening activity, namely playing a series of whispers and reading out the results; then the children sang the song "hati gembira” (happy heart). in the core activity, the child looks for and circles the letters p, h, and n in a short story on the worksheet, mentioning which word he found the letter in. the teacher reminds parents to read the story for at least five minutes and sends photos of the activity via whatsapp group as a report on the child's activities. on the second day, the opening activity consisted of discussing what would happen if the building was blown by strong winds and how to make a strong building, as well as recalling the letters in the word “wind”. in the core activity, children make sturdy buildings using objects at home, such as cans, milk cartons, and other objects. then the child writes the name of the building. the teacher reminds parents to read the story for at least five minutes and sends photos of the activity to the whatsapp group as a report on the child's activities. on the third day, the opening activities included playing sculptures and music. if the music stops, they will become statues and will move again after the child reads aloud a word card. the core activity is inviting children to make letters using buttons by arranging them to form letters and pairing them with pictures that have the same prefix. the teacher reminds parents to read the story for at least five minutes and sends photos of the activity via whatsapp group as a report on the child's activities. on the fourth day, the opening activity consisted of telling pictures about air pollution and reading the writings on the pictures. the core activity is looking for pictures of sources of air pollution, as explained in the storytelling activity in the opening and mentioning familiar letters and reading them aloud. the teacher reminds parents to read the story for at least five minutes and sends photos of the activity via whatsapp group as a report on the child's activities. on the fifth day, the opening activity was in the form of telling stories about the prophet jonah, who was sailing on a sailing ship. the wind can help the ship to be able to move with a large sail media as a sail. the main activity is to write the name of the object on the word card provided and color the picture on the card. the teacher reminds parents to read the story for at least five minutes and sends photos of the activity via whatsapp group as a children's activity report. findings and discussion data analysis in this study used qualitative observations by looking at changes in children's behavior regarding letters and treatments given. the results of observations on the first day of cycle i showed that in the opening activity, singing the song 'happy heart', the singing activity still had to be repeated because most of the children had not memorized the tune and lyrics of the song. then the activity of singing 'happy heart' will be repeated in the second cycle. in the core activity, the results of observations during storybook reading activities as an effort to introduce the sounds and shapes of letters to children, it appears that most of the children have not been able to recognize several forms and sounds of letters, namely the letters 'f', 'p', 'w', and 'y'. '. as for the letters 'b', 'd', 'h', and 'n', there are still some children who are upside-down in writing and mentioning these letters. it is common for early childhood to write and pronounce letters backward, especially for letters that are similar to b with p or with d (irfan et al., 2016). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 35 on the second day, the opening activity consisted of telling stories about the air around us. most of the children did not seem to be able to listen to the story well, so the child was not able to retell the story in the coherent way that they had heard. so the storytelling activity must be repeated the next day. in the core activity, namely mentioning the sound of a letter in a word, some children sometimes forget the shape or sound of the letters they have seen. for early childhood to be able to remember the shapes and sounds of letters, continuous stimulation is needed through various kinds of play activities so that children do not feel bored quickly (karlsdóttir et al., 2019). on the third day, the opening activity in the form of a question and answer session about air as god's creation still needs to be repeated because some children have not been able to focus on answering questions; children don't listen well because their vocabulary is still limited. so the question and answer activities still have to be repeated on the next day. the vocabulary of early childhood needs to be enriched in various ways, including telling stories, asking questions, discussing, role-playing, and so on (edwards, 2018). the core activity in the form of writing down the names of the objects drawn and mentioning the sounds of the letters also still had to be repeated the next day because some children still needed a long time to write the shapes of the letters. at first, children do not need to write directly on paper, but children can be trained in their fine motor skills in various ways, for example, through cutting, tearing, clamping, pasting, drawing, and coloring (alawiyah & attamim, 2020). in comparison, the children who are the object of this research are group b children in kindergarten who will soon enter elementary school, so from a fine motor perspective, they are more ready to write on paper. on the fourth day, the opening activity was reading a picture story about the love of cleanliness. in this activity, some children did not show much love for reading. so the reading activity will be repeated the next day. early childhood disinterest in reading can be caused by several things, including the books used is too small and do not have many colorful pictures, the teacher's monotonous way of telling stories, or the theme of the story being too far from the world of children (silberman, 2018). in the core activity, namely imitating the writing of washing, clothes, and pages, it is seen that children begin to have the desire to know about reading. it's just that some children are still upside down in writing letters. the results of observations on the fifth day during the opening activity were guessing the title of the song that had been sung by the father or mother. most of the children were able to guess the title of the song, but parents who accompanied their children had problems choosing songs because of limited knowledge about the variety of children's songs. in the core activity, the activity of labeling objects in the living room is enough to make children interested because it uses media that is close to the child, and the results can be seen immediately. six children can imitate writing well, and eight children are still much assisted in mentioning the letters on the labels that have been made. the activity of labeling various objects around children includes the application of whole language principles, especially the principles of immersion and involvement (cambourne & turbill, 2007) based on reflection, the advantages felt during the first cycle were: (1) selection of diverse and fun activities, (2) class management using a room at home that moved every day so that children did not get bored, and (3) there was a selection of activities that provided opportunities children to make decisions, such as choosing a room by the child and giving children the opportunity to have an opinion (chen, 2015). one of the advantages of studying at home is the mobility of space. in contrast to the limited classrooms in kindergarten, early childhood at home can learn from the living room, bedroom, and kitchen (chapman, 2014). while the shortcomings during cycle i were: (1) lack of direct communication between children and teachers, so the teacher could not provide maximum reinforcement to the development field that international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) 36 │ was felt to be lacking, (2) there were letter card props that were not large and the colors were less attractive, (3) the size of the illustrated story props is too small so that children cannot see it clearly on the zoom screen (mclaughlin, 2022), (4) the explanations given by the teacher to parents or children are often not well understood because it is only through one-way learning videos (gelman et al., 2017), (5) activities through zoom in the form of storytelling or question and the answer is felt to be less effective because children are still difficult to focus and sit still for a long time (delwiche, 2016), and (6) the number of children who do activities are not on time or even do not want to do them. the results of the assessment at the end of cycle i are as follows. table 3. assessment recapitulation in cycle 1 day evaluation ud ✩ sd ✩✩ de ✩✩✩ dvw ✩✩✩✩ 1a 2 6 4 0 2a 2 6 4 1 3a 1 7 4 1 4a 1 5 4 2 5a 1 4 6 2 note: ud=undeveloped, sd=starting to develop, de=developing as expected, dvw=developing very well based on table 3, 8 children can know letters well through literacy activities at home with family, or about 45%. based on the results of the improvements carried out in cycle 1, it was decided to make improvements again in cycle 2 because the children had not reached the research completion limit of 75%. the results of observations on the first day of cycle ii began with an opening activity in the form of playing a series of whispers. most of the children did this activity enthusiastically because it was an interesting game activity and was carried out with the family (ramani & scalise, 2020). in the core activity, namely finding and circling the letters p, h, and n in a short story. most children are enthusiastic about doing activities because these activities are like puzzles that provoke children's curiosity (oecd, 2017). on the second day, during the opening activity, which was telling stories about what would happen if the building was blown by strong winds, most of the children were able to focus on listening to stories and began to dare to express their opinions. in the core activity, namely making buildings from objects at home, most of the children are excited to play when allowed to determine the media that will be used to make the building, determine the building to be made and write the name of the building (rodriguez-meehan, 2021). on the third day, the opening activities included playing sculptures and music. most children are enthusiastic about doing it because it is an interesting activity to do with the family at home (nottingham et al., 2021). in the core activity, namely making letters from buttons and pairing them with pictures that have the same initial letter, the child did well and was able to follow the instructions given. on the fourth day, the opening activity was in the form of telling stories about air pollution. most children can focus on listening to stories and begin to have curiosity about new vocabulary. when the main activity was looking for pictures of air pollution and mentioning the letters, the children were able to do well because most of them were able to recognize the shapes and sounds of the letters. on the fifth day, during the opening activity, which was telling stories about prophet jonah, who sailed, most of the children were able to become good listeners because they were very interested in the international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 37 stories they heard. in the core activity, namely writing word cards and coloring them, the children did it with confidence and did well because most of them already knew the letters. if the child already knows some letters well, he will usually enjoy arranging the letters into certain words, writing them down, and also coloring them (rettew, 2021). based on the results of reflection at the end of cycle ii, the perceived advantages are: (1) there is an additional program of reading stories before going to bed for at least five minutes every day. this is a strengthening of children's ability to recognize letters (daniell, 2017), (2) through the selection of game activities such as whispering chains or playing statues and music, children can learn with fun, and learning materials will be more embedded in the child's memory (bobrowsky, 2018), (3) game activities involving members the family turned out to strengthen the bond between them, to create a more intimate, warm, and fun atmosphere (zimmerman & winek, 2013), (4) the large variety of activities makes most children able to complete these activities without getting bored, make it easier for teachers to evaluate, and facilitates the achievement of the competencies expected of children (carolan, 2018). while the shortcomings during cycle ii were: (1) the lack of direct communication between teachers and children in reinforcing areas of development that have not been optimally developed, (2) the lack of attachment between teachers and children due to online learning so that teachers were quite difficult in assessing their affection, (3) kindergarten teachers need to communicate intensively with parents to be able to overcome the problems of children who have not shown interest in reading books (de temple & snow, 2003), (4) online learning causes teachers to feel that they do not have enough opportunities to take individual approaches to children (undheim, 2020). the results of the assessment at the end of cycle ii are as follows. table 4. recapitulation of assessment results in cycle 2 note: ud=undeveloped, sd=starting to develop, de=developing as expected, dvw=developing very well based on table 4, the achievement of children's success in the good and excellent categories for letter recognition activities is 78%, which means that the research success limit is 75%. based on the recapitulation of cycle 1 and cycle 2 assessments above, it can be concluded that there has been an increase in the success of developing children's ability to recognize letters through family literacy programs. this can be seen in the percentage of children who are categorized as good and very good in the ability to recognize letters in the first cycle of 45% and increased to 78% in the second cycle. at the end of the second cycle, based on observations, it was shown that most of the children were able to recognize letters. day evaluation ud ✩ sd ✩✩ de ✩✩✩ dvw ✩✩✩✩ 1b 1 4 6 2 2b 1 3 5 4 3b 0 2 6 5 4b 0 2 6 5 5b 0 1 6 5 sum 2 12 29 21 average 0,4 2,4 5,8 4,2 percentage 3% 19% 45% 33% international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) 38 │ language literacy activities are one way to be able to practice skills and introduce children to reading from an early age. language literacy activities also serve as a foundation for them to be able to think critically and logically when faced with various situations (bodle, 2019). the early literacy stage, which includes spoken and written language as well as knowledge of numbers and letters, is one of the keys to the success of early childhood reading. this ability is needed when they enter elementary school (sisk-hilton & meier, 2016). the family literacy program was chosen to help realize the literacy goal, which is to improve the ability of children aged 5-6 years to recognize letters. activities that can be done in the literacy program at home are storytelling, question, and answer, discussions, games with the theme of recognizing letters that are carried out with family members, and reading books at least five minutes before going to bed every day (badarudin & andriani, 2017). the benefits of family literacy programs, in addition to increasing children's ability to recognize letters, are to increase bonding togetherness between family members and introduce a love of books to children. it is expected to increase children's interest in reading (davies, 2013). conclusion conclusion based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that there is an increase in the ability of children aged 5-6 years to recognize letters through the family literacy program at mentari kindergarten, tangerang, with an increase of 78% from the initial condition. the improvement in children's ability to recognize letters can be seen through several indicators, including children seem confident and able to write word cards and color them, and most children are enthusiastic in finding and circling the letters p, h, and n, in a short story, excited making buildings with objects in the house, focusing on listening to stories, starting to dare to express their opinions, being able to make letters from buttons and pairing them with pictures that have the same initial letters, and being able to look for pictures of air pollution and mention the letters. suggestion based on the results of the study, playing activities with the family made children interested and enthusiastic about doing learning activities at home. teachers need to be creative to plan meaningful activities that can be done with the family. teachers must also be innovative in using the room at home for children's learning, using objects at home as a substitute for educational teaching aids at school, and building good communication with parents where during this pandemic, the parents are the ones who are together. children study at home. schools, as education providers, should facilitate and motivate teachers and children to implement this family literacy program as the school's flagship program because it has many positive impacts. limitation & further research one of the limitations of this research is that the car implementation time is quite short, only a week for each cycle. also, the implementation of online lfh has been going on for quite a long time (more than a year) so there is saturation in children. this research needs to be continued by developing a family literacy program through a variety of activities for early childhood because apart from being a reading stimulation for the beginning of family literacy activities, it is also an innovation for parenting activities. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (2), 29-41 family literacy program for improving the ability to know letters in early childhood mukti amini issn 2685-4074 (online) │ 39 references acevedo, m. v. 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(2013). family fun: activity: group/family game night: activity mode: game. in group activities for families in recovery (pp. 64–66). sage publications, inc. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781483349664.n9 microsoft word 7. ijeiece-564-jm-article text-2513-1-4-20210612.edited by le.docx available online at: https://researchsynergy.org/ijeiece/ international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 3 number 2 (2021): 28-41 corresponding author yemfoks70@yahoo.com; omorinola2000@yahoo.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v3i2.564 research synergy foundation correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi1, esther oduolowu2 1early childhood and educational foundations, nigeria 2sokoto state university, nigeria abstract the study examined the impact of culturally based instructional strategy (indigenous songs, rhymes, games, stories, language of the immediate environment, and instructional materials) on pre-primary school children’s cognitive competence with special attention on problem-solving, speaking, and listening skills. socio-cultural theory provided the framework, while pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was adopted. 74 children (44 males and 30 females) with a mean age of 5.61 from four pre-primary schools (two public and private schools) were purposively selected from two local government areas and randomized into cibs and conventional groups, respectively. children's cognitive competency rating scale (r = 0.89) and cbis instructional guide were the instruments used to collect data for the study. paired sample t-test and analysis of covariance (ancova) were used to analyze the data. there was a significant main effect of treatment on children’s cognitive competence (f(1,65) = 10.31; partial ῆ2 = 0.14). cibs was found to be potent in enhancing pre-primary school children's cognitive competence, especially in the area of problemsolving, speaking, and listening skills. teaching and learning activities at the pre-primary school level should employ a culturally-based instructional strategy. keywords: culturally-based instructional strategy, cognitive competence, problem-solving, speaking and listening skills. this is an open access article under the cc-by-nc license. introduction so much preference for foreign educational materials and philosophy in nigeria is exhibited in every education segment, ranging from curriculum to instructional strategy. the classrooms, especially the preschool classes, depend largely on instructional strategies that are euro-western orientated. most of the strategies adopted during the teaching and learning activities at this level are less culturally relevant. these have been associated with the non-relevance of such educational attainment to the immediate environment because culture plays a prominent role in the teaching and learning process. research evidence from descriptive and experimental studies, both local and international, have linked meaningful learning with culture. berk and winsler (2002) and darling-hammond, austin, lit, nasir, moll, and ladson billings (2008) claim that human beings are cultural animals; they are products of their cultural upbringing and cultural environments. gay (2000), rogoff (2003), obanya (2007), ritterhouse (2007), fries-gaither (2009), chartock (2010), and gwanfogbe (2011) assert that the teaching and learning process has its root in culture and culture is central to learning. this implies that the culture of the people cannot be ignored in the teaching and learning process specifically for effectiveness and meaningfulness. it has a strong influence on educational practices, especially how people teach and how they learn. culture influences how people process learning, solve international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu |29 problems and teach (saifer, edwards, elli, lena ko, stuczynski, dorfman, and kirkham 2005). it produces the needed content for the educational curriculum and plays an active role in facilitating effective learning. it also has a strong link with the understanding of people's learning styles. hills (2012) asserts that understanding the culture of a society is the key to understanding the way people learn. thus, the instructional strategy to be adopted in the course of teaching ought to have a base in the culture of the immediate society since culture, education, and learning are interrelated (azubuike 2013). the early years pose a good chance of introducing a strategy that is culturally based to children. literature review the early years, if properly handled, have been confirmed to lay a solid foundation for the holistic development of the child, cognitive competence inclusive. cognitive competence is usually inferred from children’s academic excellence, motor activities, communication, or social behaviors during their learning, play, and daily activities. as expressed by unesco (2003), cognitive competence is learning to know, which implies learning how to learn by developing one's concentration, memory skills, and ability to think. scrimsher and tudge (2003) explain cognitive competence from social and cultural points of view. it is social because children learn through interactions with others and require assistance from others to learn what they need to know and culture because what children need to know is determined by the culture of their environment. michelon (2006) describes it as a competence that has more to do with the mechanisms of how we learn, remember, solve problems, and pay attention. it can be said summarily that cognitive competence is demonstrated in performing tasks that involve reasoning, remembering, adapting, transferring, and applying wisdom to adequately proffer a solution to the problem at hand. all these components have their root in the culture of people. vygotsky’s assertion says that tools of intellectual adaptation are available in each culture to help children develop adaptive thinking and problem-solving strategies (wang, ceci, williams, and kopko, 2004). thus, points to the fact that there is a strong connection between the cognitive competence of the child and his/her culture. this means that the development of cognitive competence might not be culturally neutral. the former can be strengthened during the early years when teaching and learning activities employ culturally-based instructional strategies. this is why butler (2011) affirms that culture plays a role in conveying and receiving information and shaping an individual's thinking process. wang et al. (2004) assert that people in different cultures have been shown to possess different cognitive competence unique to their living environment. and most times, this type of competency has been found to be beneficial to the environment. neglecting culture and culturally based instruction strategy in the process of acquiring this competence might affect children's acquisition of necessary skills that can make them relevant in their immediate environment. cognitive competence involves so many skills; this study focuses on problem-solving, speaking, and listening skills. these were given consideration because they are frequently used in day-to-day activities and can easily be translated into developing other skills needed to make a meaningful contribution to one's immediate environment. problems are part of everyday life and can be handled differently depending on what the situation presents and the skill that the person involved possesses. problemsolving skills can be explained as analyzing a situation and forming and applying a workable solution to arrive at an expected solution. it could also mean staying on a difficult task and applying different tactics or strategies until an expected result is achieved. mayer and wittrock (2009) describe problem-solving as a cognitive process directed at transforming a problem from the given state to the goal state when the problem solver is not immediately aware of a international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu 30| solution method. it thus means, developing a problem-solving skill goes beyond supplying an answer to an exercise in the classroom; it includes searching for or exploring every possible means to finding solutions to a problem. previous knowledge gained can also be transferred to solve a problem at hand. some of the subsets of problem-solving might be employed to achieve these. according to mayer and wittrock (2009), these subsets of problem-solving skills include abilities to reason, make decisions, think critically, and creatively. all these are required to be able to provide a solution to a problem. meanwhile, oduolowu (1998) had earlier pointed out that the conscious development of the cognitive skill, especially the problem-solving skill, is still alien to the primary school system in nigeria. this author made this assertion because most of the children's activities are paper-pencil based. activities that can consciously prompt problem-solving skills are not organized for children during the teaching and learning activities. the problem still persists, and the pre-primary school level is not left out of this situation. salami (2014) established that majority of children's classroom activities are still paper-pencil based. this might be one of the possible factors responsible for poor performance in mathematics in nigeria. children’s poor performance in problem-solving has been linked with poor performance in mathematics (salami, 2014). an instructional strategy that is culturally based possesses diverse culturally relevant activities that can be used to engage children in meaningful problem-solving activities. closely related to problem-solving skills are speaking and listening skills. children that possess good listening and speaking skills may likely stand a higher chance of exhibiting problem-solving skills. they might be able to ask questions related to the task at hand and listen to instructions from others. they might be able to discuss the problem encountered and the process of solving it. speaking and listening skills are part of the indices of cognitive competence. they are two sides of a coin in communication skills, they are interrelated; speaking skill is the ability to make an expression known through the use of verbal symbols or sign while listening is the ability to receive and decode the expression. speaking is an expressive language skill in which the speaker uses verbal symbols to communicate (oduolowu and amosun, 2010). it was also described as the process of building and sharing the message through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols in a variety of contexts (šolcová, 2011). speaking can then be described as a verbal or signal expression of one’s thinking, emotion, and relationship with others. it plays a significant role in the dissemination of information and ideas. listening is as important as what is being said (speaking). hearing is often mistaken as listening; the two differ. thus, hearing precedes listening. listening skill involves the ability to hear what people are saying accurately, respond promptly and relay it precisely if necessary. according to okoro (2006), listening involves the ability to encode and decode a heard message. jalongo (2008) describes it as the process of taking in information through the sense of hearing and making meaning from what is being heard. oduolowu and amosun (2010) conceive listening as the ability to select sound information that one wants to hear in order to perceive it in a clear and organized fashion. listening skill is an important aspect of the cognitive development of children. brown (2012) observes that developing good listening skills will help children to cope with the academic demands of school. children who are active listeners can incorporate the things they hear faster in their framework of knowledge than their more passive counterparts. they can also exhibit better concentration and memory when they develop good listening skills (tramel, 2011). the culturally-based instructional strategy has different activities that can enhance these skills in children. some of which include storytelling, singing, and recitation of rhymes which were adopted in this study. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu |31 despite the relevance of speaking and listening skills to children’s learning, researchers have established that little or no attention is devoted to these skills in the classroom. oduolowu and amosun (2010) observe that these two skills have suffered neglect and are taught least often in the classroom. also, most of the practices in nigeria's pre-primary and primary classrooms are not conscious of the influence of culture on the development of children's cognitive competence, especially in problem-solving, speaking, and listening skills. these aspects of a child's development were not handled with negligence in the cultural practice of the people. children were engaged in activities such as storytelling, indigenous games, rhymes, tongue-twisting, proverbs, among others, to enhance their intellectual development. however, reports from different studies have revealed that these multidimensional practices are fading out gradually, and the results are obvious in the products. for instance, fakeye (2010) reports that teaching and learning activities are being carried out at the early childhood level using english as a medium of instruction. roy-omoni (2010) notes that children in their formative years are denied the teaching and learning through their mother tongue, contrary to the recommendation from the national policy on education in nigeria. the local language has become outmoded and displaced in the teaching and learning process (obioha 2010). salami and oyaremi 2012; akinwale (2013) note that african children are exposed to games, toys, songs, nursery rhymes that have no direct relationship with what the growing children are likely to encounter in their immediate environments. also, most of the teaching materials are imported. ekukinam (2012). the need to bring all these valued ways of effective teaching and learning activities back into the educational system calls for an instructional strategy that acknowledges the relevance of culture in developing cognitive competencies. giving culture its due recognition in education, especially in classroom teaching and learning activities, is the root of culturally-based instructional strategy (cbis). culturally-based instructional strategy, in this context, is originally known as culturally responsive classroom practices. it was created by gloria ladsonbillings to describe a pedagogy that empowers children intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values. it utilises the pupils' backgrounds, knowledge, and experiences to inform the teacher's lessons and methodology (coffey 2008). cbis is described as the instructional strategy that is grounded in an understanding of the role of culture in the teaching and learning process (underwood, 2009). alaska native knowledge network (1998) views the strategy as a way of shifting the focus in the curriculum from teaching/learning about cultural values as another subject to teaching/learning through the local culture as a foundation for all educational activities. a culturally-based instructional strategy is a form of strategy that employs the indigenous process and activity to facilitate meaningful and effective teaching and learning in the classroom. it gives adequate attention to the relevance of indigenous songs, stories, games, rhymes, the language of the immediate environment, and materials found in the immediate environment on achieving meaningful teaching and learning. and also help to equip the children from the society to improve the society. it engages practices that are culturally, developmentally, contextually, and child's friendly in the classroom to achieve holistic development of the child. cbis is a form of teaching based on the assumption that children’s academic achievement can be improved when knowledge and skills are presented in ways that are consistent with their cultural frame of reference (gay, 2000). gay (2000) and king (2012) note that cbis recognizes that pupils learn in many different ways. these practices maintain that varied instructional techniques are a critical part of teaching responsively. dawes and biersteker (2011) see a culturally-based instructional strategy that encourages international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu 32| children's total engagement in learning through participation and interaction in activities. the literature revealed that the strategy is dynamic and is not characterised by the classroom's routines and rituals. each theme or topic taught is backed up with relevant indigenous stories, rhyme, and songs. culturallybased instructional strategy (cbis) emphasises a learner-center strategy where children are exposed to opportunities and activities to express themselves verbally or non-verbally through indigenous stories, games, rhymes, and songs. these indigenous games and songs have their own effects on children’s holistic development. durojaiye (1977) had earlier submitted that when the traditional games are used in nursery schools, it is a way of giving children a chance to learn and pass on to the next generation what has been taken away from their background traditional. a substantial number of findings from experimental studies from western countries on culturally-based instructional strategy has revealed that any culturally appropriate strategy has a positive impact on students' learning outcomes. the strategy is effective in increasing students’ achievement in any subject area (moyo 2009; underwood 2009; peterek, 2009; thompson, 2010; hills, 2012; mayfield, 2012; thoms 2014; paulk, martinez and lambeth 2014). it ensures academic success and could also enhance the acquisition of cognitive competence because this strategy, according to erickson (2010), is rooted in the belief that everything in education relates to culture, its acquisition, transmission, and intervention. all learning is mediated by culture. this means that if culture is neglected in education, it might not yield the expected result. if it is a good one, education must be rooted in and guided by the culture of the society concerned. the study is hinged on socio-cultural theory. lev vgyotsky propounded this theory in 1978. the theory acknowledges the relevance of culture on the process of knowing (kanselaar, 2002; mcleod, 2018). it believes that people are products of their social and cultural environment. according to ellig & holmes (2011), vygotsky believed that community plays an influential role in the importance of making meaning essentially, learning. the theory believes that a child's learning cannot be separated from the child's cultural background because culture determines how he or she relates with others, learn and think. this theory is relevant to this study because it acknowledges the relevance of culture in the teaching and learning processes by establishing a link between culture and the child's cognitive development. this study, therefore, considered enhancing the pre-primary school children’s cognitive competence (problem-solving, speaking, and listening skills) through culturally-based instructional strategy (indigenous songs, rhymes, games, stories, language of the immediate environment, and local materials) in oyo state, nigeria research methods research question the research question was stated as follows to guide the study is there a difference before and after the treatment in children's cognitive competence in problemsolving, listening, and speaking? hypothesis h01: there is no significant main effect of treatment on children’s cognitive competence international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu |33 research design the study used the pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental research design to determine the impact of the treatment on pupils’ cognitive competence. pretest-posttest control group design is the type of quasi-experimental design in which the cognitive competence of the participants in the research is measured before and after the treatment in both the experimental and the control groups. this study observed how well the pre-primary school children exhibited the problem-solving, listening, and speaking skills of cognitive competence before as well as post-treatment. this was to ascertain that the groups were almost the same or significantly different in the exhibition of skills before treatment and to determine the extent to which the participants were knowledgeable about the content before and the shift in their knowledge after the experiment. in the end, that it may be justified that the post-competence of the preprimary school children is the result of the treatment, there must be a control group. the research design is schematically represented thus: o1 x1 o2 e (experimental group) o3 x2 o4 c (control group) where o1, 03 represent pretest measures and o2 and 04 represent posttest measures for experimental and control groups, respectively. x1 represents culturally-based instructional strategy (experimental group) x2 represents conventional instructional strategy (control group) research participants two local government areas (lgas) (ibadan north and ibadan north-east) and two pre-primary schools (one public and one private) were purposively selected from each of the lgas based on their willingness to participate in the study. an intact class of nursery iii children was selected per school and randomized into cibs and conventional groups. a total of 74 pre-primary school children (44 males and 30 females) with a mean age of 5.61 participated in the study. there were 37 children in each of the groups. data collection the study was carried out in three stages: the training of research assistants/administration of pretest, implementation of the treatment, and administration of posttest. the procedure lasted for ten weeks in the selected schools. the pre-primary school children in the experimental group were exposed to culturally-based instructional strategy (cbis), which comprises methodology (indigenous songs, rhymes, games, and stories), medium of instruction (language of the immediate environment -yoruba), and indigenous materials (such as beads of different colors, dry seeds, cowries to develop the skills. all these were used to expose children to hands-on activities that involve counting, grouping, sorting, and matching. posters that contained yorùbá numbers and alphabet with relevant pictures were made available to them to engage in making word-picture albums and word-formation. they also engaged in fixing puzzles, counting, grouping, sorting, and matching indigenous objects, and threading beads for problem-solving. relevant indigenous stories, rhymes, and game songs were used to facilitate the acquisition of the skill of listening and speaking skills. the pre-primary school children in the control group were exposed to the conventional instructional strategy (cis). researchers have established this strategy to be dominated by western-oriented activities, such as foreign songs, rhymes, and games language. english was the medium of instruction adopted for the conventional group. afterward, the posttest was administered to the two groups by the tenth week of international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu 34| the study. the instruments used were the children's cognitive competence rating scale (r = 0.89) and cibs instructional guide. compiled relevant indigenous rhymes, songs, and games, children's indigenous picture storybook, pictorial charts on indigenous numbers and alphabets. data analysis data were analysed using paired sample t-test and analysis of covariance. paired t-test was used to show the difference between pretest and posttest scores of children. in contrast, analysis of covariance was used to control the effect of the extraneous variables in the study. findings and discussion research question: 1. is there a difference before and after the treatment in children’s cognitive competence in problemsolving, listening, and speaking? table 1. summary of paired t-test analysis showing the difference between pre and post scores of the children in cognitive competence paired variable n mean std. e mean gain t df sig. remark pre-problem solving 37 18.081 5.356 11.946 9.321 36 .000 significant post-problem solving 37 30.027 5.052 pre-listening 37 8.676 3.794 14.946 13.047 36 .000 significant post listening 37 23.622 7.342 pre-speaking 37 7.811 4.351 17.000 15.039 36 .000 significant post-speaking 37 24.811 5.671 table 1 reveals that there was a difference between the mean scores of problem-solving skills at the pretest (18.08) and the posttest (30.03) of the thirty-seven (37) children in the experimental group that were exposed to the treatment. this difference was significant (t = 9.32; df = 36;). the mean scores of listening skills at the pretest (8.68) differs from the posttest (23.62) of the children exposed to treatment. this difference was significant (t = 13.05; df = 36;). the mean score of speaking skill at pretest (7.81) differs from the posttest (24.81) of the children exposed to treatment. it was significant (t = 15.04; df = 36;). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu |35 fig. 2: cognitive competence before and after treatment hypothesis h01: there is no significant main effect of treatment on children’s cognitive competence table 2: summary of analysis of covariance (ancova) on cognitive competence of children dependent variable: post-conquest source type iii sum of squares df mean square f sig. partial eta squared corrected model 9623.163a 8 1202.895 5.540 .000 .405 intercept 88205.041 1 88205.041 406.265 .000 .862 precognitivecompetence 49.830 1 49.830 .230 .633 .004 treatment 2237.714 1 2237.714 *10.307 .002 .137 * denotes significant difference at 0.05 level of significant a. r squared = .405 (adjusted r squared = .332) table 2 indicates that there was a significant main effect of treatment on children’s cognitive competence (f(1,65) = 10.31; partial; ῆ2 = 0.14). therefore, h01 was rejected. the effect size was 14%. table 3 presents the magnitude of performance across the groups. table 3: estimated marginal means on cognitive competence of children international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu 36| variable n mean std.e pre score 74 29.027 post score 74 77.597 2.622 treatment control group 37 69.018 2.718 experimental group 37 86.177 4.544 table 3 shows the competent cognitive scores of the two groups of children. out of a maximum mark of 99, the mean score of children in the control group was 69.02 (69.72%), while that of the children in the experimental group was 86.18 (87.05%). this implies that those exposed to cbis exhibited significantly better cognitive competence in problem-solving, speaking, and listening skills than those exposed to conventional strategy. discussion point 1: the study's finding reveals that there was a significant main effect of treatment (culturally-based instructional strategy) on pre-primary school children’s cognitive competence (problem-solving, speaking, and listening skills). it simply means that the children exposed to cbis gained more in the skills of cognitive competence than those exposed to conventional instructional strategy (cis). this effectiveness corroborates the findings of different experimental studies that have been carried out on cbis, such as moyo (2009), underwood (2009), peterek (2009), hills (2012), mayfield (2012), thoms (2014), paulk, martinez, and lambeth (2014). these scholars confirmed that the strategy is effective in increasing student achievement in any subject area. it is also in line with the submission of gay (2000) that all students will perform better on multiple measures of achievement when teaching is filtered through their own cultural experiences. point 2: the language of the medium of instruction yoruba adopted in this study as contrary to the conventional medium of instruction – english language at the pre-primary school level is also believed to have a significant effect on the acquisition of cognitive competence. the six-year yoruba medium primary project by fafunwa, as reported by agbedo, abata-ahura, krisagbedo, and edward (2012), demonstrated that a full six-year primary education in the mother tongue with the l2 taught as a subject was not only viable but gave better results than all-english schooling. oribabor and adeshina (2013) also confirmed that the use of the yoruba language as a medium of instruction aided learning better than the foreign language. point 3: the indigenous materials used during the experiment also attracted children’s attention and encouraged children’s active involvement during the teaching and learning activities because some of them were new in the classroom. as identified by yitbarek (2012), using indigenous materials makes teachers and learners aware of the resources to be found in their environment and stimulates creativity to use them. this could be one of the reasons why the rivers readers project (nd) suggested that materials in the mother tongue of reasonable quality could be developed and utilized during the course of teaching and learning. point 4: the components of cognitive competence (problem-solving, listening, and speaking) selected for this study were also examined separately before and after the treatment. the results revealed that the pre-primary school children were exposed to the culturally-based instructional strategy with respect to the series of activities, such as the use of indigenous stories, rhymes, games-songs, materials, and language international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 3 (2), 28-41 correlational study of culturally-based instructional strategy and cognitive competencies on problem solving, speaking and listening: an evidence in oyo state nigeria. oluyemisi majebi, esther oduolowu |37 of the immediate environment exhibited higher skills of problem-solving, listening and speaking after the treatment. there was a difference between the mean scores of problem-solving skills before and after the children were exposed to treatment. this difference was significant. this might be because children were not limited to their conventional strategy of just providing answers to certain exercises; they were engaged with indigenous materials and various problem-solving activities such as counting, sorting, matching, grouping, fixing of puzzles, and word formation. this finding is in agreement with deak (2000), who exposed pre-primary school children to a series of activities to develop problem-solving skills. the experiment yielded tremendous results: children were able to search for information to solve problems, and they could match familiar words. mugweni, mutereri, and ganga (2012) assert that extensive involvement in traditional games and socio-dramatic play has been seen to improve children's memory and cognitive perspective-taking abilities. likewise, there was a difference between the mean score of listening skills before and after exposing the children to the treatment. indigenous stories, songs, and rhyme were employed to facilitate this skill in pre-primary school children exposed to the treatment. this difference was shown to be significant. this finding also corroborates the finding of an experimental study carried out by oduolowu and akintemi (2014) that indigenous storytelling facilitated listening skills. also, there was a difference between the mean score of the speaking skill before and after exposing the children to the treatment. this difference was significant. this means that indigenous stories, songs, rhymes, games, materials, and language of the immediate environment significantly affected the selected components of cognitive competence of the pre-primary school children after the treatment. conclusion based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that culturally-based instructional strategy (cbis) is better than the conventional instructional strategy that has dominated pre-primary school classrooms in nigeria. the children exposed to cbis gained more in the skills of cognitive competence than those exposed to conventional instructional strategy (cis). they exhibited higher competence in problemsolving, listening, and speaking skills. adopting cbis exposes children to indigenous ways of learning that allow them to be actively involved in teaching and learning activities. limitation and further research getting the relevant indigenous songs, games, play, and materials relevant to the topic treated almost hindered the implementation of the experiment. most of the indigenous ways of teaching are gradually going into extinction. further studies on culturally-based instructional strategy should not be restricted to an aspect of the child’s development (cognitive) but should be extended to cover the holistic development of children; none of the domains should be neglected or given more attention than the other. a longitudinal study should be adopted in implementing the strategy for greater achievement. a large number of pre-primary school children should be involved in this type of study. reference agbedo c. u., abata-ahura l. i., krisagbedo e. c. & edward c. 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(2010) the influence of school sex, location and types on students’ academic performance. international journal of education and science 2.2:81-85. retrieved from krepublishers.com/...journals/.../ijes-2-2-81-10-054-yusuf-m-a-tt.pdf https://doi.org/10.1080/09751122.2010.11889992 microsoft word 883-article text-4027-1-4-20220404.docx available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 4 number 1 (2022): 29-41 corresponding author afrina.sari@budiluhur.ac.id; mhermansyah0403@gamil.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i1.883 research synergy foundation the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari1, hermansyah2 1 universitas budi luhur, indonesia 2 universitas jayabaya, indonesia abstract children's creativity can be increased through learning methods. creativity in kindergarten student learning aims to develop students' curiosity and develop their imagination. it is suspected that teacher communication in telling a story using the storytelling method will help increase student creativity in kindergarten in the city of bekasi. this study aims to: 1) analyze the effect of teacher communication variables on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city. 2) analyze the storytelling method variable as a mediator variable between teacher communication and students' creativity level. the research method uses the quantitative-correlation method, namely calculating the relationship between variables using the spss application and the sobel calculator to calculate the mediator variable, whether it can be used as a mediator variable after being calculated by using a sobel calculator. the population of this study was kindergarten students in bekasi city who were taken randomly. the research sample was determined in kindergarten schools using the storytelling method as a learning method. randomly selected, namely private kindergarten "islam mentari" and islamic kindergarten "gema nurani". of the two kindergartens, the respondents were parents of students from the two kindergartens. as many as 60 parents of students, namely 30 parents of mentari islam students, and 30 parents of "gema nurani" students. the results showed 1) there was an influence of teacher communication variables on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city. the value of r = 0.381, and r² = 0.145, so it can be said that teacher communication contributes to the storytelling method by 14.5%. this means that there is an influence of teacher communication of 14.5%, and the remaining 85.5% is influenced by other variables not examined in this study 2) there is an effect of teacher communication on the level of creativity of students, and the storytelling method as a mediator is significant at the level of p = 0.05. results of the sobel calculator calculation, can be explained that the sobel test value is test statistic value = 2.080, standard error value = 0.090, p-value = 0.038. it can be seen that the value is 2,080 > p-value = 0.038, meaning that the sobel test calculation shows a significant level of = 0.05, indicating that the storytelling method can be a mediator variable. this means that the test results show that the storytelling method can be a mediator variable in research between teacher communication variables and students' creativity levels. keywords: creative, storytelling, kindergarten this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction children's education at the age of 3-6 years as an effort to foster parents and schools that are adapted to the child's development. early childhood education is the most basic education and occupies a position as a golden age and is very strategic in the development of human resources. according to mursid (2015), education for early childhood, the main goal is to direct children to be brave to say something, so that verbal communication of children develops. kindergarten-level learning needs to be developed to direct children to be happier. the main thing to aim for from children's education in kindergarten is how children feel comfortable in a learning environment with their friends. schools must direct the emergence of potential that develops creativity in students. children's creativity in school depends on the teacher who guides and teaches. especially the way the teacher communicates to the students. the teacher as a communicator conveys the subject matter as a message to his students as a communicant. the task of the teacher as a communicator is to utilize specific potentials and signs or symbols as symbols to be conveyed to students, using teaching communication. communication in teaching is defined as communication in learning. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 30 montesori, (2008), in holis (2016) explains, when a child is two and a half years old, a child only has two or three hundred vocabulary words but at the age of up to six years, he can master thousands of words. learning using the storytelling method will help shape children's personal and morals, channel the needs of children's imagination and fantasy, stimulate children's verbal abilities, stimulate children's writing and reading interests, open children's knowledge horizons. storytelling is a method that can accommodate children's ability to imagine and fantasize. (santrock, 2007), explains that learning with the storytelling method will be able to produce language sound skills, recognize words and even slowly produce a series of complex or minimal consonants in children. the storytelling method will increase the vocabulary of the child. according to hurlock (1978), in antika, a.r. (2019), creativity cannot develop automatically but requires stimulation from the environment. there are several conditions and factors that affect creativity, namely: 1) time; children's activities should not be arranged in such a way that there is little free time for them to play with ideas and concepts and try new and original forms. 2) opportunity to be alone; children need alone time and opportunities to develop a rich, imaginative life. 3) encouragement; regardless of how well children's achievements meet adult standards, they should be encouraged to be creative and free from ridicule and criticism. 4) facilities; facilities for play and later other means must be provided to stimulate the impulse of experimentation and exploration, which are essential elements of all creativity. 5) stimulation from the environment; the home and school environment should stimulate creativity by providing guidance and encouragement to use the means that will encourage creativity. 6) the relationship between parents and children is not possessive; parents who are not overly protective or possessive of their children encourage their children to be independent and confident, two qualities that strongly support creativity. 7) how to educate children; educating in a democratic and permissive way in the home and school enhances creativity. while educating in an authoritarian manner extinguishes it. 8) opportunity to acquire knowledge; the more knowledge a child can acquire, the better the basis for achieving creative results. students in kindergarten, in addition to their young age, also need affection from the adults around them. so that learning patterns that make kindergarten students feel comfortable need to be developed. this is the focus of this research. the initial assumption of this study is that it is suspected that teacher communication in teaching in kindergarten can affect the level of creativity of kindergarten students mediated by the storytelling method will help students to develop creativity in the ability to develop potential. the urgency of this research is to develop learning methods for kindergarten students in bekasi city. and besides that the storytelling method can be a mediator in increasing student creativity. for this reason, the research questions are as follows: 1) does the teacher's communication variable affect the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city? 2) does the storytelling method variable as a mediator affect the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city? international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 31 literature review teacher communication theodore herbert (in majid 2013) says that communication is a process in which the meaning of knowledge is transferred from one person to another, usually with the intention of achieving some specific goal. communication can be defined as an effort to transfer knowledge between humans with the aim of changing the thoughts, attitudes, and behavior of the recipient of the message to fulfill the wishes of the communicator. the communication process according to dirman & junarsih (2014) is essentially that the communication process is the process of conveying thoughts or ideas or feelings by someone (the communicator) to another person (the communicant). the communication process can be interpreted as the process of delivering something from one person to another by using the feelings that arise in the mind of a communicator to the communicant. according to majid (2013) that communication is distinguished from verbal communication and non-verbal communication. verbal communication is communication that uses language, both written and spoken language. while non-verbal communication is communication that uses signs, gestures, pictures, symbols, facial expressions, and the like. according to sudjana, (2014) there are three patterns of communication in the process of interaction between teachers and students. 1) one-way communication pattern, namely the teacher has an active role and the children are passive. one-way communication patterns tend to be teacher-centered where children just listen silently without any interaction. 2) two-way communication patterns, namely teachers and children. there is interaction between the teacher and together in expressing opinions that will be conveyed such as questions and answers and conversing in the learning process. 3) the pattern of multi-directional communication, namely multi-directional communication in the learning process allows the exchange of information between teachers and children and children to children. the classroom atmosphere in this communication makes the class "live" and the children are more active in learning. in essence, the learning process is an interaction between teachers and students in the classroom in which there is interaction between teachers and students in communication. according to dirman and juarsih (2014), communication in the learning process is the process of conveying messages between teachers (communicators) to students (communicants) both using verbal language (oral) and nonverbal language (signs) with the aim that students are able to understand the material presented by the teacher. either verbally or nonverbally. the message conveyed by the teacher can be in the form of knowledge, ideas, or experience. according to harold lasswel, in budyatna, (2015) the communication process includes the following elements; a. sender / conveyor of information: a communicator who conveys a message to a person or a number of people. b. encoding, namely encoding, the process of transferring thoughts into the form of symbols. c. message, which is a message which is a set of meaningful symbols conveyed by the communicator. d. media, namely the communication channel where the message passes from the communicator to the communicant. e. decoding, namely decoding, the process by which the communicant assigns meaning to the symbols conveyed by the communicator to him. f. receiver, namely the communicant who receives messages from the communicator. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 32 g. response, which is a response, a set of reactions from the communicant after being hit by a message. h. feedback, namely feedback, the communicant's response is submitted to the communicator. i. noise, which is an unplanned disturbance that occurs in the communication process as a result of receiving another message by the communicant that is different from the message conveyed by the communicator to him. effective communication can be said to be if it has signs that can be seen and felt by the sender and recipient of the message. according to stewart l. tubbs and sylvia moss in sumantri, (2015), there are five signs of effective communication including: a) understanding understanding means careful acceptance and content of stimulation as intended by the communicator. failure to receive the contents of the message carefully is called a primary breakdown in communication. b) pleasure this communication is commonly called phatic communication, intended to cause pleasure. this communication is what makes our relationship warm, intimate, and fun. c) influencing attitudes humans in communicating hope to be able to influence the attitudes of others to behave in accordance with what we expect. for example, teachers want to invite their students to love science more, placing advertisements to stimulate consumers to buy. all these communications are persuasive types of communication. this communication requires an understanding of the factors in the communicator, and the message that has an effect on the communicant. d) good social relationships social needs are the need to add and maintain satisfying relationships with others in terms of interaction and association (inclusion), control and power (control), and love and affection (affection). e) the act of persuasion as communication to influence attitudes. attitudes are shown to give birth to actions that occur. taking concrete action is indeed the most important indicator of effectiveness. because it causes action, we must first succeed in cultivating a good relationship. effective communication in learning that is between the sender and the recipient of the message feel the same way. signs of effective communication are that the recipient understands what is meant by the sender so that a sense of pleasure arises between the two because it can change one's behavior after receiving a message which results in good social relations with actions that affect one's attitude after receiving the message. because essentially communication is the process of transferring information / messages with a specific purpose that results in changes after receiving information. based on the description above, the teacher communication intended in this study is the process of delivering messages in learning from teachers to students in the learning process in an effectual manner which includes a) verbal communication, 2) non-verbal communication by showing symbols that are easy to understand. storytelling method storytelling is an art of storytelling that can be used as a means to instill values in children without the need to teach the child. storytelling is a creative process for children which, in its development, always activates not only intellectual aspects but also aspects of sensitivity, subtlety, emotion, art, fantasy power, and children's imagination which not only prioritizes the ability of the left brain but also the right brain. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 33 storytelling comes from english, when viewed from the wording, it has two words, namely story and telling. story means story and telling means telling. so the equivalent of the word produces a new meaning that is telling a story. storytelling is an art of storytelling that can be used as a means to instill values in children without the need to teach the child. storytelling is a method that can accommodate children's ability to imagine and fantasize. the story has a complete and comprehensive word and language structure in which there is a system of language rules that includes phonology (sound system), morphology (rules for combining minimal units of meaning), syntax (rules for making sentences), sematics (meaning systems), and pragmatics. (rules of use in social settings) (santrock, 2007). the storytelling method in learning, there are several steps that must be taken, namely: a) the teacher prepares learning media in the form of "illustrated reading text" for the learning that will take place. this learning media is given as a guide for students in carrying out storytelling activities during learning. b) the teacher distributes learning media in the form of "illustrated reading text" to students. c) students read the "illustrated reading text" carefully. d) the teacher demonstrates how to tell stories well in front of the class. e) students respond to the demonstration that the teacher did. f) students take turns taking turns to tell stories about their fun events, in their respective languages. demonstrators can make the story feel more interesting, because children can immediately see the visual form of the story being told. based on the description above, it can be concluded that the storytelling method intended in this study is a way of learning that uses stories carried out by teachers to kindergarten students which includes 3 stages, namely: a) opening activities: 1) there is learning media, 2) dividing learning media , b) core activities: 1) demonstration of how to tell a story, 2) student responses, 3) simulation of storytelling by students c) closing activities: 1) there are responses from students 2) there are activities / results shown by students. creativity level understanding creativity in the opinion of james j. gallagher in rahmawati dan kurniati (2019), explaining that creativity is a mental process by which an individual creates new ideas or products, or recombines existing ideas and products, in fashion that is novel him or her. creativity is an individual mental process that produces effective new ideas, processes, methods or products that are imaginative, aesthetic, flexible, integrated, successional, discontinuous, and efficient in various fields. semiawan, c (1984), in antika, a.c (2019), suggests that creativity is the ability to provide new ideas and apply them in problem solving. creativity includes attitude traits such as fluency, flexibility, and originality in thinking, as well as non-aptitude traits such as curiosity, likes to ask questions, and always wants to seek new experiences for solving a problem. creativity is a person's ability to create something new, and is a combination of some data or information previously obtained and manifested in an idea or real work. hurlock (1999), in (s. dinasari, elyasa. 2018), suggests several driving factors that can increase creativity, namely ø time, to be creative, children's activities should not be arranged in such a way that children are not free to do various play activities and try them in new and original forms. ø opportunity to be alone, not under pressure from social groups, children can be creative. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 34 ø encouragement, regardless of how far the child's achievements meet adult standards, to be creative children must be free from ridicule and criticism leveled at children who are not yet creative. ø means, facilities for play must be provided to stimulate the encouragement of experimentation and exploration, because these two things are the most important of all creativity. ø a stimulating environment, both home and school environments must be seen to stimulate children's creativity. developing creativity for early childhood means that we hone it so that children are able to think fluently, think flexible, think original and think in detail. this includes positive thinking. munandar, u, (2012) explains, there are four dimensions of creativity, namely: a) personal (person), namely, creativity is an expression (expression) of the uniqueness of the individual in interaction with his environment. creative expressions are those that reflect the originality of the individual. from this unique personal expression, new ideas and innovative products can be expected. therefore, educators should be able to appreciate the personal uniqueness and talents of their students (don't expect all to do or produce the same things, or have the same interests). b) pusher (press), creative talent will be realized if there is encouragement and support from the environment, or if there is a strong urge within himself (internal motivation) to produce something. creative talent can thrive in a supportive environment. in the family, at school, in the work environment and in the community, there must be appreciation and support for the creative attitudes and behavior of individuals or groups of individuals. c) process. to develop creativity, children need to be given the opportunity to be creatively busy. educators should be able to stimulate children to involve themselves in creative activities, by helping to provide the necessary facilities and infrastructure. in this case, what is important is to give children the freedom to express themselves creatively, of course, on the condition that they do not harm other people or the environment. d) product. in a creative person, if you have personal conditions and a supportive environment, or an environment that provides an opportunity or opportunity to be creatively busy, it is predicted that the product of creativity will appear. the conditions that enable a person to create meaningful creative products are personal conditions and environmental conditions, namely the extent to which both encourage (press) a person to involve himself in the creative (busy, activity) process. educators should respect children's creative products and communicate them to others, for example by showing or exhibiting children's work. this will upload the talent interest to be creative. according to piaget, in holis (2016), the development of a child's schema is dynamic. when the child has consolidated to move up to the next developmental stage, the child does not lose the ability that was previously possessed. the abilities that the child has just mastered will actually develop the child's strategies and schemes. creativity in the world of education cannot be separated from two important aspects, namely teachers as educators and students as students. the form of creativity possessed by an educator is seen from several aspects, namely (faizah, 2019): 1) learning aspects (interesting presentations, the importance of learning, scientific application with daily activities, and using stories as learning). 2) class management (changing class size and holding outside class sessions). third, 3) tasks (creative tasks and creative group assignments). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 35 4) interaction with students (strengthening students to dare to ask questions, use students' basic abilities, and provide positive feedback). 5) the character of the teacher is active and enthusiastic, interested and attentive, thinking broadly and actively listening. while the creativity of students / students in front of the teacher can be seen from: 1) learning that uses self-reflective., 2) independent learning process. shows great motivation and curiosity. 3) creating or producing something. 4) shows many or more than one perspective. 5) achieve originality of new ideas. 6) do your best other factors such as: intellectual ability, knowledge, thinking style, motivation, environment, personality and individual components in developing creativity. the existence of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation or motivation as well as the socio-economic ability of the family in providing learning facilities can have a positive influence on the level of creativity, but only during the early stages, namely when they were children. (thoring, desmet, badke, schaub, 2018). based on the description above, what is meant by the level of creativity in this study is a stage where kindergarten students are able to show their achievements in 1) learning, 2) independent learning, 3) showing motivation, 4) creating / producing something, 5) showing a lot or one perspective, 6) achieve the original idea, 7) do the maximum. framework learning in early childhood education schools in bekasi city, especially in kindergarten education, has not all used the storytelling method in learning. learning so far has used conventional learning models, especially in the aspect of storytelling skills, until now they tend to still use conventional learning models, by means of teachers reading story books, then students listening, so that one-way communication is formed from teacher to student. munandar, u (2014), states that one-way communication is carried out by the teacher and is a pattern commonly used in every early childhood education school. dewi.p's research (2019), communicative teaching is a process in which teachers select and plan what students learn (content/subject), decide how best to help students learn (teaching methods and approaches), and determine how successful teaching will be. determined, and how student learning progress can be communicated (evaluation and feedback). azahara & kuswandi (2019), found the pattern of communication carried out by teachers in learning activities that can stimulate aspects of children's growth and development. research by syamsuardi, et al (2022), showed a significant difference between the listening and speaking abilities of children in the group that was given treatment, in this case, the average score of the listening and speaking abilities of children who took learning with storytelling methods using instrumental music experienced an increase in scores. posttest measurement results. this shows that the use of the storytelling method using instrumental music can improve children's listening and speaking skills and trigger the development of other aspects. research by syarifudin, nurliah. (2017); in the learning process using the storytelling learning model can improve speaking skills. the learning that was originally applied to the lecture learning model. then carried out by learning using the storytelling model, the results were that students increased international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 36 creativity which was in the high category with a percentage of 29%, while the results of the analysis of the speaking skills category of students after using the storytelling model were in the very high category with a percentage of 71%. the results of the t-test showed the pre-test and post-test data of the students' speaking skills after using the storytelling model. based on the description above, the framework of thinking in the study can be presented in figure 1 below: methodology this research uses survey method. the survey method is a research method that takes a sample from one population and uses a questionnaire as the main data collection tool. according to (sugiyono, 2014) the survey method is a research method that aims to see the situation that is the object of research as it is, without giving special treatment. based on the time dimension group in the survey method, this research is a cross sectional survey. according to sugiyono (2016), a cross sectional survey is a type of survey that observes an object of research, either one or several variables, by collecting data at the same time. according to sugiyono, 2014 population is a general area that contains objects/subjects that have certain qualities and characteristics determined by researchers to be studied and then drawn conclusions. the population of this research is kindergarten students in bekasi city which are taken randomly. the research sample was determined in kindergarten schools that used the storytelling method as a learning method. randomly selected namely; “islam mentari” private kindergarten and “gema nurani” islamic kindergarten. from the two kindergartens, the respondents were the parents of the students of the two kindergartens. as many as 60 parents of students, namely 30 from the parents of islamic mentari students, and 30 parents of "gema nurani" students. this study uses a quantitative-correlational method. according to arikunto, (2013) states that correlational studies complement the interpretation of how precise the relationship between two variables is. if two variables have a high relationship, a correlation coefficient close to +1.00 or –1.00 will be obtained; if the two variables are not related, a correlation coefficient close to 0.00 will be found. the higher the relationship between two variables, the more accurate the prediction based on that relationship. as for the somewhat perfect relationship, the number of variables is sufficient to allow for useful predictions. the research method uses the quantitative-correlation method, namely calculating the relationship between variables using the spss application and the sobel calculator to calculate the mediator variable, whether it can be used as a mediator variable after being calculated by using a sobel calculator. result and discussion 1) teacher communication at “mentari islamic kindergarten” and “gema nurani kindergarten” the form of teacher communication in learning activities. at mentari islamic kindergarten and gema conscience kindergarten namely: a) one-way communication; before learning takes place, the teacher invites children to share stories about events at home. the teacher and children share stories with each other, after the initial activity is finished the teacher delivers the material according to the theme of the day. the delivery of material that the teacher gives to children is more dominated by the teacher, because the teacher talks more and takes over the learning. children only listen to the teacher so that children are more passive. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 37 b) the two-way communication pattern used by the teacher is used less frequently, but when the children get bored, the teacher will ask the child questions so that the child answers the question and invites the child to sing. this two-way communication pattern makes children more focused because the teacher looks directly at the child. c) the pattern of multi-way communication is rarely done, but when a child asks the teacher, the teacher will ask another child to answer his friend's question so that there is communication between the teacher to the child and the child to the child. 2) practice the storytelling method when practicing the storytelling method, the teacher at mentari islamic kindergarten uses various learning methods from games, storytelling and singing with the aim of making children more enthusiastic about learning. evaluation activities are carried out by the teacher at the end of the activity to see the results of the child's achievement and the results of the teacher's performance on that day. the communication carried out by teachers at mentari islamic kindergarten uses verbal and non-verbal communication. at the time of delivery of material the teacher uses two combinations of communication types, namely verbal and non-verbal. the teacher will use spoken language when delivering material and when the teacher invites children to speak to convey advice or game rules. verbal communication in the form of oral is used by teachers in the learning process because it is easier for children to understand what must be understood and children understand. oral communication used by the teacher. while the practice of the storytelling method, the teacher at geman nurani islamic kindergarten, uses a multi-directional communication pattern in the learning process, not only interactions between teachers and children but also interactions between children and children so that the school atmosphere in the classroom is more crowded. when children ask questions, they will sometimes provide feedback to other children to answer their friends' questions. however, the more dominant pattern is carried out in the classroom learning process by the teacher, namely, carrying out a twoway communication pattern in which the teacher and child are the recipients and givers of action. 3) analysis of the relationship between variables the analysis of r and r² of the teacher's communication variable on the storytelling method can be seen in table 1 below. table 1; values of r and r² in looking at the value of the regression coefficient of the influence of teacher communication on the storytelling method. in table 1, it can be seen that the value of r = 0.381, and r² = 0.145, so it can be said that teacher communication contributes to the storytelling method by 14.5%. this means that there is an influence of teacher communication of 14.5%, and the remaining 85.5% is influenced by other variables not examined in this study. the analysis of r and r² of the storytelling method variables on the level of creativity can be seen in table 2 below: international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 38 table 2: r and r² values in seeing the regression value of the effect of the storytelling method on the level of creativity in table 2, it can be seen that the r = 0.341, and r² = 0.117, so it can be said that the strotelling method contributes to the creativity level of kindergarten students by 11.7%. this means that there is an influence of the storytelling method of 11.7%, and the remaining 88.3% is influenced by other variables not examined in this study. 4) statistical calculations using the spss application with sobel calculator analysis of teacher communication paths through mediator storytelling method on kindergarten students' creativity level can be described as follows: table 3: correlation coefficient of teacher's communication variables on the storytelling method international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 39 it can be seen in table 3, the correlation coefficient, that the value of teacher communication is 0.576 with a standard error of 0.183 with a significance of 0.003. it can be said that the value of a = 0576, and the value of sea = 0.183. furthermore, the effect of the storytelling method on the level of creativity is calculated, calculations using the spss application are described in table 4 below; table 4: correlation coefficient of the storytelling method variable on the level of creativity seen in table 4; the correlation coefficient of the storytelling method is 0.327, with a standard error of 0.118 with a significance of 0.008. it can be said that the value of b = -0.327 and the value of seb = 0.118. after knowing the values of a and b as well as sea and seb, it can be calculated using the sobel calculator to get the statistical value, standard error and p-value. to be able to state that whether the storytelling method can be a mediator variable in this study. sobel test results get data that can be presented in table 5 as follows: table 5: calculation of the sobel calculator based on the results of the sobel calculator calculation above, it can be explained that the sobel test value is as follows; test statistic value = 2.080, standard error value = 0.090, p-value value = 0.038. it can be seen that the value is 2,080 > p-value = 0.038, meaning that the sobel test calculation shows a significant level of = 0.05, indicating that the storytelling method can/can be a mediator variable. based on the results of the calculations in table 3 above, where the t test is with a value of 3.141 at a level of 0.003, it can be explained that teacher communication carried out in mentari islamic kindergarten and gema nurani islamic kindergarten uses verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. verbal communication can develop language skills in students. and non-verbal international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) vol. 4 (1), 29-41 the effect of teacher communication through storytelling method on the creativity level of kindergarten students in bekasi city afrina sari; hermansyah 40 communication using pictures, can be a demonstration in providing learning in using the storytelling method. the teacher as a storyteller will be able to better control the class atmosphere by providing pictures related to the story being conveyed. in table 4 above, it is explained that the t test with a value of 2.776, is significant at the 0.008 level. means 2.766 > from = 0.05. and it can be explained that the storytelling method used in learning with the aim of increasing student creativity in islamic kindergarten mentari and islamic kindergarten gema nurani. learning using the storytelling method will affect the level of creativity in students. at first creativity will run individually, by using the storytelling method children will be more motivated to make a story that is created by them according to the experience they have. the calculation on the sobel test shows that the sobel test = 0.080 with p-value = 0.038, the p-value < from the significant level = 0.05. it can be concluded that there is a positive influence at the level of p = 0.05, teacher communication on the level of creativity through the storytelling method. conclusion teacher communication conducted on students at mentari islamic kindergarten and gema nurani islamic kindergarten uses verbal communication forms and non-verbal communication forms. many-way communication patterns provide more opportunities for students to develop curiosity, because children can express themselves by providing opportunities to ask questions. so that children can issue questions, the teacher helps direct the emergence of questions. this research proves that teacher communication contributes 14.5% to the storytelling method used, and the storytelling method contributes 11.7% to the creativity of students in mentari islamic kindergarten and gema nurani islamic kindergarten. the calculation results of sobel's calculator prove that the storytelling method can be a mediator variable. acknowledgement deep gratitude goes to those who helped in the writing of this scientific article. especially to the family who always support the progress of this research. references antika, c.r (2019); the level of student creativity and its implications for the creativity development program; proceedings of the national seminar & educational psychology call paper; faculty of psychology education, url: https://fppsi.um.ac.id/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/10tingkat-kreativitas-siswa-dan-implikasinya-terhadap-76-86.pdf. retrieved january 2, 2022. arikunto. 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(2014). fundamentals of the teaching and learning process. bandung: the new light of algensindo sugiyono (2014); research methods quantitative, quantitative and r & d bandung: alpha beta. sumantri, m.s (2015); learning strategies: theory and practice in primary education places: jakarta, raja grafindopersada. indonesia. thoring, desmet, badke, schaub, 2018: creative environments for design education and practice: a tipology of creative spaces print book, english. microsoft word 912-article text-4102-1-4-20220427.edited by le.docx available online at: https://journals.researchsynergypress.com/index.php/ijeiece international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece) issn 2685-4074 (online) | 2655-9986 (print) volume 4 number 1 (2022): 01-11 corresponding author heny.solekhah@gmail.com doi: https://doi.org/10.31098/ijeiece.v4i1.912 research synergy foundation integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah1 1himpaudi, kendal, indonesia abstract integrative holistic services for children in indonesia have become a priority in early childhood education (ece). however, the covid 19 pandemic has hindered its implementation, especially in how the teachers ought to accommodate the services of health and nutrition, parenting, and protection. the shifting school delivery from direct teaching to virtual classrooms was not anticipated. to maintain and increase the teachers' competence in implementing integrative holistic services, around 60 teachers in kendal regency, indonesia, received six online workshops and seminars. the purpose of the research is to investigate the implementation of ih ece by the teachers as well as to find its barriers during the pandemic. the descriptive qualitative research was employed by having three online focus group discussions (fgd) with 17 teachers from 17 different subdistricts. the additional individual interviews, documents, and literature were also conducted to strengthen the findings. the data reduction and triangulation were applied to the analysis. the research found that the teachers’ competence in ict had improved on online teaching practices by encouraging parents’ involvement at home. they attempted to apply steam learning was included in both online and limited faceto-face. for protection and health service, the teachers are committed to implementing evidence-based first aid treatment for children. however, the parenting and nutrition services could not be optimum due to the physical distancing policy. it is suggested that the implementation of ih ece amidst the pandemic requires more collaboration between the government institutions and society, keywords: integrative holistic ece, indonesian early childhood education, parenting, paud hi this is an open access article under the cc–by-nc license. introduction early childhood education (ece) plays an important role in developing the aspects of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor of children. the indonesian government has a strong commitment to ece. rule no 20 in 2003 on indonesian national system states that early childhood education (ece) is coaching for children under six years of age so that they can develop physically and spiritually before entering formal education. further, indonesian presidential decree no 60 in 2013 on the development of early childhood education, it is stated that the government has the objectives to fulfill the essential needs of children as a whole according to their age group; to protect the children from violence, neglect, mistreatment or exploitation; to harmonize and integrate child services; and to form commitment from parents, families, communities, government and central and local governments in implementing holistic, integrated early childhood education. in 2019, the minister of coordinating ministry for human development and cultural affairs released minister decree no 1 in 2019 on sub-task force on integrative holistic early childhood development: education division; health and children nutrition division; and young children protection and welfare. it is followed by the indonesian government encourages the implementation of fifty schools for integrative holistic services of early childhood education in each regency (supanji, 2021). as a province with a large population in indonesia, the gross enrolment ratio of children in central java ranging from 3 to 6 years old in early childhood education was 43.46% (kemenppa, 2020). among 35 regencies in central java, kendal has the highest number of female migrant workers (pujangga, 2017), meaning that early childhood teachers in kendal have significant roles in educating the children. indonesian early childhood education has been struggling with disadvantaged circumstances (solekhah, 2019). in addition, the school closure policy due to the covid-19 pandemic is not anticipated by any educational institutions, especially by early childhood educators. all partners in education must be aware international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (1), 01-11 integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah 2 that the paradigm and approach of education have shifted, and they require openness and flexibility in obtaining new skills with the advancement of technology (istrate & bîrsanu, 2020). before the pandemic, integrative holistic services ran well because the program was successfully planned and implemented (hidayati, 2017). however, at the beginning of school closures, both early childhood teachers and parents have difficulties with technological barriers to educating children at home (solekhah, 2020). to accommodate better online learning, unicef suggests the government increase the teacher’s capacity in digital learning programs and create digital learning guidance (unicef, 2020). nevertheless, holistic, integrative services are important to be implemented, and building the teachers' capacities is a prerequisite to succeeding in ih ece. to enhance the teachers' competencies in holistic, integrative services, around 60 teachers in early childhood schools were given online seminars and workshops consisting on smart media use, children and women protection against violence, stunting prevention and balanced nutrition, loose parts media, and steam learning, first aid for children, and natural disaster mitigation. the duration was 56 hours between september 2020 and august 2021 through zoom meetings and discussions of whatsapp groups, followed by the tests. despite the higher obtained score, it is important to investigate whether the teachers have applied the knowledge and skills of holistic, integrative early childhood education in their schools. during the pandemic, online learning ran from march 2020 to september 2021. the migration of online learning to limited face-to-face learning (pembelajaran tatap muka terbatas), with only 50% of students attending the school, occurred in october 2021. the research question is, "how have the teachers implemented integrative holistic during the covid-19 pandemic, and what are the barriers?" literature review integrative holistic early childhood education is comprehensive early childhood care that includes nutrition and health services, education and care, and protection, to optimize all aspects of child development carried out in an integrated manner by various stakeholders at the community, local and central government levels (nur, 2019). integrative holistic early childhood education needs involvement from other institutions such as the schools, indonesian education department, indonesian health department, social department, indonesian population and family information network (bkkbn), population and civil registration agency (dinas kependudukan dan pencatatan sipil), police, posyandu, public figures, and parents (paud&dikmas, 2015b). generally, there are five services in integrative holistic early childhood education. they are education services, health and nutrition service, parenting service, and welfare service. education service is a basic service for children to develop religious and moral values, motoric abilities, cognitive abilities, language, socio-emotional aspects, and arts (paud&dikmas, 2015b). learning in ece must be done through fun games that focus on the students’ needs and development. early childhood students’ could develop their potential if the learning gives them an opportunity for direct experiences (suarta & rahayu, 2018). it should be student-centered and engage students to actively participate in learning by using various learning media and learning resources. learning should be done in a scientific approach by encouraging students to observe, ask, gather information, evaluate, and communicate (paud&dikmas, 2015a). health and nutrition service includes regular measurement of students’ growth, balance nutrition dietary, personal hygiene training, first aid, and parents’ contribution to healthy food at school (paud&dikmas, 2015b). the growth measurements include the growth of students’ height, weight, and head circumference. the head parts (hair, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and teeth), skin, nails, hands, and feet are also checked regularly (paud&dikmas, 2015a). the developmental measurements include socialemotional abilities (such as independence, ability to focus on learning, and self-control), language skills, physical abilities, cognition, eyesight, and hearing abilities. the measurement is then reported to the parents to do the follow-up when it is necessary. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (1), 01-11 integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah 3 parenting service is implemented by the school and cooperates with parents to socialise school programs, discuss the students’ growth and development, recommend balance nutrition for students, and other activities (paud&dikmas, 2015b). the service is linked to health and nutritional service in which teachers have demanded to educate the parents to improve their parenting abilities at home. the success of the parenting service highly depends on the parents’ increased competencies. protection service includes a safe and enjoyable learning environment, promoting an anti-bullying program, promoting pro-social behaviours, preventing self-protection, and treating students’ accidents (paud&dikmas, 2015b). the service needs the teachers’ capability in setting the schools’ infrastructure. it also requires not only the first aid kits but also the skills to treat the children’s injuries. the anti-bullying programs and pro-social behaviours should be in line with the parenting service. welfare service assists the students to have identities and their welfare. it includes assistance in applying for birth certificates, the preparation of healthy food for students, the service for students with disabilities, and rewards for the students (paud&dikmas, 2015b). this service is highly recommended in the schools which are located in remote areas due to the limited access to public facilities and the low level of parents’ education. the current problems of early childhood are due to the lack of parenting skills. the parenting competencies are influenced by the parent’s level of education, psychological aspects, and health knowledge (kiling-bunga, margiani, & kiling, 2020). the factors of stunting are also due to imbalanced nutrition during pregnancy, exclusive breastfeeding of less than 6 months, too early meal feeding, abusive parenting, and non-hygiene behaviors (erik et al., 2020). besides, not many indonesian parents consider sex education in early childhood important to protect their children (chairilsyah, 2019). the indonesian government relies on early childhood education to develop the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of young learners. it is believed that early childhood education could improve human resources. however, the low commitment between the stakeholders and the low awareness of the parents, and the low quality of cadres hinder the implementation of integrative holistic community-based family and toddler empowerment (wijayanti, 2018). therefore, the teachers in early childhood education should increase their competencies to increase the awareness of the family members, especially parents, as well as to develop and adapt the integrative services in their schools during the pandemic. methodology the research is descriptive and qualitative. the data was employed on october 2021 by having three online focus group discussions (fgd) with 17 early childhood education teachers who had finished 56 hours of online webinars and workshops from 17 different subdistricts in kendal regency. the purposeful sampling was used based on the geographical areas to represent the various school conditions. purposeful sampling was chosen to get richer information. fgd was conducted to gather similar understandings from different teachers. they took a turn in expressing their ideas and shared their experiences in implementing ih ece. clarifying and elaborating probes were done informally to have a contextual and engaging discussion (mason, 2002) to collect additional information. due to the pandemic, the fgd was conducted online mode via zoom meeting. the fgd was recorded and then transcribed, analysed by nvivo 12. to have a better understanding, individual communication via whatsapp was also used. the data reduction was then conducted by the selection, the simplification, and the abstraction of the notes and transcription. some quotes were used to express the teachers' explanations, and they were combined with the codes and used as the themes of the findings. since the author's interpretation could not be separated from qualitative research, the author put her interpretation in addition to the findings international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (1), 01-11 integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah 4 and discussion. as suggested by creswell (2012) that triangulation was necessary to obtain the validity of qualitative research, the additional recent literature about early childhood education, government documents, and other relevant topics until the analysis reached saturation. result and discussion the research has shown some findings related to the implementation of holistic, integrative services, related to the increased capability in creating educational learning media, parents' engagement in learning at home, evidence-based treatment for first aid, and songs and roleplays for various learning purposes. however, the nutrition and health services were postponed due to the prolonged school closure policy. education service: transformation of learning mode online learning highly relies on internet speed and technological devices, the ability to afford the up-todate devices, the digital competencies, as well as the compatibility of learning modes (adedoyin & soykan, 2020). the paradigm shift of teaching from face-to-face to online learning has tremendous impacts on how the teachers deliver the materials. whatsapp could be used to communicate more contextually among students in virtual and real environments because of its practicality in ease of use, sharing options, and convenience. (alubthane & ibrahim, 2021). during the pandemic, the teachers had been trying to provide online services according to their capacity. during the seminar and workshop on smart media use, they practised using powerpoint to explain the learning materials, insert the pictures, and record their voice. the teachers said that it was hard for the first time, but they got more accustomed to making virtual learning materials, especially educational content creators. another ability was to record and edit their videos by using the android application. “i am trying to be a wise and content creator despite the amateur skill”. before the pandemic, the teachers tend to demonstrate the learning materials directly to the class. nowadays, teachers are more confident in recording their videos by using their mobile phones. some of them also purchased tripods or ring light tripods to improve their appearance on the video. if it was necessary, they used kinemaster and other editing video applications to edit their videos. they admitted that the result was amateur, but it was appreciated by the parents as long as it was entertaining and engaged the students to be active in learning at home. the student’s engagement in learning whatsapp groups included the photos of their learning activities, the recorded songs, and the results of their experiments. the documentation was a part of learning portfolios because it was easier to collect and assess. since early childhood education encouraged plays, there was no test as an assessment of learning. the focus was more on the ability of students to express their language, their socio-emotional development, and their engagement in doing learning activities at home. despite the shift in learning delivery, the teachers highly recommended the parents limit their screen time exposure to the children. they believed that mobile phones were tools of learning and should not dominate learning at home. since the teachers could not conduct normal learning, parents were encouraged to play with their children outside. they explained to the parents that everything clean and safe could be used for the games, and they should not depend on factory-made toys. the teachers also expressed that being wise was important in the digital era. the community standard guidelines of social media should be followed to avoid conflict and the violation of electronic information and transaction. despite the different opinions of being narcissists, the teachers agreed that privacy was an important aspect to consider before posting on social media. rather than using social media as a diary, they preferred to use it as a school promotion platform. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (1), 01-11 integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah 5 government policy plays an important role in succeeding in learning from home (salehudin, zulherman, arifin, & napitupulu, 2021). the important factors that influence the success of online learning are the convenience of the delivery, the student’s readiness and characteristics, and other prior elements in teaching (van wart, ni, medina, canelon, kordrostami, zhang, and liu 2020). in this case, the teachers and students had been more accustomed to the online learning mode, although the engagement was not optimum. evidence-based first aid and safe environment as health and protection service providing the first aid kit is mandatory at schools. not only that, the teachers' skills to give first aid is vitally important to respond the accident or injuries at school. the teachers admitted that they previously used non-evidence-based treatment as a remedy, especially remedies for burns. “i followed what my mom used to do to treat wounds. now, i know that it was wrong”. treatments and remedies are influenced by cultural beliefs, and their practices have been embraced by the people for generations (widayanti, green, heydon, & norris, 2019). despite the lack of knowledge, it is more common to ask family members about treating burns rather than searching for reliable information (yosephine, 2021). the misinformation about treating a burn with flour also could be found on social media (anwar, 2019). using toothpaste, cooking oil, or flour as a remedy for a burn is potentially harmful because it could cause infection (bennett et al., 2019; the washington state of health, 2016; www.aad.org, n.d.). instead, cooling the burn using tap water, covering it using a non-stick bandage, taking a pain reliever, and protecting the burn from the sun is highly suggested. many indonesian women, especially housewives, have limited knowledge in treating wounds, burned skins, and fainting (fitriana & yulistiani, 2020). therefore, first aid workshops increased the knowledge and capacities in treating injuries. the teachers also shared their experiences that before the pandemic, they were panicking and did not know what to do when they found students suffering from ankle or knee sprain. “i was so nervous that the parents would get angry”. the method of rest, ice, compression, and elevation (rice) was new for the teachers. the steps that include resting the injured area, applying an ice pack, wrapping the injuries with a medical bandage, and raising it above the heart (www.webmd.com, 2021) would be a beneficial skill for the teachers when the children could go to school again. related to health and protection services, the teachers agreed that any injuries should be prevented. therefore, making sure the infrastructure was a priority to minimize the possibility of injuries. the safety aspects should be monitored inside and outside school buildings, including playgrounds. keeping away the harmful objects or products such as sharp objects, cleaning liquids, and other materials. disseminating the evidence-based remedies with the parents would also be useful to avoid misinformation. the teacher shared first aid steps with the parents so that they could apply them at home if the injuries happened at home. the information was helpful. parenting service is a priority “educating parents should be done before educating the students”. early childhood education via online learning was more focusing on educating parents through whatsapp groups. the parenting program during the pandemic was delivered online by the teachers. it was undeniable that some parents complained about the additional duties, especially when their children were not cooperative. some teachers shared their experiences when the parents sent the videos of their children crying. if these problems occurred, the teacher could only give them time to calm down. balancing the duties of raising children with personal life and work during the pandemic is stressful for parents. the lack of support from parents could cause child psychological symptoms (spinelli, lionetti, pastore, & fasolo, 2020). home visits were also conducted to know the condition of the students and their families. in these activities, the teachers could provide consultation if the parents experienced difficulties in educating their children. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (1), 01-11 integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah 6 the other teachers also stated that many children were living with their grandparents because the parents worked and did not have enough time to teach their children. "we don't want to blame the grandparents, but it needs the patience to deal with children". the finding was relevant to the previous research that asian adults who take care of both children and elderly people are emotionally exhausted, and it is suggested to do self-care (jang, song, baek, & zippay, 2021). grandparents are agreed to take care of grandchildren due to the norms in the society, the financial support, and the need for companionship (ingersoll-dayton, punpuing, tangchonlatip, & yakas, 2018). however, the grandparents and parents should treat their young family members better. to avoid the negative effects, teachers urged applying the limited face-to-face learning (pembelajaran tatap muka terbatas or ptmt) by having vaccine shots and strict health protocol. the teachers were happy because, in october 2021, the early childhood schools from playgroups and kindergartens were allowed to meet again at schools (ma'sum, 2021). this policy could minimise the stress on the parents and give the children opportunities to learn directly from teachers. during the ptmt, some of the teachers also reminded the parents that it was normal if their children might be reluctant to go to school due to the irregular attendance policy. although it might be annoying if some children performed slower than others, it could not justify that they were left behind. being emphatic with the children was the key to guiding them to reverse the normal school. regular meetings (kelompok pertemuan orang tua) between parents and teachers to discuss parenting issues were needed, and it could be optimum if they could have face-toface discussions. limited steam approaches as education and protection service incorporating high-quality education at home was challenging, especially when the parents were not supposed to be the 'teachers' at home. it was previously discussed that the teachers became the content creators of learning materials as well as the assistants of parents in learning at home. as students' worksheets were not recommended in early childhood education, science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics or steam was done contextually based on the teachers' instructions and the ability of the parents to implement the learning objectives. the teachers encouraged the parents to use local materials at home or in the surroundings as learning media as an attempt to implement loose parts in the topics about nature. loose parts are learning media consisting of manufactured and natural materials so that children can explore, experiment, and play creatively and imaginatively, supported by adults' open-ended stimulation (gull, bogunovich, goldstein, & rosengarten, 2019). for instance, the parents were encouraged to let their children play in the garden or beach near their houses to collect leaves, flowers, stones, shells, or other materials they found to create alphabets or imaginative toys. another example is the cooking utensils at home were used as musical instruments for the students to play at home. it was expected that the children could develop their creativity in composing sounds or developing simple objects. guided activities, such as assisting parents in making fruit juice or baking, were expected to develop the children's ability to recognise not only the ingredients and the steps but also technologies at home, and the measurements were related to engineering and maths. although the students might be able to provide the product of their experiments, the success of steam was highly dependent on the way parents stimulate their children. if the parents only focused on the product rather than the process, it was more likely the children would be passive. learning is successful if it incorporates multiple disciplines at the same time and promotes learning experiences that allow children to explore, question, research, discover, and exercise innovative building skills (dejarnette, 2018, cited colker and simon, 2014). therefore, the adequate infrastructure and the cooperation of teachers, parents, and schools could increase students' motivation to succeed in steam learning (sesti, 2021). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (1), 01-11 integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah 7 huang and dietel (2011, as cited in spyropoulou, wallace, vassilakis, & poulopoulos, 2020) note that an effective steam needs specific learning aims, leadership qualities, competent teachers, relevancy between the school program and the school curriculum, and the assessment. during the pandemic, the school curriculum and the assessment used the emergency curriculum that did not force the students to attain a certain level of competencies. however, the negative prolonged school closures should be minimised by increasing the quality of teaching. after the school reopened in october 2021, the teachers tried to catch up with the learning loss. in protection services, for example, a teacher taught disaster mitigation by using songs and role-plays. the objectives were to introduce the natural phenomenon surroundings and the steps to mitigate natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes. sex education was also taught, especially the body parts that were not allowed to be touched. songs and dances enabled the students could learn how to protect themselves in fun and entertaining ways. the performance, the interpretation, and the reproduction of songs involving body movement, memorization, and self-regulation could pedagogically enhance the children's personal and social development (de la fuente & gillanders, 2021). sex education that included gender introduction, introductory to self-identity, opposite-sex relationships, and the introduction of reproductive organs (astuti, sugiyatno, & aminah, 2017), was rarely taught at home. therefore, the school was the right place to teach it. steam learning is beneficial for increasing creativity, the ability to solve problems, the ability to think critically, and the ability to make a scientific inquiry (wahyuningsih et al., 2020). however, a conducive learning environment is required so that science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics at school, after school, and out of school could develop the 21st-century skills, such as higher-order thinking skills, critical thinking, creativity, innovation, communication, and collaboration (dejarnette, 2018; spyropoulou et al., 2020). in the context of early childhood education, it needs cooperation between the school, the teachers, the parents, and the people surrounding to achieve a conducive learning atmosphere. postponed child growth assessment and nutrition service assessing children's growth was conducted regularly before the pandemic. it included children's weights, heights, head circumference, teeth, and personal hygienes. balanced nutrition program such as promoting healthy food, preparing food together, and exchanging food was common at school. however, those activities had been postponed for more than one and a half years. the measurement was done by the parents, and the report depends on the parents' responsiveness. the teachers regretted the absence of the services. before the pandemic, these activities were fun and educative because they could invite the nutritionists, doctors, or midwives to motivate the parents and the students. nowadays, the teachers can only socialize on the importance of healthy lifestyles. the good examples of parents were more powerful. the parents who did not take it seriously would not bring any improvement to their children. after the limited face-to-face learning (ptmt), the measurement could be reimplemented at school by collaborating with the health workers such as doctors of primary health centres (puskesmas) or village midwives (bidan desa). the medicine for threadworms and vitamin a could also be given to the students to prevent vitamin a and nutrient deficiency. nevertheless, the balanced nutrition service was limited to providing additional food only. the limited school period hindered the discussion about food and nutrition. during the pandemic, the number of children with stunting in kendal increased from 8.3% in 2020 to 9.5% in 2021 (jatengprov, 2021). this percentage was ironic as stunting at the national level decreased from 1.6% per year, although it was below the target (widyawati, 2021). international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (1), 01-11 integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah 8 stunting is a chronic and prolonged nutritional problem that causes a child to fail to grow normally (p2ptm kemenkes ri, 2018). many people assume that the height of their children is due to genetics. therefore, many of them do not prevent stunting. genetics is the least influential factor in children's growth compared to parenting behaviours, dietary habits, and hygienes. stunting on infants could be prevented by breastfeeding up to two years old, sanitation, and access to clean water, clean and healthy environment food. the teachers believed that although the students of early childhood were older than 1000 days, the socialisation about stunting and healthy food program was necessary to be introduced to the parents. conclusion the integrative holistic services in early childhood education (ih ece) have been modified due to the pandemic in which the schools provided online services to the students and the parents. the adaptability to technology, creativity, cooperation, as well as problem-solving skills was employed in the efforts to deal with school closures. the online seminars and workshops that had been received enabled them to apply their skills in teaching and bring commitments to tackle the barriers, although the success could not solely rely on the teachers and the schools. support from teachers, principals, school committees, parents, and the education department is needed to succeed in integrative holistic services during the pandemic (oktaviani & dimyati, 2021). as the indonesian government commits to succeed in integrative holistic early childhood education, the delivery of services should be expanded beyond the cooperation between the existing partners (parents, teachers, and health workers), but also other parties such as the department of women’s empowerment and child protection (dp3a), police department, and society to provide better services on protection, nutrition, education, and welfare. the finding of this research is limited to the context of early childhood education in kendal, especially for those who attended the seminars and workshops. therefore, the result of this research could not be generalised. for further research, it is suggested to investigate the parents' awareness of supporting ih ece, as well as the commitment of the local governments to implementing it. acknowledgements the author would like to express gratitude to himpunan pendidik dan tenaga kependidikan anak usia dini kab. kendal, dinas pendidikan kab. kendal, gerakan organisasi wanita kab. kendal, and the australian government for the supports on the project. disclaimer statement the views expressed within this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the australian department of foreign affairs and trade, australian embassy, australia awards, and australia global alumni in indonesia. funding the project is funded by the australian government through the australian alumni grant scheme and administered by australia awards in indonesia. international journal of emerging issues in early childhood education (ijeiece), vol. 4 (1), 01-11 integrative holistic early childhood education (ih ece) in indonesia amidst the covid 19 pandemic heny solekhah 9 references adedoyin, o. b., & soykan, e. 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