ISC Paper Template in A4 (V1) Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning Volume 7 Number 2 September 2022. Page 190-198 p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478 190 Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning is licensed under A Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. MODEL OF STRENGTHENING SCHOOL AND FAMILY COOPERATION IN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC (CASE AT THE INDONESIA-MALAYSIA ARUK BORDER, WEST KALIMANTAN) Aunurrahman1), Fidyatul Nazhira2) 1) University of Tanjungpura, Pontianak, Indonesia E-mail: aunurrahman@fkip.untan.ac.id 2) University of Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta, Indonesia E-mail: fidyatul@upnvj.ac.id Abstract. This study substantively aims to find a model for continuing the cooperation of schools and parents in character education of students during the pandemi Covid-19 which examines schools in the Aruk Border area, as one of the gates of the Indonesia-Malaysia border in West Kalimantan. To achieve these goals, this research was conducted with an approach through interviews as a data collection technique. Interviews were conducted with principals and teachers at several schools in Aruk as one of the Indonesia-Malaysia border areas in West Kalimantan. Data obtained through subsequent interviews with interactive qualitative analysis techniques. In general, the research can be said that the model strengthens school and family cooperation in developing the character of students during the pandemi Covid- 19 at schools in the Aruk border area of West Kalimantan, which focuses more on collaborative programs that are integrated with bold learning programs. In general, schools strengthen cooperation between schools and parents for the development of student character in a unitary learning program that is bold and inseparable in particular. In its implementation, increasing student character development cooperation during the covid pandemic is faced with many obstacles, mainly stemming from limited network access, the absence of special school programs to strengthen the character during the pandemic and the lack of readiness of parents to carry out a fairly heavy role during the pandemic. Keywords: Strengthening Collaboration; Student Character; COVID-19 Pandemic I. INTRODUCTION The development of a balanced education between the development of knowledge, attitudes and skills is a national education policy that was considered the best to realize the Indonesian people as a whole in accordance with the ideals of the nation and the ideology of Pancasila. Therefore, efforts to direct the behavior of students in particular, so that they are in accordance with applicable norms, including the rules that support the realization of the personality of students properly are a very important part to be continuously carried out. A good character in a person becomes the main strength in dealing with various situations and dynamics of change. In other words, someone who has good character will be able to reflect a tough attitude, tenacity, able to work hard and other characteristics in any situation. Such an attitude is very much needed, especially in facing the tough challenges faced by students, especially to be able to remain enthusiastic in learning even though the situation faced recently, namely the COVID-19 pandemic has had a fairly heavy impact in various ways, especially in carrying out study assignments for students. Various sources explain that the Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on various sectors of life such as the economy, social, including education. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday (5/3) stated that the corona virus outbreak had an impact on the education sector. Nearly 300 million students are disrupted from school activities worldwide and this has an impact on their future education rights. (Irawan, 2020). As a result of the events or pandemics mentioned above, in various places, especially in educational institutions, policies related to the implementation of learning have been set. Generally there are 2 points of the appeal related to education, namely, an appeal for teaching and learning activities at all levels to be carried out at the homes of each student and teachers and teachers can carry out the teaching and learning process through online media (online). The appeal was greeted with the implementation of learning at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ mailto:aunurrahman@fkip.untan.ac.id mailto:fidyatul@upnvj.ac.id Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning Volume 7 Number 2 September 2022. Page 190-198 p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478 191 home at all levels of education and temporarily closing schools and colleges from teaching and learning activities. With the lack of implementation of face-to-face learning, in addition to causing limited communication and interaction between teachers and students in learning, it also causes the development of student attitudes or character through school programs which by itself can no longer be carried out as usual. The role of tutoring as well as fostering student attitudes or character is more likely to turn to the role of parents. Meanwhile, in various studies and analyzes it is known that parents really expect a very large role for teachers both in learning activities and in fostering the dimensions of student character. Nucci & Darcia (2015:1) state a broad agreement that schools must contribute to the moral development and character formation of students. The results of Aji's research (2020), which was conducted on parents of students from kindergarten to high school level, showed that parents agreed that they did not can fully carry out character education for their children without the help of teachers. Parents believe that teachers really help them in shaping and building the character of their children. They feel that the presence of teachers in building children's character is very much needed. Without the participation of teachers, parents cannot optimally shape and build the character of their children. In conditions of many limitations that are currently being faced, the collaboration between schools and parents is increasingly felt to be important in various ways, moreover the character building of students. Schools are still seen as very important to realize the empowerment of students to become school citizens who have good personalities in accordance with the values of the nation's character (Masrukhi, et al. 2018). Departing from the background analysis above, this research is substantively directed to find a model for strengthening the cooperation of schools and parents in character education of students during the Covid-19 pandemic, whose study is focused on schools in the Aruk Border area, as one of Indonesia - Malaysia Border in West Kalimantan. The magnitude of the impact of the covid pandemic that has occurred since the beginning of 2019 has led to the emergence of various policies aimed at protecting the public from the wider impact of the virus. One of the policies of the Indonesia-Malaysia government is to close all border traffic flows, including the Aruk State Border Post (PLBN), which is one of the official gates for the Indonesia- Malaysia border, which is located in Sambas Regency. Aruk is one of the border areas located in West Kalimantan. The border area is a geographical area facing neighboring countries, with residents living in the area, united through socio-economic and socio-cultural relations with a certain administrative area coverage after an agreement between bordering countries (Minister of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia, 2013). Taking into account its physical management, it can be said that Aruk is the best State Border Post (SBP) in West Kalimantan (Detik Com, 2021:1). The Aruk SBP is part of the Sambas Regency, which is in the Sajingan Besar District. The Aruk Cross- Border Post (SBP) as one of the gateways to neighboring Malaysia, especially the Kucing-Sarawak, which was inaugurated on March 17, 2017. Information and clarity about cooperation between schools and parents in border areas in fostering the character of students in the absence or very small number of face-to- face meetings between teachers and students is very much needed, so that in the midst of this pandemic attention is paid to education, especially character education is not neglected, although of course there will be limitations. This is also part of an effort to make border areas so that policies do not only focus on the basis of economic development, but also become areas that are able to provide character identity as an Indonesian nation that is on the front porch of the Indonesian territory. Observing a number of facts and phenomena that support the importance of this research as described, the focus of this research is to find out the model of strengthening school and family cooperation in developing the character of students during the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Aruk Border of Sambas Regency, with an emphasis on strengthening school cooperation programs and family, the form of implementing the role of cooperation in strengthening the character of students and what specific problems are encountered by schools and parents in strengthening the character of students during the Covid-19 pandemic. II. METHODS To obtain data/information in accordance with the problems and research objectives that have been formulated, this research was designed using a qualitative approach. Qualitative research approach refers to the perspective of Mc Millan and Schumacher (2001:398) where research is based more on the assumption that reality is something that is multiple, interacts with each other and in which there is an exchange of social experiences which are interpreted by individuals. This approach that sees things as they really are in an interrelated unit is also called naturalistic inquiry. Through a qualitative approach, the data and information are described in detail and depth. The qualitative approach in this study emphasizes the process of collecting data through interviews with principals and teachers. It is important to realize that the use of various methods of triangulation reflects an attempt to gain an in-depth understanding of a phenomenon under study. Interviews conducted through this research were conducted on principals and teachers as well as a number of parents who focused on three main aspects, namely; (1) cooperation strengthening program, (2) implementation of cooperation strengthening program, and (3) obstacles or obstacles in strengthening cooperation between schools and parents in fostering student character. Some of the data was carried out through direct (offline) interviews and partly through online interviews, considering the condition of Covid-19 which was not yet fully normal, especially in the research area, namely in the Aruk area as one of the Indonesia-Malaysia border areas, Sambas district, West Kalimantan. Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning Volume 7 Number 2 September 2022. Page 190-198 p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478 192 To achieve these goals, the following research steps were carried out; • Analyze data/information or previous research findings regarding strengthening cooperation and strengthening student character • Conduct a background study of several schools around the Aruk border area, Sambas district. • Conducting interviews and submitting to the principal and teachers at several Aruk border schools. The research steps as outlined above are outlined in the following picture; Fig 1. Research Steps The subjects of this study were teachers and parents of students from State Elementary Schools, State Junior High Schools and State Vocational High Schools in the border area of Aruk, Sambas Regency, which included: • Principal and Teacher of SDN 1 Aruk • Principal and Teachers of SDN 3 Sajingan Besar • Principals and Teachers of SDN 4 Tapang • Principal and Teachers of SDN 5 Sei Enau • Principal and Teachers of SMPN 1 Sajingan • Principals and Teachers of SMKN 1 Sajingan Data collection in this study used interviews as a direct communication technique. Interviews were conducted with schools and teachers as well as a number of parents. There are two communication techniques used, namely direct face- to-face communication, where researchers conduct interviews offline. In addition, communication is used through networks, namely interviews conducted online (remotely) considering the rules that still limit direct face-to- face communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data obtained through interviews were analyzed using the qualitative analysis technique of Miles and Huberman's Interactive Analysis Model. Through this analysis technique, interview data are collected and then sorted and simplified to be displayed or presented in research reports. III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Before describing the specific dimensions referring to the problem formulation, it is necessary to first describe the general learning conditions carried out by schools on the Indonesia-Malaysia border, Aruk, Sambas Regency. From the information collected through this research process, in principle schools apply regulations related to the learning process that must be carried out during the covid 19 pandemic. Learning activities in schools (including student character building) are based on information submitted by teachers referring to the Circular of the Ministry of Education and Culture Number 40 of 2020 concerning "Implementation of Educational Policies in the Emergency Period for the Spread of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19)", the Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud) took a number of policies to deal with the pandemic, including the determination of learning from home (online learning). Specific policies in dealing with this pandemic period are through distance learning (PJJ), as far as the information conveyed by principals and teachers in the Aruk border area is generally not much different from in other places, where distance learning is focused. mainly on efforts to implement learning in accordance with the provisions or demands of the curriculum. In order to reduce the spread of the corona virus, especially in the field of education, it was explained that the learning process was carried out at home through online/distance learning which was carried out to provide a good learning experience for students. The online learning process demands an intensive role of cooperation between teachers and parents. Parents play a role in assisting and being a bridge between teachers and students during the online learning process during the COVID-19 pandemic. During online learning, many parents complained about some of the problems they faced while students were studying at home, including too many assignments and teachers not optimizing technology. The following describes more specifically the data from the interviews referring to the problems that have been formulated in the previous section. A. Collboration program between school and parents. Based on interviews with teachers and parents of students, it was revealed that basically the cooperation of parents and teachers is very important in supporting the process and achievement of student learning outcomes. This is because good cooperation between teachers and parents is very influential on the students themselves. Whether it's from the pattern of thinking, nature and daily behavior. In order to create good learning independence for students, teachers and parents try their best to work together to support each other. Moreover, in online learning, if the collaboration is carried out correctly or is said to be in accordance with the conditions, it will make students better in their independence. On the other hand, if the cooperation that is carried out does not go well, it will cause the process and achievement of student learning outcomes to be not optimal. Even from the information conveyed by the principal and teachers, those involved in this collaboration do not only involve parents and teachers, but also other parties around the students' environment. Principals carry out special monitoring of teacher performance in building collaboration with parents, especially to be able to monitor the extent to which teachers carry out their activities in a planned and more directed manner. From the information submitted by the teachers and principals, it is known that there are schools and teachers who make special and written cooperation programs to Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning Volume 7 Number 2 September 2022. Page 190-198 p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478 193 strengthen the character of students, but there are also those who say they have programs but not specifically about character strengthening but also include things like: other things or activities. In addition, some teachers said they did not have their own cooperation program for the development or strengthening of student character. The cooperation programs between teachers and parents in character education are mostly prepared by the school and in collaboration with the school committee and parents. This collaboration covers several aspects including morality, religion, discipline, courtesy, diligence, responsibility and psychology of children. In a number of schools, where teachers develop written collaboration programs to strengthen students' character, forms of collaboration programs are generally drawn up at the beginning of the school year. The procedure is carried out by schools by inviting or involving committees and parents of students to attend meetings held at schools according to health protocols with an agenda of discussing the learning process that will be carried out online and fostering children. In the meeting, it was also explained that there is another form of program, namely where the homeroom teacher is assigned to visit the students' homes while complying with the health protocol and at the specified time. This program was strengthened through the explanations of several teachers. In the preparation of this written program, the homeroom teacher, curriculum, principal, committee and several representatives of parents were involved. By filling out the attendance list and signing the minutes made by the minutes of the administrative staff section. Some teachers create programs that include aspects of collaboration, starting from observing the character (spiritual, nationalism, integrity, independence and mutual cooperation) of students, and adding regulations or rules for the online learning process. In the context of good cooperation management, according to the teachers, cooperation between schools and parents, both of them are mutually responsible for their respective roles. This involvement is considered very important because it has a big influence on the success of children. With the involvement of parents, will help children in the development of literacy, intellectual, motivation, and achievement. On the other hand, without the direction and guidance of parents, children will not be able to walk by themselves. With the involvement of parents, children will get experiences that will be internalized into the child's personality. Parental involvement is an alternative that can be used to increase collaboration between educators and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several teachers conveyed information on the forms of written programs related to collaboration which also contained dimensions of strengthening children's character, namely; (a) Involving parents in the school community such as the school committee involving the school committee in outreach activities about the importance of character education to parents, because character education for children is not only the duty of the teacher but also the duty of parents at home, (b) carrying out direct personal communication with parents. The teacher asks parents directly about the character, children's daily habits and children's behavior that will be taken into consideration by the teacher in educating children in class. This visit was carried out by the homeroom teacher who was accompanied by a BK teacher, (c) the teacher and parents had a meeting at the beginning of the year. During the meeting, the school tried to instill awareness of the importance of the role of teachers and parents in developing children's character. Parents are given reinforcement about the need to understand children's character, especially at home where children spend a lot of time, (d) teachers communicate the core school policies and character education plans to all parents. This is done by communicating and discussing with parents to explore comments, views, input and criticism. Based on the information submitted by the principal and teachers, there are many programs carried out by schools related to children's character education. However, these programs have not yet been written. Among other things, teachers help parents reduce the negative effects of gadgets, TV, movies, video games, and other media on children's moral growth. Giving messages to parents about the importance of parental attention to children at home, supervising and accompanying children studying at home, doing school assignments. In the view of the teachers, regardless of whether or not there is a written program of collaboration between parents and schools in an effort to develop children's character, parents and teachers play a very important role. At school, the teacher's role is very dominant. Character education of children in schools is carried out through a learning process and extracurricular activities. B. Implementation of Parent and Teacher Collaboration in Student Character Development Efforts to increase the role of parents in realizing character education for students are highly expected during learning during the pandemic. Parents' support for their children during learning during a pandemic is a determinant of the success of character building of students. The implementation of character building of students during learning during a pandemic, of course, parents must always build intensive communication with teachers. According to some parents and teachers, the learning process carried out at home, although there are quite a number of weaknesses, has a positive side, because family relationships are more visible. In addition, children become close to their parents. Many things are done during learning at home between parents and children. A sense of responsibility will be more visible, always providing motivation is also very necessary. Because when learning at home, children get bored easily, here parents are required to be patient and must be able to condition the learning process. Based on information obtained through data collection conducted on teachers in the Aruk area, it is known that there are various forms of collaboration between parents and teachers in strengthening student character during the COVID-19 pandemic, both written and unwritten Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning Volume 7 Number 2 September 2022. Page 190-198 p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478 194 collaboration. Fundamentally, strengthening the character of students is still carried out by both the school and the family. For example, there are some schools where teachers not only carry out online learning, but also provide time for teachers to visit students' homes. This is especially true in elementary schools and in areas where internet network access is very limited. In this activity, it is not only carrying out academic learning activities, but of course also at the same time fostering student character. In addition to teacher visits to students' homes, in some schools, there is also a program for parents to visit schools. The existence of teacher visits to students' homes and parents to schools is a collaboration between teachers and parents (family and school) to establish closer direct relationships. Parental visits to schools, such as this are carried out if parents are invited to attend events such as class meetings, competitions, exhibitions of works, with events like this raising the participation of parents to work together. Studying at home is a collaboration between teachers and parents to continue the learning process at school at home, where the task of parents is to direct and guide children in learning. This activity can provide parents with information about what students do in class, help with homework assignments, and foster parental participation in fostering children's character together. In addition to several models of direct/face-to-face collaboration as described above, there is also a model of collaboration between teachers and parents, namely via mobile phones, especially when the world is increasingly sophisticated, everything is online. By using cell phones, teachers and parents make cooperative relationships via cellphones such as WhatsApp, telephone, Facebook and so on. With the communication via mobile phones, teachers are helped to more easily supervise and monitor students, can explore student activities both at home or at school. According to the information from the teachers, they got information from the parents of students, sometimes their sons and daughters did not have a good awareness to complete the tasks given by the teachers so they always waited for orders from their parents. In that situation, parents also complain about the internet quota that sometimes runs out, unstable signal and other obstacles. As stated by one of the parents of elementary school students who said, when in online learning, he always took the time to guide and supervise children when online learning took place, using my cellphone entirely in hand. When children have confusion in understanding the material then I help as much as I can”. However, parents who work at home can certainly monitor their children with discipline, but in some areas most parents spend their time in the fields or in the garden so that children do their own work without parental supervision. In addition, there are some children who have parents who work in the office and others so they don't have much time to monitor their children while studying at home. It was also stated that several other schools did not specifically organize the cooperation program. Strengthening cooperation is only conveyed through class groups or verbally from the teacher to the students. Several schools have programs and implementation of cooperation in supporting the strengthening of student character in the form of several quite specific activities as follows; (1) the school/teacher conducts socialization; The principal together with teachers and parents and the head of the school committee meet at the beginning of the school year, especially in the 2020/2021 school year. In the meeting, the school conveyed important points including; (a) awareness of the importance of the role of teachers and parents in growing the character of children or students during online education, this is based on the results of the evaluation of online learning activities that have taken place previously, which still have many obstacles in their implementation, (b) parents need to understand that children's character is formed through what children see, hear and do repeatedly every day. Especially at home where children spend a lot of time, so the role of parents at home is very decisive for the growth and development of knowledge and the formation of students' character, (c) to strengthen parents' understanding, the school/teacher presents several research results on the strong influence of parents in foster children's character, (d) appeal to parents/guardians about the need to remind their children about the negative effects of gadgets, TV, movies, video games, and other media on children's moral growth, (2) school/teachers share class schedules; The school, through the WA group of parents in each class, distributes lesson schedules as a parental control tool to remind students, so that parents can also support these learning activities by doing it at home. C. Barriers in learning and character development of students During the interview, the comments or views of teachers and school principals related to real things faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the problems faced. The Aruk region as an area that is quite far from the provincial capital, is even quite far from the capital of Sambas Regency, where a number of schools are spread out in areas that are far apart and separated by rivers and hills have their own problems in implementing PJJ. Most of their problems are the unavailability of internet network for conducting PJJ. This right makes the learning process, even though it is carried out face-to-face, cannot be implemented optimally. According to the information submitted, the success of character education during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced many obstacles, considering that learning in schools was carried out online or online. Online learning at the time of the current pandemic really requires the cooperation of the role of parents. Learning activities carried out at home can facilitate the supervision of students' children, but also vice versa. According to teachers and school principals, character building during this pandemic is a bit difficult considering that there is no face-to-face meeting, even if there are face-to-face meetings, it is only limited to face-to-face where the learning time in class is not like the normal time. This limited face-to- face is used by the teacher to provide introductory material while the assignments are done by students at home. Of course, Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning Volume 7 Number 2 September 2022. Page 190-198 p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478 195 learning during this pandemic has supporting factors and obstacles for the implementation of character education seen from the role of parents and teachers. The supporting factors include that most of the students already have cellphones (especially junior high school and vocational high school students), students become more aware of IT, and teachers inevitably have to understand IT. In addition, the pandemic period also gave rise to obstacles, including teachers not being able to fully assess attitudes, there were still students who did not have cellphones. Associated with obstacles or difficulties based on the information obtained, where most of the students also said, for them, for example, learning through Google Meet is something new, many students are less active in learning, there are still students who do not take and collect assignments, and Not all parents pay attention to their children because they are busy working in oil palm plantations, like it or not, teachers have to work extra so that learning objectives are achieved. Another thing that becomes an unpleasant fact and becomes a phenomenon that makes us feel sad during learning during the pandemic according to a number of teachers is about strengthening character education. Character is important but almost lost its coaching during this pandemic which has been going on for almost two years. In fact, character or this is what is very basic for students (Lakhsmi & Milcah (2018: 1). Everyone can feel a very striking change in the behavior of students. In this case, it is not solely the fault of the students, but there are element of the family that is with them when they are in the home environment. This is because since the PJJ was implemented students almost never meet face to face and interact directly with the teacher. If in normal times students interact a lot at school with teachers and peers, then during During the pandemic, the role of teachers and peers has been replaced by parents and other family members. Information from several teachers also revealed several obstacles related to cooperation between schools and parents, including; (a) there are quite a number of schools that still do not have a good signal network, making it difficult for teachers and students to access the internet, so they only use the WA application, and even then they have to look for signal points in certain places, (b) some most of the students are not proficient in using gadgets, because about 40% do not have cellphones (especially elementary school children), and the source of livelihood for the surrounding community is from agriculture and plantations, which are economically still relatively below a decent standard of income, (c) parents of students who are on average busy working so that they are less than optimal in accompanying and controlling their children in studying at home, not to mention the relatively low level of understanding and education so that it is difficult to digest the material and even provide understanding to their children about the subject matter and character cultivation. its own obstacles, (d) most parents are indifferent or a priori with their children's learning matters Yes, this is what makes communication with the teacher less than optimal, because the information conveyed is inaccurate about the development of student learning at home. Discussion As we all know, until now, it has been approximately three years that countries in the world have faced the Covid- 19 pandemic. The government in each country has implemented restrictions on almost all activities and activities to prevent the spread of the virus. Of course this affects the development of every sector, including education. The government took steps, by creating a distance learning model using several media known as online learning. This learning model is the best choice to be applied during this pandemic, considering the implementation of restrictions that continue to be enforced to prevent the spread of the Corona virus. This is in accordance with the directions from the government in the Circular Letter of the Minister of Education and Culture Number 3 of 2020 concerning Prevention of COVID-19 in Education Units, and Number 36962/MPK.A/HK/2020 concerning Online Learning and Working from Home in the Context of Preventing the Spread of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19). In Indonesia alone, it has been two and a half years. learning activities are carried out online. However, not all policies can run smoothly, of course there are problems that arise later, in this case, including the dimensions of strengthening children's character. This is mainly because so far, strengthening children's character is more dominant in direct, face-to-face approaches and tends to be based on individual approaches. In the learning phenomenon during COVID-19 with an emphasis on online learning, the role of parents is very important. As stated by Asrul (2021), parents have a very important role and a greater obligation to children's education, even the fate of a child is to some extent in the hands of his parents, this is related to the level of education, the extent to which they pay attention and educate and teach their children. The role of parents in shaping the character of children is no less important. Online learning forces all individuals to adapt to conditions and circumstances, including teachers, students and parents. This creates estrangements in communication between teachers (schools) and parents, making contributions to learning mentoring and the formation of students' character decreasing. The role of parents in this Covid-19 pandemic situation has a very basic position. In the process of education and learning that has changed very significantly by having to study online, teachers are required to be able to work with parents to make the education and learning process smooth at home. Learning is a collaborative process between teachers and students in utilizing all existing potential and resources both from within the students themselves such as interests, talents, basic abilities possessed and learning styles, as well as those from outside students such as the environment as an effort to achieve the learning objectives that have been determined (Sanjaya, 2008: 26). In Schunk's view (2012: 5) in his writings, he argues that what needs to be understood under any circumstances is that learning must involve change, learning lasts over time and learning should occur through experience. Cooperation is the most important interaction, even individuals cannot live alone without other people so they always need cooperation. Cooperation can Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning Volume 7 Number 2 September 2022. Page 190-198 p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478 196 take place if an individual or group has the same interests and has the awareness to achieve a goal. Cooperation is the relationship of two or more people to carry out joint activities that are carried out in an integrated manner to achieve a certain target or goal (Rizal et al, 2019). Success in online learning and strengthening student character during the pandemic is strongly influenced by the extent to which parents give their children the role. Learning requires closeness to various things, not just repetition or memorization (Silberman, 2016: 27). This relates to how and how it must be done so that children from elementary to high levels can internalize, carry out, and continue to make grips in life. There are 18 characters that can be instilled in children's lives. Among them; religious, honest, tolerance, discipline, hard work, creative, independent, democratic, curiosity, national spirit, love for the homeland, respect for achievement, friendly/communicative, love peace, love to read, care for the environment, care about social, and responsibility (Fauzi et al, 2018). In the process of fostering parents for their children, there are several factors that influence parenting, namely the characteristics of parents in the form of the personality of each person being different in the level of patience, intelligence, attitude and maturity. These characteristics will affect the ability of parents to fulfill the demands of their role as parents and how sensitive the level of parents is to the needs of their children. The beliefs that parents have about parenting will affect the value of parenting and will affect their behavior in raising their children. The role of parents is also very necessary to provide education to their children who still cannot understand about the pandemic that is endemic to stay at home so as not to get infected and transmit this pandemic outbreak. The involvement of parents in fostering children's character in the form of collaboration with schools is very important, especially when learning is carried out from home (online system) where students are mostly with their parents at home. The results of research conducted by Opata, Alfred & Stephen (2017), with a good school collaboration culture in addition to being able to improve interpersonal relationships between schools, are also able to encourage the growth of good competition. Therefore, the process of value or character education must also occur both at school and at home. Value or character education is seen as a terminology used to denote various forms of activity, especially as a process by which teachers or adults transfer values to children (Mondal, 2016:1). The involvement of parents supports the efforts of teachers in fostering cooperation, for example, parents monitor student learning at school. In addition to monitoring learning, parents can also take the time to attend every meeting held by schools and teachers, such as taking report cards, parenting meetings, associations and school committee meetings (Fatah et al, 2018). Then the availability of facilities and infrastructure in schools, because facilities and infrastructure are factors that support the establishment of cooperation between teachers and parents to form relationships or information such as telephones, letters or invitations, report cards, suggestion boxes, information boards, and meeting rooms. Meanwhile, according to Winingsih (2020) there are four roles of parents during Distance Learning (PJJ), namely: (1) parents have a role as teachers at home, where parents can guide their children in learning remotely from home ( 2) parents as facilitators, namely parents as facilities and infrastructure for their children in carrying out distance learning, (3) parents as motivators, namely parents can provide enthusiasm and support to their children in carrying out learning, so that children have enthusiasm to learn, and get good achievements, (3) parents as influencers or directors. (Cahyati & Kusumah, 2020:152). The condition of the parents of students has an impact on the strength or weakness of communication between teachers and parents. Cooperation in monitoring learning at home is hampered by communication facilities. Aspin and Chapman (2007:3) argue that value or character education will be the key to lifelong learning. Therefore schools and other educational institutions play a very important role in helping youth, adults and children to understand their world and make rational choices about their lives. Therefore, under any circumstances strengthening the cooperation of schools and teachers must continue to be carried out even though in reality there are quite a number of obstacles faced, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic which has lasted quite a long time. IV. CONCLUSIONS Based on the data analysis carried out, it is generally concluded that the results of the study indicate that the model for strengthening school and family cooperation in developing the character of students during the COVID-19 pandemic whose unit of analysis is carried out at the Indonesia-Malaysia Aruk border, West Kalimantan, focuses more on collaborative programs that integrate with online learning strengthening program. In general, schools include strengthening the cooperation of schools and parents for the development of student character in an integrated online learning program and cannot be separated in particular. In particular, the following are presented with some conclusions referring to the formulation of the problem that has been determined: • School and family collaboration programs for student character development at schools in Aruk, Sambas Regency are generally not prepared separately, but become an integral part of the general learning program during the COVID-19 pandemic. • The implementation of strengthening school and family cooperation in developing student character during the COVID-19 pandemic is carried out in several forms, including; (a) through online communication to provide information and reports to each other both about children's learning activities and matters related to student character development, learning motivation, children's activities at home, (b) through direct teacher visits to homes, (c) through a written report requested by a number of teachers to Journal of Education, Teaching, and Learning Volume 7 Number 2 September 2022. Page 190-198 p-ISSN: 2477-5924 e-ISSN: 2477-8478 197 parents, (d) through the presence of parents to school at the invitation of the school. • Barriers to strengthening cooperation, especially in the development of student character, mainly originate from regional conditions, parents' occupations, communication devices owned by parents and network conditions (internet) which are generally not very supportive. What is also very influential on strengthening collaboration is the change in learning patterns and the development of student attitudes/characters that have been carried out by teachers during school days before the pandemic, the responsibility shifts to parents. While parents with an average educational background are still low, the work of parents who are often far from their homes causes parents to have limitations in building their children's character. To increase the role of cooperation between schools and families in developing student character during the COVID- 19 pandemic and the new adaptation period, the following are suggested: • It is necessary to arrange a written student character development cooperation program that is more specific by giving firmness about the roles of each party (schools and parents). This program should be equipped with implementation signs that can make it easier for parents to implement it. • b. The program of teacher visits to homes and parents to schools has a positive role in building a sense of caring and shared responsibility between schools and families. Therefore, this program needs to be further strengthened by paying attention to the priorities on the real problems that are most often faced by parents and schools. • A planned and programmed evaluation is needed to see the developments or changes that occur in students regarding attitudes, learning motivation, student activities at home both during the covid pandemic period and the new adaptation period. The results of the evaluation are expected to be discussed openly by the school and the family to find out more about the problems faced by students who find mutually agreed solutions. Special attention from the government is needed in providing and strengthening infrastructure related to communication networks that can provide convenience access for remote and border communities, especially in the Aruk area as the Indonesia-Malaysia border area, West Kalimantan. REFERENCES Aji, T. (2020). 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