www.jsser.org Journal of Social Studies Education Research Sosyal Bilgiler Eğitimi Araştırmaları Dergisi 2022:13 (4),225-249 Implementation of Teaching Character Education, Particularly in Environmental Care Value, in Labschool Jakarta Achmad Husen1*, Asep Rudi Casmana2, Rinie Octaviany Hasan3, Yosi Erfinda4 Abstract Character education is considered important as it will cause moral degradation when it is not appropriately taught to the students in school. This study aims to investigate the character education program in Indonesia, particularly at the secondary school level. This study utilized a descriptive method with a qualitative approach. To obtain the data, 20 people participated in this study, including teachers, students, vice school principals, and the school principals from Labschool Jakarta. To get valuable data, an in-depth interview, and focus group discussion (FGD), were used. The data was analyzed using Cresswell method, which consists of transcribing, coding, triangulation, and data display. The study results show that, firstly, the schools have a wide variety of programs that can help to shape students' characters. For example, there was a trip observation for the newly enrolled students in the school. This character education program helps students understand environmental care values from people living in the countryside, so that they can learn local values that can focus on assisting students character foundation. Secondly, Labschool Jakarta also provide some international events that can help students to have a deep understanding of their worldwide, particularly about how the country manages their cleanliness. Finally, the characteristic that is applied in Labschool is focused on the environmental care value. This research implies other teachers and schools that can learn how to teach character education to students. This research recommends all teachers and educators educate character for their students in primary school. Keywords: character, education, labschool, trip observation, international events, environment education Introduction Character education is generally considered important. The modern society needs this program because it can shape the future human characteristic. Character education can be said as utterly imperative for students in school because it affects the three main aspects, such as cognitive aspect, 1 Assoc. Prof., Department of Pancasila and Civics Education, Faculty of Social Science, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia, ahusen@unj.ac.id 2 Lecturer, Department of Pancasila and Civics Education, Faculty of Social Science, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia, aseprudi@unj.ac.id 3 Lecturer, Department of Travel Business, Faculty of Social Science, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia, rinie.octaviany@unj.ac.id 4 Lecturer, Department of Travel Business, Faculty of Social Science, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia, yosi.erfinda@unj.ac.id mailto:ahusen@unj.ac.id mailto:aseprudi@unj.ac.id mailto:rinie.octaviany@unj.ac.id mailto:yosi.erfinda@unj.ac.id Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 affective aspect, and psychometric aspects (Moffat et al., 2019). In Jakarta, the problem relating to the student’s character becomes an issue among the teachers in school. The problem can be seen in students’ attitudes related to cheating during exams, truancy, or dishonesty toward their teachers. Some study findings revealed that show that the majority of the students in Jakarta schools cheat during middle and final exams (Sumadi & Casmana, 2020). In addition to supporting the aforementioned finding, based on the data from Inspector General of the Ministry of Education and Culture in 2019, the Ministry of Education and Culture Republic of Indonesia reported that during the national examination taking place, there were 126 cases where students were found to be cheating from other. This data are getting worse as the students' results of the national examination are completely different from the questions asked by the teachers, so students should be struggling to get a high score. These circumstances affect the results of the student’s exams after the teachers realize the score. These issues have become the primary concern of teachers in Jakarta, which should be solved by teaching character education (Sumadi et al., 2021). In addition to the cheating issue, caring for environment becomes another issue for students in school (Casmana et al., 2022). In Jakarta, there are various environment-related issues that resulted in the catastrophe. Students sometimes throw rubbish all over the place, scatter drawings on public walls, and pollute the rivers by throwing the rubbish into them (Sarkadi et al., 2020). The environment-related issue is not only about students, but also about Jakarta society. The news during the rainy season shows that flooding has happened almost in all areas of the Indonesian capital due to the rubbish everywhere (Dobson & Dobson, 2021; Metcalfe & Moulin- Stożek, 2021). This catastrophe occurs because people are not aware of the concept of cleaning environment. This issue of cleaning the environment has become a major concern for teaching character education in school (Francis et al., 2018; Waters et al., 2020). Although it takes time to teach character, schools play an important role in creating and shaping students' characters in education. The problem of the study can be seen from the character of environmental issues in school. This can be seen when high school students no longer have concern for the environment. For example, during school breaks in the cafeteria, students always draw their trash away and do not throw them in the trash can. This is not an individual case, almost all students do the same thing. So, it can be Husen et al. 227 seen that the canteen and school area have become dirty due to the garbage that is scattered and wasted everywhere. In addition, the classroom has also become a less clean place as a result of the lack of discipline toward the environment. High school seniors can be seen littering classrooms by scribbling on walls without cleaning them. If this environmental concern problem is still allowed, students will not have good character and no concern for their school environment. To support the issues relating to the importance of teaching environmental care values, there are some empirical evidences provided by some researchers in Indonesia. Firstly, Casmana (2022) conducted a study relating to environmental care values in Subang, West Java Province, Indonesia. By using a qualitative approach and interviewing some teachers in school, the result shows that environmental care values have been utterly important. It reveals that there are a lot of students in schools who are required how to keep the school clean, plant trees, plant flowers in the garden and do other school program activities that can shape students’ characters. This study also shows that there are several students in schools who still do not care about the school environment, such as throwing rubbish everywhere and other negative activities. Then, it is clear that teaching environmental care values in school is utterly important (Casmana et al., 2022). The second study on teaching character education, particularly on environmental education, is conducted by Prasetiyo et al. (2020). Prasetiyo et al. (2020) examined how the school teaches students about how to love their environment through School Adiwiyata program. In this research, the school Adiwiyata program, internationally recognized as a green school program in Indonesia, is an effort by school to teach students to love their school environment. Students are assigned to plant trees, plant flowers in the garden, and clean their classroom after school activities. Such programs conducted by the school help students shape their characters, particularly for loving the school environment. Prasetiyo et al. (2020) concluded that to create students’ characters, schools should force and impose the law and sanction when they do not obey the school rules. After imposing the rules, the students are expected to be smart and good citizens by loving their environment. This research has some urgency that can contribute to the school. Firstly, as the problem relating to the students' characters in Jakarta is getting worse, as mentioned above, the role of character education in school is inevitable. It means that the schools in Jakarta are urgently required to take action to tackle this issue. Secondly, some schools in Jakarta do not have programs for teaching Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 character education. This research can be an inspiration for these schools to promote character education as it aims to describe the character education program. In addition, character education also should be integrated not only into school program but also into the learning module. Therefore, it is urgent to integrate some character education into the classroom, and this research provides some examples. Based on the three points of urgency, it is necessary to undertake a study about character education. Based on the previous studies on teaching character education, there is a wide variety of teaching character education for students either in schools or society. An initial study conducted in Labschool showed that these secondary schools have several character education programs that are interesting to be studied. For example, bringing students to the local village in Indonesia can help students understand other people’s lives. This school also has some programs that bring students abroad to look for the diversity that has happened across the world. Bringing junior high school students to a rural area or a village where it is far away from home is called a “trip observation program.” In Labschool Jakarta, it has been an annual event that is compulsory for junior students. Trip observation means that teachers introduce the way local people live, which is completely different from the current situation of students’ lives. For example, students live in an area with no internet connection, no electricity, and experience living in a village. Students are asked to grow the paddy field and garden the flower daily. As the way they live is different, it is expected that character education is taught unconsciously. The trip observation program is needed by junior students because there is a wide range of benefits, and it helps future generation. First, trip observation is not only considered to be a vacation and going to the village, but it is the designed program by the school to educate young generation to understand the lives that are different from their lives. Secondly, trip observation is designed to educate young people to know each other. As they are new students in school, the experience of living in the village is completely new for them. So trip observation provides this program so the students know each other. Thirdly, trip observation provides character education, particularly in teaching environment. It means that teaching character education can help them learn about environmental issues close to them. Therefore, trip observation is needed by students in this era. Based on the background that has been previously introduced, the purpose of this study is to be able to describe the learning process of character education for high school students in DKI Jakarta, Husen et al. 229 especially at SMA Labschool Jakarta. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to see how the observation trip program or outing class conducted by SMA Labschool Jakarta, which brings students to rural areas, can carry out the character education process so that they can understand education that teaches to care about their environment, especially school environment. As teaching character education provides more positive impacts, this research will focus on how Labschool Jakarta teaches character education, particularly in environmental care. Research questions: 1. How Labschool Jakarta teaches character education, particularly in environmental care, through “trip observation” program? 2. How Labschool Jakarta teaches character education, particularly in environmental care, through an international program? Literature review Character Education The theory of character education is extensive. First, character can be said to be a characteristic that can be seen from a person or group of people with values, ability, moral capacity, and a kink in facing a challenge that occurs. Second, the following theory says that a person's character is formed from a habit that has been done, both seen in the form of attitudes and also words and some other things that are often done and seen by others. Third, the theory of character also says that character is a trait experienced by the human psyche, which can be said to be a characteristic status of a person when acting and interacting in the family and society. So, it can be said that the name character is a characteristic possessed by a person when acting and trying to be visible to others. Character education is a conscious and planned human effort to educate and empower students’ potentials to build their characters so that they can become individuals who are beneficial to themselves and their environment (Berges Puyo, 2020; Bredemeier & Shields, 2019). Character education is also said to be an educational system that aims to instill certain character values in students in which there are components of knowledge, awareness, or willingness, as well as actions to carry out these values (Abassy, 2022; Bates, 2019; Betawi, 2020; Cureton, 2021). Character Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 education has various definitions stated by some experts in their fields. According to Michael Novak, the character is a "compatible mix" of knowing all that religious traditions, literature, sages, and common sense identified within history (Sanderse, 2019; Waters et al., 2020). Meanwhile, Masnur Muslich stated that character is the values of human behavior related to God Almighty, oneself, fellow humans, the environment, and nationality, manifested in thoughts, attitudes, feelings, words, and actions based on religious norms, law, manners, culture, and customs (Dobson & Dobson, 2021; Gunio, 2021; Nyamai, 2021; Sanderse, 2019; Watson, 2019). From the experts' opinions, it can be concluded that character is something that is contained in an individual, which is a characteristic of an individual's personality that is different from others in the form of attitudes, thoughts, and actions. The characteristics of each individual are useful for living and working together within the family, community, nation, and state. One important aspect of the character is environmental care. This character shows how people love their living environment so they can live peacefully. The character of caring for the environment is the embodiment of human attitudes toward the environment (Clausen, 2018). This character can be seen from actions in everyday life which are an effort to prevent damage to the surrounding natural environment, as well as trying to repair all- natural damage that has occurred (Parker, 2018; Tanu & Parker, 2018). The character of caring for the environment that students can do are depicted in Table 1: Table 1 Activities Relating to Environmental Care in School and Community No Character Activities 1. Environmental care in School Do not litter in the school environment Clean and tidy up the classroom after the learning process is complete Clean the toilet after using it Wearing clean school uniforms Keeping school facilities clean 2. Environmental care in community Separating waste by type of material Keeping the waterways clean Reduce the use of plastic bags for shopping Using recycled products Don't burn trash carelessly Carry out reforestation activities As Table 1 depicts, there is a wide range of activities relating to teaching environment. The table shows two different activities relating to cleaning environment in school and the community as Husen et al. 231 part of teaching character education. The students are expected to understand such characters relating to teaching character education. The conceptual framework for this study includes teaching high school students about character education carried out by schools in Jakarta, specifically character education about caring for the environment for high school students. More specifically, the character education activities carried out by the school are environmental-based character education, so the environmental care values taught to students aim to teach students to care about their environment, especially the environment in the school. Teaching Character Education In addition to academic ability, students’ character is an important target of education. Character education in schools aims to build students' characters so that they have the characteristics or characteristics inherent in a person's daily behavior (Bredemeier & Shields, 2019; Chi-Kin Lee et al., 2021; Nagashima & Gibbs, 2021). Shaping students' characters cannot be accomplished by the teacher alone at the school, so it requires assistance from external parties (Hart et al., 2020). The formation of a students’ characters can also be influenced by the environment and the closest people, such as family and the surrounding environment. Even a family is a place of learning and the formation of the first character obtained by children. Character education is expected to create a generation that is intelligent, moral, has a noble character, and is educated. To make this happen, the teacher must have a way of building student character. The teacher's strategy in forming student character varies. The following is a model or teacher strategy for educating students' character. The first way is to set a good example for students. Students should get examples of how to behave properly anytime and anywhere. The predicate of a teacher is attached to the teacher, not only when he is at school. Wherever master is, his actions will always be noticed. Teachers who are parents of students at school must always behave well and be careful in every word or action to be good role models for students. Often a teacher is remembered not only because of the lessons he/she teaches, but also because of his/her qualities, such as patience and firmness (Lee, 2021; Vaccarezza & Niccoli, 2019). The second way is to provide a moral message in each lesson. Students' character development can be done by adding a moral message in each lesson and teaching students to take lessons from each lesson learned. Thus, students can know that the knowledge they are studying is indeed Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 important for their future. Character education can be a part of every subject, including mathematics. In mathematics, the teacher can instill the character of being patient, hardworking, honest, and never giving up on completing the tasks or questions given. Thus students will grow and be ready to face life's problems, always think optimistically, and try to solve the problems (Kotsonis, 2020; McGrath et al., 2021). Method Research Design The research design of this study is to use a descriptive method with a qualitative approach. The purpose of a qualitative approach is to see a very detailed and in-depth perspective. This research aims to describe a program that occurs in a particular environment. More specifically, the design of this study is to describe the character education program carried out at SMA Labschool Jakarta, which in this case is to use observation trips to remote areas or villages so that students can experience firsthand how character education learning can be done well, especially about learning the character of environmental conservationists. This research is very appropriate because this study describes several programs carried out to be able to see how character education is carried out in high schools in observation trip activities. To be able to find out more details, the design of this study is depicted in Figure 1. Figure 1 Research design Qualitative approach 1. Context-dependent finding by evaluating subjects 2. Conducting research through descriptive method 3. critical analysis and assessment through the finding from the school 4. Displaying the data through the results and discussion about character education Husen et al. 233 This study has been considered educational research focusing on teaching character education in school and aims to investigate how school educates their students about character education, particularly on environmental care. Therefore, to undertake this study, a descriptive qualitative approach was used for this study (Cohen et al., 2002). In addition to the approach, focus group discussion (FGD), and interviews have been used. The purpose of focus group discussion is to see how teachers and committees design the program that can teach students’ characters. It is also to see how students can get the program's main purpose created by the school. In addition to focus group discussion, interview with students, teachers, and school principals was also undertaken for this study. There are three main purposes for in-depth interview that has been done in this study. First, it asks what kind of specific value that is intended from the “trip observation” and “international event” held by Labschool Jakarta. In this interview purpose, since there are some activities during a weekly program, teachers and students were asked about each purpose on the table. Secondly, the purpose of an interview is to see whether the values that teachers have set were well-received by their students. Students were asked about evaluating the events and what sort of character or values they got during the event. Finally, since this research focuses on environmental care values, researchers ask about several activities that affect their inspiration, particularly on environmental values. The data obtained from this study were then analyzed and incorporated into the results. Participants The study about the implementation of teaching character education, particularly on environmental care, in Labschool Jakarta, collaborated with twenty people coming from different backgrounds. There were several prerequisites for participating in this study; therefore, purposive sampling technique was used in this research (Creswell, 2014). There are three main criteria in which participants are able to be involved in this study, such as 1) Students who are interested in this research should have participated in “trip observation” program that has been held in the first year of their secondary school. 2) Students also have participated in one of the international events, or they have been abroad with the Labschool program at least once. 3) Thr teachers have participated in either becoming the committee of the “trip observation” program, or they have accompanied students going abroad. To get a great result, the focus group discussion was undertaken four times, Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 which lasted approximately 150 minutes in each meeting. Also, the details of the research participation are shown in Table 2. Table 2 Characteristics of Participants Based on Gender No Gender Number of participants 1 Male 12 2 Female 8 Total 20 As seen in Table 2, the characteristic of this study is divided into males and females, males are dominant group this research, which accounts for 12 people, and the others are eight females. Overall, they are the students, teachers, and school principals from Labschool Jakarta. Table 3 Characteristic of Participants No Categories Number of participants 1 Students 10 2 Teachers 7 3 Vice school principal 2 4 School principal 1 Total 20 Table 3 depicts 20 participants has been divided into four groups: 10 students, seven teachers, two vice school principal and one school principal. These four groups have met the three main criteria that have become the prerequisite for this study. Teaching character education in school has become common in an Indonesian school; however, when it comes to a particular purpose such as environmental care value, it is uncommon for some schools. As Labschool was located in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, environmental education became the most important value for students in school. Therefore, although “trip observation” event and international program held by Labschool Jakarta has a wide range of purpose, this research would focus only on teaching characters based on environmental care. Sampling and Data Collection The data collection reveals the researcher chose the particular respondent that can be participated in this study. As mentioned in the participants section, this study used a purposive sampling technique in choosing the participants. The purposive sampling is part of the non-random Husen et al. 235 sampling technique (Creswell, 2014). This data collection technique enables the researcher to opt for some people who meet the criteria for their study. As for this research, there are at least three main requirements in which respondents can be involved, such as those attending “trip observation” and “international events” programs. In addition, teachers also need to be participated in both events either for the committee or for accompanying the students. In addition to the data collection, the method used to collect the data were interview, observation, and focus group discussion. The interview played a very important role because it helped to gain more detailed data from the participants. The interview was conducted about how character education has been implemented for the students and how the students get the environmental values from attending the events. The number of people participating in this interview was about 20 people, and each of them was interviewed for approximately 40 minutes. The observation was also used to see the circumstances during the event of “trip observation.” Data Analysis The data analysis technique used in this research is following the theory presented by Cresswell in 2014. To be able to obtain maximum data in conducting descriptive research, several steps can be taken by researchers (Creswell, 2014). First, after performing the data collection process through interviews and focus group discussions, the researcher transcribed the data into complete writing. In this case, it is data related to character education in schools and several programs associated with the process of learning the character of caring for the environment. Then, the second data reduction process was conducted. The main topic of research is character education for environmental care through observation trips and international program activities and, thus, it was excluded from the research. Outside of the program, the data is not used. The third step is to provide coding per the research topic, namely caring for the environment through observation trips and activities. The last step is data display, which has been analyzed on character education learning, especially those related to environmental care character education (Creswell, 2014). Findings This section describes the findings of research related to character education at SMA Labschool Jakarta. In this case, it is a character education program that is carried out to be able to educate Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 high school students to care about their school environment so that these students can develop and improve their capacities related to character education. Character education has an important role, especially in the school environment, so, with this character education, students can learn and understand not only a theory, but also some characters- or school-related factors. This section of the findings is divided into two main parts: character education programs through observation trip learning and character education learning through international programs. Research Question 1: How Labschool Jakarta teaches character education, particularly in environmental care, through “trip observation” program? "Trip Observation" is a routine activity carried out by Labschool Jakarta to develop the character of independence, love for the country, modesty with nature, scientific character, and increasing students' faith and caring for the environment. All the objectives of these activities are summarized in various activities during the "Observation Trip." An "observation trip" was carried out by bringing students from Jakarta to remote areas and away from the crowds, so that the students could feel the cool environment and get to know life in the village. The students stayed in the residents' houses and stayed with the residents for several days. Students are also required to be able to participate in various community activities. Although many character values are taught during the “trip observation,” this research will analyze some environmental care related activities and values. Table 4 Example of Environmental Care Values in Several Activities No Activities Environmental care values 1. Students are organized by the local community to learn how to separate some waste into organic and non-organic waste. Separating waste by type of material 2. As there are a lot of gardens in front of home, some mandatory activities of students are flowering the garden in the morning. Flowering the garden 3. In the village, most people are trying to recycle waste and change it to a shopping bag. Students were learning how to use it. Reduce the use of plastic bags for shopping 4. After some activities in the common room, students are encouraged to collect their rubbish and put it into the trash bag. Collecting the rubbish 5. Planting the trees on the huge field and planting the rice in the rice field became students’ favorite activities. Planting the tree Husen et al. 237 Table 4 shows a brief result from the interview and focus group discussion with the teachers and students. It shows some examples of environmental care values as part of teaching character education during “trip observation” activities conducted by Labschool Jakarta. Based on the activities that have been held by Labschool Jakarta, planting the trees become the major purpose of the events. “When designing the event, all teachers and committee agree that planting the trees in the field become the main purpose of the event. It is because students living in Jakarta never try to plant the trees either at home or in school” interview, teacher 5 “Students are taught how to plant the trees in the right way, and they also learn the benefits of having a lot of trees. One of the benefits that students understand from planting the trees is to prevent the flood” interview, teachers 1. “We love planting the trees as it really protects the school environment” FGD, students 2, 3, 4, 7. Instilling a sense of love for the environment can be started with small things, one of which is planting trees. Therefore, teaching love for the environment from an early age is very important. The tree planting activity also aims to teach how to plant trees properly and provide knowledge about the importance of planting trees. When children are educated to know the functions and benefits of planting trees, it will be embedded in them always to preserve and protect the environment around them. In addition, they also learn how to plant trees properly, how transfer tree seedlings to pots, and fertilize plants after transplanting. Based on the teacher interview, planting the trees became the main activities of the “trip observation” program. Instead of teaching how to plant in the right way, students are also taught about the benefits of having a lot of trees on earth. Also, they learn that the disappearance of tress in the capital city of Indonesia is the primary source of flooding. During the focus group discussion, some students agree that planting trees provide a lot of benefits from them. It makes them rest from the school activities, so they can see a green view of the school. Also, during the focus group discussion, some students loved to plan the three. They argue that planting trees is considered new in their lives as they stay in Jakarta, which is a very rare green area. “I will try to create the same program that has been done in school trip observation program, such as planting a tree near my home. I believe that Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 planting a tree at home can make my home looks different and have a fresh look” Focus group discussion student 8, 9, 10 “I have asked students to create a follow up program, such as planting the tree at home or other trip observation program that can help to create their character” Interview teacher 1 During the focus group discussion, some students are asked to have a follow up program. It is considered a program that they can do at home. Surprisingly, in most of the focus group discussion, students argue that they intend to plant the trees at home after following this trip observation program. They will ask their parents to buy some trees that are beneficial for their homes and make the home green. At least three students during the focus group discussion believe that they want to plant the tress after coming home. The teachers also argue that the follow up program has been designed to create students to follow some programs at home. Planting trees is one of the excellent activities for students to do. In the school and home environments, the students rarely do tree planting both in the home and in their schools. This happens because of limited land or locations in their respective homes and schools. Meanwhile, during the observation trip, planting trees and plants at the research site became a fun activity for the students. So, this is a favorite activity in educating students' character formation. The second activity in the "observation trip" related to environmental care is separating waste into two main groups: organic waste and non-organic waste. Garbage is a waste or remnant of one thing that is no longer suitable for use. Basically, the types of waste are divided into two groups, namely organic waste and non-organic waste. These two types of waste are recommended to be separated. The most basic difference between these two types of waste is the time it takes to decompose. Organic waste is a type of waste that can be decomposed relatively quickly. On the other hand, non-organic waste is difficult to decompose and takes a long time. Organic waste can be decomposed even if it is thrown away and will disappear. Some examples of waste that fall into the category of organic waste include food scraps, fruit peels, leftovers from the kitchen, and leaves. Students mostly do not understand how to separate the waste by organizing it into two main groups, and therefore in these activities, they are taught about grouping the rubbish into two main categories. “Grouping the waste into organic waste and non-organic waste becomes difficult when teaching in school. It is because they do not see how to Husen et al. 239 recycle the waste after throwing it into the garbage. In the trip observation, students are happy to distinguish the two different types of waste” Interview, teacher 7 “When teachers taught me how to differentiate the waste in a classroom, I really do not understand. However, here we are trying to practice how to put the waste in a different place and learn the benefit directly” interview, students 5 How to teach character to students cannot be done with lectures in class. This is because students only listen, and they only imagine based on the story conveyed by the teacher. An example is teaching the character of caring for the environment, which in this case is separating waste into two main groups. Although it looks easy to teach it, the students did not separate the waste into the two groups in practice. Based on the results of observations and interviews with teachers and students, they feel very happy when they learn directly to distinguish between them. Even though the student is already in junior high school, one of the main obstacles is that students do not understand which ones are organic and non-organic wastes. Therefore, through the "observation trip," the students, when they returned to Jakarta, were able to be able to distinguish the two wastes. “After following trip observation program, I understand the difference between organic waste and non-organic waste” FGD, students 1 and 5 “Students are taught how to differentiate two waste, such as organic and non-organic waste” interview, teacher 2 Teaching students to separate waste into two main groups has long-term benefits, both for the students themselves and the school environment. In addition to facilitating disposal and reprocessing, separating the disposal of organic and non-organic waste can avoid the accumulation of waste. The reason is that accumulated garbage can become a nest of germs and bacteria, which are the main causes of disease. Not only that, but piles of garbage can also, in fact, trigger air pollution. Also, air pollution causes health problems, especially those related to the lungs and breathing. Piles of garbage can also cause problems in the environment which can lead to health problems as well. Not separating waste and allowing it to accumulate can easily trigger flooding. When this happens, the garbage will pollute the water and cause humans to experience skin-related diseases like itching. Learning character education caring for the environment is also carried out by doing several things, including distinguishing waste. Based on the experience of the results of observation trips made Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 by students and several learning-related items, separating waste into several parts, such as organic and non-organic waste is of importance. In the observation trip activity, students try to be able to separate waste with the aim that the waste can be recycled. The goal is to provide students with an understanding that the waste that has been grouped can be recycled so that it can be reused. When the disposal of organic and non-organic waste is separated, there are many benefits that can be enjoyed such as healthier air, a clean environment, and guaranteed water. Disposing of waste based on its type will also facilitate reprocessing. For example, throwing non-organic waste into one container will make it easier for people who want to pick up and recycle the waste. He or she also no longer needs to re-disassemble the trash can, which can actually cause hygiene problems in the home environment. “In the morning, when I wake up, the family I live in always encourages all students to bring water for flowering the garden. It really makes me happy since I never do that at home” interview, student 2 “One of the goals for this trip observation program is to create daily habits that can help students form a new character, particularly on environmental care” Interview, teachers 4 In addition to grouping waste as an environmental care activity, the “trip observation” program also helps students develop a new habit that makes them love the environment. In the morning, this program has been designed to form a daily activity that can make students love the garden. One of the activities is flowering the garden. Each family host living with the students always asks students to prepare their tools for flowering the garden in front of the home. Research Question 2: How Labschool Jakarta teaches character education, particularly in environmental care, through an international program? The second part explains the learning of character education through international activities. International activities are one of the routine activities carried out by SMA Labschool Jakarta students. The main purpose of such activities is to educate and show and introduce foreign cultures to female students. But more specifically, this international activity learning activity aims to provide an understanding of character education abroad, especially those related to character education in caring for the environment. Husen et al. 241 Student exchange program allows students to experience learning outside the school where they study. This program is usually held as a form of collaboration with schools or other educational institutions abroad. Labschool Jakarta has collaborated with several schools and universities abroad to provide orientation and new life experiences to its students, so that the program can be carried out in collaboration between the two schools or universities or organized by third parties who provide scholarships or facilities. "I decided to be able to participate in Asian Student Exchange Program (ASEP) activities to be able to find out the environmental differences between Indonesia in Taiwan. I have seen through YouTube that Taiwan is one of the countries that can afford to be able to maintain the cleanliness of its environment" Interview, student 6 "One of the goals of being able to send students to Taiwan is to be able to teach them about caring about the environment. This is because a clean- living environment can inspire students so that they can follow it" Interview, teacher 4 “Going abroad can shape students’ understanding of how to deal with the garbage and environmental values” Interview teacher 3 The purpose of environmental care programs is to bring students to Taiwan. This aims to see one of the cleanliness carried out by the Taiwanese government in maintaining environmental cleanliness, especially in urban areas. Before leaving for Taiwan, students are asked to see some impressions about learning and the environment in several cities in Taiwan, so that they can get an idea of the learning. How Taiwan can maintain its cleanliness so that this can provide inspiration so that students can also maintain environmental cleanliness. In addition to seeing the situation in several cities, students are invited to one of the schools to see how character education is in maintaining the cleanliness of the school environment. Teachers said that teaching how to keep the environment clean can be seen from the program that can bring them abroad. Taiwan is one of the countries that can show a student how to keep the cities clean. In ASEP program, students have arrived in Taipei. Based on the alumni of ASEP in previous year, Taipei is considered very clean. Students can learn how to make the cities clean, how are the peoples’ character and attitude toward the garbage and other cleanliness systems. Therefore, visiting Taipei is one of the examples that can help students learn how to keep the cities clean. Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 "At one of the schools in Taiwan I visited, I was amazed that the school was very clean and there was no garbage. The school has educated students on how to maintain cleanliness" Interview, student 8 “During the ASEP event, we visited the school canteen in Taipei. We see that all school students are cleaning their plates and putting them into the center point that they can clean by themselves” FGD, students 4,5,6 Based on information from one of the students who have participated in the program, the school in Taiwan has been very clean because the school has taught about caring character education environment. There are at least three main things that make schools in Taiwan very clean. First is the education of environmentally caring character set by teachers and students in the school. Character education is one of the good programs in Taiwan, and this program is not only the main program but is integrated into every subject in the school. that. For example, before teaching, every teacher always sets a good example of cleanliness, ranging from dressing and sweeping the classroom environment to teaching students not to litter. Second, several school programs have required students so they can throw garbage in their place. When students throw garbage carelessly, they have faced some severe sanctions. This shows that the school has been serious in educating character because if sanctions are imposed on students, then the student has violated rules, especially about the cleanliness of the environment. The three schools teach students to distinguish waste into two things, namely organic waste and non-organic waste so that every waste used can be used. In canteen, students are also shown how Taiwanese people behave after eating. Based on the Focus Group Discussion, they said that most Taiwan people bring their plates to the center point that they can put the leftover and garbage. This is the secret point that students cannot see in their home countries. It is undertaken not only by the students, but also by everyone when they come and eat in the school canteen. Therefore, cleaning and putting the garbage at the center point has become the main concern and Taiwan student behavior. "Students are given strict sanctions if they violate the rules, especially when littering" Interview, teacher 6 “Visiting other countries has been considered one of the programs created by the Labschool. It is an annual program that can make students see the different sides of their world. Therefore, Labschool supports students coming to other nations” Interview, the school principal Husen et al. 243 One of the things Taiwanese schools impose is the severe sanctions that students will receive when they violate the rules. One of the sanctions is that students are asked to be able to clean certain areas in the school until the parent's calls. This is because, with the call of parents, students will get a reprimand from school and their homes. The reprimand hopes to make students unable to do the same when they are in their school environment. The second sanction is to clean certain areas, such as toilets and some other areas. When students are cleaning a certain area, the other students pay attention and watch it. Thus, the social sanctions that teachers give to students can make students who break the rules embarrassed and not repeat their mistakes. Discussions Character education is considered utterly important for the students. It is because the program is a daily routine that can help students to be smart and good in manner. The teaching character can be taught either in school, family or community environment. Based on the research created by Lee (2021), it shows that school can be one of the places for teaching character to their students. In school, there are a lot of daily routines in which it is compulsory for the students to follow the program. For example, students are required to clean the classroom after school, learn how to communicate with teachers, as well as the attitude toward the environment. Lee (2021) also mentioned that the school has a responsibility to teach environmental care values to their students, so schools are required to educate students by providing some program that makes them care about their surrounding environment (Lee, 2021). As this research focuses on teaching character education, particularly on how to educate environmental care values, this part discusses the findings and compares them with previous research. Two main programs have been found in the school during the interview and focus group discussion with students, teachers and school principal in Labschool. It is “trip observation” program and “ASEP” as an international program when visiting Taiwan. Environmental care is the character that makes students care about the environment and school surrounding. Moffat (2011) showed that there are three main principles relating to environmental values, respecting the environment, having a life principle of non-destructive and living in harmony with the nature. Based on that three main principles, Labschool Jakarta has taught students to learn environmental care values, particularly during a “trip observation program.” Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 Based on the finding, respecting the environment can be seen from some activities during this trip observation program, such as flowering the garden, differentiating the garbage, and recycling the waste. Flowering the garden can be considered as the attitude of respecting the environment. It is because students, when visiting some villages, they are required to flower all gardens near their homes. As such, the activities relating to the flowering the garbage can be seen as the environmental care values (Moffat et al., 2019). Planting trees and plants in the school environment is a very important activity in learning character education. Various previous studies have emphasized that character education learning can be done in several ways, one of which is by educating and planting trees and plants (Sokip et al., 2019). In addition, character education learning has two main benefits related to the environment when students learn about planting trees. First, students will understand and understand how to plant trees well, so they will always be curious about some things related to environmental learning. Second, students will have curiosity and interest, so when they return to their respective homes, they will try to grow plants as well (Marini et al., 2018; Montessori et al., 2021; Muhajir, 2022). Students during trip observation program are also encouraged to differentiate the garbage. The garbage should be organic and non-organic waste. The purpose of these activities is to make students have a non-destructive principal. When learning how to differentiate the garbage, they respect the environment and learn how to be a non-destructive principle. This activity is in line with the research of Kotsonis (2020). This research shows that the character education provided by the school is considered intellectual character education values, so educating young people in line with environmental care values has been considered to be applied in Labschool Jakarta during a trip observation program (Kotsonis, 2020). Based on previous research, distinguishing waste can make students more disciplined and concerned about the environments that occur. A simple form of distinguishing waste is to teach students about the differences between organic and non-organic waste. The difference between the two wastes can make students more responsible, so that when students are in the community, students can set a good example (Subaidi, 2020; Suhartini et al., 2019; Zurqoni et al., 2018). In addition, previous studies have also reported that when there is learning related to waste, students will have a very high sense of environmental care. Husen et al. 245 In addition to the non-destructive program provided by the trip observation program, students are encouraged to plant trees. Non-destructive principle means that students should not destruct the trees or other surrounding living environment, so that they can benefit human activities. In a big city such as Jakarta, it is quite rare to find a green area with such a big tree. During the trip observation program, students are encouraged to learn how to plant trees to respect the environment. It is very interesting because not all the school has a trip observation program that can help students visit a rural area to learn about the local people's lives. As such, trip observation has been applied to a character education program, particularly in a living environment. Teaching students not to harm the environment has a huge impact on them. Previous research has related to how learning to be able to care for and not damage. Teaching students not to damage the environment can also have a big impact on their environment (Hakam, 2018; Ningsih et al., 2021). This impact can be seen when students take care of the school environment, such as watering plants and taking care of some plants in the school environment. With this, character education can be related to these things. The novelty of the finding can be seen in the particular character that can be seen from the school program. Most of the research on character education describes the general overview of how teachers educate character education in a classroom. However, in this research, the finding provides information, particularly the practical guide of the program that can help students learn the character. Also, there are some particular characters in this finding, such as environmental care values that help students keep the environment clean. Therefore, it is hoped that in the future, the character can be used as a tool for teaching character to the students. Conclusion It can be concluded that Labschool Jakarta offers some programs that can educate students’ characters, particularly environmental care values. Environmental care values are character that educates students to care for their environment, such as flowering the garden, differentiating the garbage, planting the trees, and other environmental care related activities. In Labschool Jakarta, at least two main programs can help students learn environmental care values, such as a “trip observation” program and ASEP. While a trip observation program has been conducted to visit a Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2022: 13 (4), 225-249 rural area in Indonesia, the ASEP program brings students to a developed nation such as Taiwan to understand how people show attitudes toward their living environment. The trip observation program provides a lot of examples of environmental care values. Students are brought to the country's rural area to learn the people’s activities. It helps students go out from the hustle and bustle area to the very rural areas. 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