Pendidikan Sosial Sebagai Fondasi Pembentukan Karakter Sosial Siswa

Abstract

Social education plays a strategic role in shaping students' social character in formal education. Current educational challenges show a tendency toward the dominance of cognitive achievement that is not balanced by strengthening the social dimension, resulting in low levels of empathy, tolerance, and social responsibility in students. This study aims to examine the role of social education as a foundation for shaping students' social character and identify the dimensions of social character developed through social education. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach with library research. Data were obtained from academic books, national and international journal articles, and educational policy documents relevant to social education and character education. Data analysis was conducted using content analysis techniques through the stages of data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results show that social education serves as the primary foundation for shaping students' social character through internalizing the values ​​of empathy, tolerance, social responsibility, cooperation, and civic awareness. Social education, integrated into learning, school culture, and co-curricular and extracurricular activities, can shape social character sustainably. These findings emphasize the need for social education to be positioned as an integral part of the formal education system to produce students who are socially mature and possess strong character. This article provides important implications for the development of an adaptive and holistic curriculum to produce a socially mature generation in the era of disruption.