Storytelling through “Wayang Golek” puppet show: Practical ways in incorporating character education in early childhood

Abstract

Although moral or character education has been widely documented in early childhood education curriculum, the inclusion of character education through storytelling is scarcely undertaken. To fill the void, the present participatory action research aimed at developing practical steps to empower children character in Indonesian kindergarten schooling framed through storytelling with “Wayang Golek” puppet media. Two kindergarten teachers were recruited and 12 kindergarten students ranging from 5 to 6 years old participated in this study. Data of this study were collected primarily from both in and out of classroom observation, classroom interaction record, and photograph analysis. The data of the research were analyzed and interpreted qualitatively through critical discourse analysis as a tool. The findings showcase that practical learning steps including the introduction of themes and character stories, figures of Wayang Golek, storytelling, conversations about character education depicted in the content of the story, actualization of character education through either indoor or outdoor play, and reflection on the character development of children were effective in instilling moral values to generate positive responses from children. Thus, the study suggests that storytelling mediated puppet as a pedagogical approach engages students in communicative activities and character building in the early childhood education context.