The Educational Philosophy of Pesantren Al-Falah and Its Contribution to Character Development

Abstract

Pesantren or Islamic boarding schools are religious-based educational institutions that are popular in Indonesia. Unfortunately, pesantren education patterns have not been widely studied because the pattern of education is considered different from formal education in Indonesia. Unlike pesantren, formal education only focuses on the cognitive aspects of academics and ignores the psychomotor-affective aspects. This study aimed to examine the aspects of educational philosophy that exist in the education system at the pesantren Al Falah Gorontalo and their contribution to the development of character education for middle-high school students in Indonesia. This was a philosophical research study which used the perspective of educational philosophy. A qualitative approach was employed, using the hermeneutic method, and data were collected through library research, strengthened by in-depth interviews. Interpretation, description, synthetic analysis, internal coherence, holistic, reflection, and heuristics were used. Several pedagogical aspects were found in the learning process that prevails at the Al Falah Islamic Boarding School. These are associated with the educational goals and curriculum, which involves several important streams in educational philosophy, namely essentialism, progressivism, and perennialism. The pesantren Al Falah Gorontalo also upholds several important values in the education process, including relating to religion, unity, human values, togetherness, and independence. These values can be internalized by adolescents through education and can contribute in building the character of students. Keywords: pesantren, character education, educational philosophy, values, religion