The author is an education practitioner at an Islamic boarding school and a Master’s student in Islamic Education Management at STAIN Sultan Abdurrahman, Riau Islands.
JurnalPost.com — Whenever cases of juvenile delinquency, declining academic achievement, or student behavior deemed to lack courtesy arise, schools are almost always the first to be scrutinized. Teachers are questioned, learning systems are criticized, and the quality of education is often dismissed as a failure based solely on the actions of a few students.
Yet, educational issues are not as simple as pointing fingers at who is to blame. There is a more fundamental issue that is often overlooked: the imbalance of responsibility between schools, families, and the social environment in shaping a child's character.
This is where the paradox of modern educational quality becomes apparent. Schools are expected to produce a generation that is intelligent, disciplined, principled, and morally upright. However, the values instilled by teachers in the classroom are not always reinforced when students return home or interact with their surrounding environment.
As a result, education seems to move in two different directions. Teachers strive to build positive habits, while children face various external influences that may not align with those values.
Educational Quality Is More Than Just Academic Grades
To date, educational success is still frequently measured by numbers. Report card grades, exam results, school rankings, and the number of graduates accepted into universities remain the most easily observed indicators.
However, from the perspective of educational quality management, the meaning of quality is far broader.
Education does not merely aim to produce students who excel academically, but also to shape individuals who possess character, critical thinking skills, social responsibility, and moral awareness.
Teachers play a crucial role in this process. In the classroom, they do more than just deliver lesson material; they provide a model through their daily attitudes and behaviors.
The concept of qudwah hasanah or good role modeling is highly relevant in this context. Students learn not only from what a teacher says but also from how the teacher acts, makes decisions, respects others, and fulfills their responsibilities.
The problem is that character education cannot be achieved through just a few hours of classroom instruction.
Values such as honesty, discipline, responsibility, and respect require consistent reinforcement. Without support from the immediate environment, the process of character formation faces much greater challenges.
When Schools Teach Values, the Environment Often Provides Contradictory Examples
The development of digital technology has further complicated the challenges of character education.
Children and adolescents now grow up in an environment that allows them to access information, entertainment, and various forms of social interaction almost without limits.
Social media, video services, online games, and various digital platforms have become part of daily life. While these can benefit learning, they also present risks when used without adequate supervision.
A teacher might teach the importance of speaking politely. However, outside of school, students may become accustomed to witnessing insults, bullying, or aggressive communication that is considered normal in digital spaces.
Similarly, when schools instill the value of honesty, children may encounter examples of dishonesty in their immediate social interactions.
This discrepancy between the values taught and the behaviors witnessed can lead to confusion in character development.
Ultimately, children are influenced not only by advice but also by the habits they constantly observe.
Therefore, the issue of student character cannot be solved simply by adding school rules or tightening punishments. There must be alignment between formal education and a child's social experiences outside the classroom.
Parents Cannot Shift All Responsibility to Teachers
One of the issues in the educational ecosystem is the assumption that schools are solely responsible for a child's development.
When students exhibit problematic behavior, some parents may immediately question the teacher's ability to educate. In reality, the family is the primary educational environment that has a significant influence on the formation of a child's habits and character.
Character education should not stop when the school bell rings.
If teachers instill discipline, parents need to reinforce it through habits at home. When schools teach responsibility, families must also provide space for children to learn to fulfill their obligations.
The same applies to the use of digital devices. Children need guidance to understand boundaries, choose appropriate content, and use technology in a healthy and responsible manner.
However, it is also important to understand that not all families are in the same situation. Busy work schedules, economic pressure, limited digital literacy, and communication issues within the family can affect a parent's ability to guide their children.
Therefore, criticism regarding a lack of family involvement should not turn into an attempt to shift blame from teachers to parents.
What is needed is cooperation so that both educational environments support one another.
Schools and Families Must Build Real Partnerships
In educational quality management, improving quality is not enough if done solely through curriculum changes, facility upgrades, or strengthening teacher competence.
A systemic approach is required that places all parties as part of the educational process.
One step that can be taken is to strengthen the partnership between schools and parents, or parenting partnership.
This partnership should not be limited to committee meetings, report card distribution, or calling parents when students commit violations.
Schools need to build two-way communication periodically regarding character development, learning needs, and the social challenges faced by students.
Parenting education programs, family digital literacy, and psychosocial support can be part of efforts to strengthen this collaboration.
On the other hand, parents need to realize that their involvement is a vital part of educational success.
Communication with children, supervision of technology use, the application of proportional rules, and modeling behavior in daily life play roles that cannot be fully replaced by schools.
The government and education policymakers also need to support this cooperation through programs that strengthen family capacity, increase access to support services, and create a safe learning environment.
Stop Looking for Scapegoats, Start Improving the Educational Ecosystem
Blaming teachers every time a student behavioral issue arises is not an adequate solution.
Teachers must continue to carry out their professional responsibilities, including providing quality instruction, building a safe school environment, and serving as role models for students. However, this responsibility does not mean that all educational issues can be placed on their shoulders.
Education is a long process that takes place through the interaction between schools, families, society, and the digital environment.
Schools can be likened to a place for planting the seeds of knowledge and character. However, families and the social environment determine whether those seeds have the space to grow well.
Without continuity of values and role modeling, various educational quality improvement programs risk producing only administrative changes without providing a deep impact on student development.
It is time for the conversation regarding educational quality to shift from the habit of finding someone to blame toward efforts to build shared responsibility.
Because, true educational quality is not only seen when a child can answer exam questions correctly, but also when they are able to make responsible decisions, respect others, and apply values of kindness in their daily lives.
Quality education cannot be built by teachers alone. Its success requires alignment between role modeling at school, parenting at home, and a supportive social environment.
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