Developing a Pancasila-Based Project Learning Model for Social Studies: Bridging Character Education and Community Engagement
Keywords:
Character Education, Community Engagement, Project-Based Learning, Social Studies Education, Sustainable DevelopmentAbstract
This study addresses a persistent paradox in character education practices in Indonesia, where the implementation of the Pancasila Student Profile through project-based approaches remains largely symbolic, fragmented, and disconnected from real-world social contexts. It aims to develop and validate a Pancasila-based project learning model for Social Studies that integrates character education with community engagement. Employing a qualitative design-based research framework, the study involves needs assessment, conceptual model development, pilot implementation, and iterative evaluation through triangulated data from interviews, observations, and document analysis. The findings reveal that the proposed model establishes an integrative pedagogical structure linking intracurricular, cocurricular, and extracurricular learning with community-based project activities. It enhances the internalization of key Pancasila values, such as cooperation, empathy, tolerance, and cultural awareness, while fostering meaningful student participation in local communities. The study identifies critical enabling and constraining factors, including teacher facilitation capacity, institutional readiness, and student social dynamics. The novelty of this research lies in its systematic integration of character education, project-based learning, and community engagement into a replicable and adaptable model with clear operational stages. The model demonstrates strong potential to transform Social Studies into a contextual, participatory, and socially impactful learning process that supports sustainable development.
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