Full Day School Berbasis Pesantren sebagai Ekologi Pembentukan Karakter di MTs Safinda Surabaya

Abstract

Full-day school is frequently understood as an extension of instructional time. In Islamic madrasahs, however, its educational significance may lie less in the number of hours students remain at school than in how extended time is organized into a coherent environment of learning, religious practice, habituation, and social interaction. This study analyzes the implementation of a pesantren-based full-day school at MTs Safinda Surabaya and interprets its contribution to student character formation through Thomas Lickona’s framework of moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral action. The study uses a qualitative descriptive approach based on observation, interviews, documentation, and an expanded critical reading of relevant literature. Findings show that the program integrates the national curriculum with diniyah learning, kitab kuning studies, Qur’an translation, congregational worship, language development, extracurricular activities, and daily discipline. Character formation occurs through three interrelated mechanisms: value understanding through formal and religious learning; affective reinforcement through teacher modeling, religious atmosphere, guidance, and social interaction; and repeated moral practice through structured routines and responsibilities. The discussion argues that the distinctive contribution of the program is not extended schooling itself, but the creation of a pesantren-based moral ecology in which time, curriculum, role modeling, habituation, and supervision operate as a coherent pedagogical system. The study therefore proposes a Pesantren-Based Character Ecology framework linking integrated curriculum, extended educational time, moral modeling, structured habituation, and reflective supervision. Claims of effectiveness are limited because the available data are qualitative and do not provide longitudinal or comparative evidence. The study has implications for madrasahs seeking to design full-day programs as intentional environments for character formation rather than merely longer school schedules.