Ki Hadjar Dewantra's character education in the comprehension of Taman Siswa teachers: Paul Ricoeur's Hermeneutic perspective

Ki Hadjar Dewantara is the founder of Perguruan Taman Siswa and also the Father of Education in Indonesia.The Perguruan Taman Siswa gives a high contribution to the Education in Indonesia, especially the character education.But, at present the character education in Taman Siswa has been facing various hindrances in its implementation. The implementation is influenced by among others how teachers understand the character education in Taman Siswa.Therefore, the research is focused on how teachers understand Ki Hadjar Dewantara’s character education.It is a qualitative method that used Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics approach. The Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics shows that there is a dialectic between meaning and events in texts and contexts.In this research, the dialectic between meanings and events was made namely between the thoughts of Ki Hdjar Dewantara and the present context of the Taman Siswa teachers. The analysis was made through semantic, reflective and existential levels.The sources of data were various writings made by Ki Hadjar Dewantara and any writings related to the thoughts of Ki Hadjar Dewantara on the Character Education at the field of texts. Whereas the field of context was obtained through observations, documents, and in-depth interviews with Taman Siswa Teachers.The results of the research showed that pamongs (tutors) as actors that implement the character education consist of materialist and spiritualis ones. Materialistic pamongs are pamongs who are merely orieted into materials, either money, status, positions and self-existence.Whereas pamong spiritualistic are amongs with the spirit of knights or priest that will produce a enlightening generation, real Men.The real Men are the results of making meaning of human beings who have understood, realized, and done the base of Taman Siswa on “tawakal” (resignation) and “manunggaling kawula gusti” (Unity between Men and God) as the ideal of Ki Hadjar Dewantara to establish Taman Siswa, namely to educate students in order to become real Men that would be able to face any present challenges and to be persons who are psychologically and bodily autonomous. In the period of this moral decadence and under the shackle of globalisation that results in materialistic attitudes among the pamongs and other teachers in each educational institution in Indonesia.This causes the character education at schools cannot be done smoothly.a “Cultural Enlightening Movement” should be made