Upaya Guru Pendidikan Agama Islam Terhadap Degradasi Akhlak Siswa di Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Al-Azhar Pulau Sugara Kabupaten Barito Kuala

Abstract

This study was motivated by the identification of various behaviors reflecting moral decline among sixth-grade students at Al-Azhar Islamic Elementary School (Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Al-Azhar) on Pulau Sugara, Barito Kuala Regency. These behaviors included showing a lack of respect toward teachers, poor discipline, mocking classmates, secretly bringing mobile phones to school, and playing in the classroom during instructional hours. This situation highlights the urgent need for systematic moral development efforts by Islamic Religious Education (PAI) teachers. The study aimed to describe the efforts undertaken by PAI teachers to address students' moral degradation and to identify the supporting and inhibiting factors affecting these efforts. The research employed a qualitative field research approach. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and documentation involving PAI teachers and sixth-grade students as the primary informants, while the school principal served as a supporting informant. Data were analyzed using the Miles and Huberman interactive model, and data trustworthiness was ensured through source triangulation, prolonged engagement, and persistent observation. The findings reveal that PAI teachers implemented eight integrated strategies for students' moral development: serving as role models, providing reprimands and advice, fostering faith-based motivation, employing storytelling methods, delivering lectures, habituating students to the recitation of the Qur'an and Juz 'Amma, conducting evaluations through written assignments, and establishing collaboration among teachers, the principal, and parents. Supporting factors included the teachers' consistency in demonstrating exemplary conduct and the school's supportive programs, whereas inhibiting factors consisted of limited parental involvement, negative peer influences outside school, and the limited instructional time allocated to Islamic Religious Education. These efforts positively contributed to improvements in students' behavior, as evidenced by increased politeness, stronger discipline, and the development of consistent religious practices within the school environment.