Institutional Strategies and Family Mediation in Fostering Students’ Religious Character through Emergency Online Learning

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to examine how institutional strategies and family mediation contribute to the fostering of students’ religious character within emergency online learning contexts. Departing from the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the study focuses on how primary education institutions adapt character education practices when face-to-face interaction is suspended. Rather than treating religious character formation as an individual outcome, this research frames it as a socially mediated and institutionally coordinated process involving schools, teachers, and families.

Methods: The study employed a qualitative descriptive approach using a field-based research design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with school leaders and classroom teachers, direct observation of online learning practices, and document analysis of instructional plans and student learning records. Triangulation of data sources was applied to ensure credibility and analytical rigor. Data analysis followed an inductive process involving data reduction, thematic categorization, and interpretative synthesis to capture patterns of institutional practice and social interaction.

Findings: The findings reveal that religious character education can be sustained during emergency online learning through consistent institutional routines, symbolic religious practices integrated into digital instruction, and intensive communication between teachers and parents. Family mediation emerged as a critical factor in translating institutional values into daily student behavior. Despite technological and socio-economic constraints, collaborative governance between schools and households enabled continuity in religious character formation.

Significance: This study contributes to contemporary social and educational studies by demonstrating that character education during crisis situations is not solely dependent on instructional technology, but on adaptive institutional strategies and family-school partnerships. The findings offer transferable insights for educational administrators and policymakers seeking resilient models of value-based education in digitally mediated learning environments.