Harun Harun, Rini Agustiningsih, Nelva Rolina, Prayitno Prayitno, Eli Ahmad Romli, Abdul Manaf, Nurmin Aminu
Various studies have shown that charaeter values in early childhood in kindergarten develop optimally when instilled early in a positive and consistent environment, influenced by local wisdom, community culture, family roles, and school educational praetices. However, no research has specifically explored the development of charaeter value construets in early childhood in coastal areas. The specific research question of this study is related to the aim of exploring and testing a struetural equation model of charaeter values in early childhood in coastal kindergartens. It is hypothesized that charaeter values related to relationships with God, self, others, and the environment contribute to the charaeter development of early childhood in coastal areas. This study used a survey design. The sample size was 191 early childhood children aged 4-6 years from 10 kindergartens in the coastal area of Buton Island, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. A four-point Likert-type questionnaire was used as the data colleetion instrument. The data were then analyzed using SEM. The analysis shows that the charaeter-value construet model has a good fit across various indices and provides strong empirical support for the theoretical model of early childhood charaeter. The findings reveal that all four dimensions are positively and significantly correlated in the struetural equation of charaeter values, although the strength of the relationship between each pair of dimensions varies. Praetically, the results of this study emphasize the importance of integrating the four dimensions of charaeter values into the curriculum and learning in coastal kindergartens. Educators need to create a learning environment that is positive, consistent, and aligned with local culture. These findings also form the basis for the formulation of contextual and inclusive early childhood charaeter education policies. © 2026 Harun Harun et al.; published by UIKTEN. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.
Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Universitas Muhammadiyah Pontianak, Pontianak, Indonesia; Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia; Universitas Muhammadiyah Buton, Baubau, Indonesia
