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PROBLEMS OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN MODERN EDUCATION
M. Mahbubi
Universitas Nurul Jadid Paiton Probolinggo
mahbubi@unuja.ac.id
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
Received:
October 2021
Revised:
November 2021
Approved:
November 2021
Background: Modern man is a one-dimensional society (one-dimensional
man); meaning that all sides of his life are only directed at one goal, namely
the sustainability and improvement of the existing system, the system is none
other than capitalism.
Aim: This paper tries to unravel the problems of learning activities in modern
education in two perspectives, namely the psychological perspective and the
philosophical perspective.
Method: This paper used qualitative research method.
Findings: Western learning theory has dominated and has a great influence
in the realm of socio-cultural politics as well as in education. In influencing
or dominating education from a psychological perspective, there are at least
4 views on learning theory.
KEYWORDS
Problems; Learning activities; Modern education
INTRODUCTION
Modern man is a one-dimensional society (one-dimensional man); meaning that all sides
of his life are only directed at one goal, namely the sustainability and improvement of the
existing system, the system is none other than capitalism. Engaging in this one goal means
eliminating and suppressing other dimensions that are disapproving of and incompatible with
the system. Modern society is repressive and totalitarian (Oppressive and comprehensive),
such conditions pervade all areas of human life, both in the socio-economic, socio-political and
socio-cultural areas and education (Sastrapratedja, 1983).
In fact, third world countries, including Indonesia, talkatively and without feeling shy,
actually import and adopt the concept and education system developed in the West, an
education system that only thinks about freedom without prioritizing responsibility and
neglects efforts to strengthen moral and religious life (Al-Jamil, 1992).
Therefore, this paper tries to unravel the problems of learning activities in modern
education in two perspectives, namely the psychological perspective and the philosophical
perspective.
METHOD
The researcher used qualitative method in conducting the research. The data were
collected from various literature to generate the most plausible and contextual findings, along
with discussion and conclusion.
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125 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Dominance of Western Learning Theory in Modern Education
Western learning theory has dominated and has a great influence in the realm of socio-
cultural politics as well as in education. In influencing or dominating education from a
psychological perspective, there are at least 4 views on learning theory.
Behavioristic Theory
Behavioristic is a study of human behavior (Hamalik, 2001). According to this flow view
that learning is carried out with instrumental control of the environment. The teacher conditions
such that students are learning or students want to learn. Thus, carried out by conditioning,
habituation, imitation. Rewards and punishments are often offered in learning. The sovereignty
of teachers in such learning is relatively high, while the sovereignty of students, on the other
hand, is very low (Imran, 1996).
As it is known that learning according to the above understanding is an instrumental
control that comes from the environment. Whether or not a person learns depends on the
conditional factors provided by the environment. Therefore, this theory is also known
as conditioning theory (Imran, 1996).
This learning theory proposed by psychologist behavioristic, they argue that human
behavior is controlled by rewards or strengthening of the environment. Thus, learning behavior
has a close relationship between behavioral reactions and the stimulus (Tadjab, 1994).
This theory is a theory that emphasizes the activities of the observed organism as
manifested in the movement of body parts or in behavior. This behavioral theory asserts that
in studying individuals what should be done is to test and observe their behavior and not
observe the activities of the inside of their bodies (Nurani, 2001).
The theory of behavior was first developed by Pavlov, Watson, Gutri and Skinner. Within
the behavioristic tradition there is a growing belief that development is an observable behavior
that is learned through experience and the environment (Desmita, 2005).
Humanistic Theory
This view that comes from humanistic psychology is the antithesis of the
behavioristic view. According to this theory, learning can be done by students
themselves. Thus, learning with this theory makes students always find out for themselves
about something without much intervention from the teacher. The teacher's role in learning,
namely teaching and learning, is relatively low. The sovereignty of students in learning is
relatively high, thus making the sovereignty of teachers relatively low (Imran, 1996).
As previously mentioned, this learning theory is the antithesis of behavioristic learning
theory. If in behavioristic learning is an instrumental control carried out by the environment,
in the view of humanistic psychology, it is the opposite. That learning is done by giving
maximum freedom to individuals (Imran, 1996).
Humanistic psychology believes that children are unique creatures, diverse, different from
one another. The diversity that exists in children should be strengthened. Thus, an educator or
teacher is not tasked with shaping children into human beings as desired, but strengthening the
vision that already exists in the child himself. For this reason, an educator first helps children
to understand themselves and does not impose their own understanding of students.
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126 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021
In the learning process, humanistic psychology says that if students get new information,
the new information is personalized into them. It is wrong if educators assume that students
will learn easily if teaching materials are neatly arranged and delivered well, because students
themselves absorb and digest the lesson. The problem in learning is not how the teaching
materials are delivered but how to help students pick the meanings and meanings contained in
the teaching materials. If students can relate teaching materials to their lives, educators can be
heartened because their mission has been successful (Suwarna, 2006).
This theoretical view reveals that learning is not just building cognitive qualities, but a
process that occurs within the individual that involves all aspects of the existing domains, both
cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The humanistic approach to learning is an emphasis on
the importance of emotions, open communication, and the values that each student has for
inductive thinking. This theory also emphasizes the experience factor and active student
involvement in learning.
This theory gave birth to various theories that focus on the problem of how each individual
is influenced and guided by personal intentions that they relate to their own
experiences. According to this theory, educators are expected to assist in developing students'
self to recognize themselves as unique human beings while at the same time assisting students
in realizing their potential.
Cognitive Theory
This view of cognitive psychology is a convergence of behavioristic and humanistic
views. Thus, in cognitive theory learning is a combination of personal effort with instrumental
control that comes from the environment. Therefore, the suitable learning method in this view
is experimentation. Which resulted that in the view of behavioristic psychology the
responsibility of students in learning is low while the responsibility of teachers is high. On the
other hand, in humanistic view, the teacher's responsibility is low, while the student's
responsibility is high. Meanwhile, from a cognitive perspective, the responsibilities of teachers
and students are both moderate (Suwarna, 2006).
According to cognitive psychology, learning is an attempt to understand
something. Efforts to understand something is done actively by the learner. These activities can
be in the form of seeking experience, seeking information, solving problems, observing the
environment, practicing, ignoring and other responses to achieve goals. Cognitive
psychologists believe that prior knowledge is crucial to learning outcomes: what must be
learned, what is remembered and what is easily forgotten (Suwarna, 2006).
One of the learning theories derived from cognitive psychology is information processing
theory. According to this theory, learning is seen as a process of processing information in the
human brain. While the processing by the human brain itself begins with observing (sensing)
the information that is in the human environment, storing, symbolizing/coding/encoding the
stored information, and after forming an understanding, it is then issued again by the learner.
Gestalt Psychology Theory
In addition to the three views above, there is a view from the Gestalt theory that learning
is a totality effort from the individual, because the totality is more meaningful than the parts.
According to gestalt theory, learning consists of simple stimulus responses without repetition
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127 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021
of ideas or thought processes. So that every experience is always structured. Every response
that a person gives to a simultaneous is not actually directed to a part but is directed to
something complex (Suwarna, 2006).
This school holds that the whole is more than its parts, that humans are organisms that are
actively trying to achieve goals, that individuals act on influences inside and outside the
individual. If someone learns he gets insight (Imran, 1996). Insight is obtained when he sees a
certain relationship between the various elements in the situation so that the relationship
becomes clear to him and thus solves the problem (Nasution, 1995).
From a philosophical perspective, there are 4 things that become the background, why is
the theory of learning in modern education more dominated by the west? First, if we learn about
the history of the development of science, we can't help but look back at the development of
science in the western world because they do have a scientific foundation that is more
systematic and carefully documented than the eastern world. The development of science in
the western world is rooted in the Greek tradition based on Logos, Ethos,
and Pathos (Mustansir & Misnal, 2007).
Second, there has never been an era like the present, when humans are so aware of their
power over reality. Science and technology are developing faster, positivist-
empirical science has proven its prowess so that it forces developing countries in this case
Islamic countries to take it as a new paradigm. Thomas Kuhn explains the concept of a
paradigm, namely: that in a certain period, social science is dominated by a paradigm,
then that paradigm declines, and is replaced by a new paradigm. That is why the development
of social science, occurred in a revolution (Arifin, 2003).
Third, According to Whitehead on history, religion in modern times has lost its grip on the
world. According to Whitehead, there was a major reason for the decline. The reason is the
stagnation that befell religious life. This stagnation is revealed from the conservatism and
defensive attitude of the clergy in the face of changes in society caused by the development of
science and technology(Sudarminta, 1994).
Fourth, the influence of Aufklarung (Enlightenment) which requires humans to be freed
from state/religious absolutism and expects freedom, especially economic freedom, to produce
the greatest happiness (Capitalism-Liberalism) (Djumhur & Danasuparta, 1974).
Advantages and Disadvantages of Western Learning Theory
Behavioristic theory has advantages and disadvantages, in terms of advantages this theory
is very suitable and appropriate when applied when students are not active or lack material due
to lack of reading. In addition, this theory is able to motivate students by
providing rewards and punishments so that learning becomes active. If students' good behavior
is rewarded, the behavior tends to be maintained and even improved, while students who make
mistakes will get punishment from the teacher. so that students do not repeat their disgraceful
actions. Meanwhile, the weakness of the behavioristic theory tends to be that students are not
creative and unproductive. Because the most active is the teacher so that the creativity and
activeness of students becomes low.
The humanistic theory in learning has the advantage of being able to make students active,
creative, and productive so that in every learning the teacher functions as a facilitator and
directs students so that students do not dissolve in preoccupation when they are wrong there is
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128 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021
the teacher in providing direction. While the weakness of the humanistic learning theory is that
the teacher is only the umpteenth person because the teacher is no longer the only source of
learning and in the end the teacher does not get his role as an educator.
Cognitive theory in learning, which is a combination of behavioristic
and humanistic theories, has the advantage of being able to create balanced learning and
activeness in the learning process, which ultimately makes the class active both between
teachers and students so that learning is smooth and orderly. However, the weakness of this
theory is that in getting results from the learning process, from the behavioristic theory, the
teacher is active and makes students less than optimal, while the humanistic theory makes
students more active than the teacher. there is no dominant teacher and student and finally the
learning outcomes are also rather maximal, namely moderate.
Gestalt theory in learning has the advantage of being able to make learning outcomes more
perfect and comprehensive, while the drawback of this learning theory is the level of
understanding of the results that are complicated and less detailed in learning.
Viewed from a philosophical perspective, modern western learning theory has several
advantages, namely:
a) Having a strong logical positivist epistemological foundation, science is based on belief
and intellectual certainty (scientific attitude) whose truth can be proven based on
testable methods, estimates and thoughts. Truth is a never-ending process, not
something that stagnates in a normative and dogmatic icy (Mustansir & Misnal, 2007).
b) The influence of this epistemology and view of reality (metaphysics) has caused
modern western civilization and culture to develop rapidly. So, in this case Roger
Bacon said, "Knowledge is power " (Mustansir & Misnal, 2007).
Although western learning theory has been able to produce technology and science so
rapidly, the implications for perspective, culture and thinking patterns that only justify the
empirical reality greatly affect and determine the education system they develop, an education
system that refers to the paradigm of liberalism. In this way, a generation that glorifies freedom
is born, regardless of the ethical terrain, norms and religion. This means, the development of
science and technology through the education system that is so rapid in the West, is also
accompanied by the emergence of a generation that actually degrades its own human dignity
(Dehumanization).
Application of Western Learning Theory in Religious Education
It is better if we are critical synthesis, take the good critically among the methodologies
offered by the west, but discard various thoughts that deviate from religious thought. Why is
that?
Educational science is different from science and technology which is exact and definite,
the science of education as human findings is relative, because human education depends on
the system. The product of human character that will be produced depends on the system and
the environment that forms it. So, the education and psychology science produced will certainly
depend on how the system and the values adopted by the system are. In other words,
we cannot simply adopt western educational and psychological theories.
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129 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021
Until now, there is still a strong assumption in the wider community that
religion and science are two entities that cannot be reconciled. In other words, science does not
care about religion and religion does not care about science. That is a picture of educational
practice and scientific activities in the country today with various negative impacts caused and
felt by the wider community. Therefore, inappropriate assumptions need to be corrected and
straightened out (Barbour, 1996).
Religion in a broad sense is God's revelation, which regulates human relations with God,
oneself, and the environment, both physical, social and cultural globally. This set of rules,
general values and basic principles is what is actually called Shari'a. The holy book of the
Qur'an which was revealed is a guide to ethics, morals, morals, wisdom and can become the
theology of science and the Grand Theory of Science. Wahyu never claims to be
a science qua science as the secular sciences often claim.
Analysis of Problems and Alternative Solutions
From a philosophical perspective, there are three fundamental problems of modern
western theory, namely from the metaphysical, epistemological and ethical
aspects. Metaphysical foundations are very important for an epistemological building. Because
this foundation is very influential for the epistemological building, the classification system,
and the methodology it uses. The doubt or rejection of many Western scientists towards
the metaphysical world has led to the limitation of the scope of science to sensory objects or
mere material substances (materialism secularism). Science then only deals with observable
entities. Science that is positivist-empirical eventually produces an ethical view that is free of
value.
The best solution in this case according to Amin Abdullah is to use
a Theoanthropocentric - Integralistic approach (Abdullah, 2002). Theoanthropocentrism is a
view that recognizes the combination of two kinds of sources of knowledge, namely knowledge
that comes from God and knowledge that comes from humans. Integralistic is a change in the
resacralization movement, deprivatization of religion and the end
is dedifferentiation (Unification and reconciliation). If differentiation requires separation
between religion and other sectors of life, then dedifferentiation requires the reunification of
religion with other sectors of life, including religion and science.
Religion provides a benchmark for the truth of knowledge (Dharûriyyah: Right, wrong),
how knowledge is produced (Hâjiyyah: Good, bad), the goals of knowledge (Tahsiniyyah:
benefit, harm). The dimension of axiology in theology of science is important to underline,
before humans go out to develop science. The rest is the human right to think about the internal
dynamics of science. In addition to scientific ontology (Whatness), scientific epistemology
(Howness), religion emphasizes the axiological dimension of science (Whyness).
Some of the examples below will provide an overview of the integralistic-style science
along with the prototype of the integrative scientist it produces. An example can be taken from
the science of Islamic Economics, where it is clear that there is a unifying practice between
God's revelation and the findings of the human mind. There are BMI (Bank Muamalat), BNI
Syariah Bank, agrobusiness, transportation, marine, and so on. Religion provides ethics in
economic behavior including profit sharing (Al-Mudharabah), and cooperation (Al-
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130 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021
Musyarakah). There is a process of objectification of religious ethics into religious knowledge
that can benefit people of all religions, non-religious, or even anti-religious.
CONCLUSION
Western learning that has succeeded in developing science and technology turns out to
leave a gaping hole, a hole that forgets human existence for humanity
(Dehumanization). Human success in creating giant technologies has turned out to be a
boomerang for human life itself. The technological giants created by humans seemed to turn
around to hit their own creator, namely humans.
Therefore, efforts are needed to synergize science and religion, because religion tries to
restore the noble values of science, so that science does not become a boomerang for human
life. Religion will emphasize that science and technology are instruments in achieving
prosperity, not goals.
With various modern human problems caused by the failure of western theory, now is the
time to bring up an integral epistemological foundation that does not dichotomy between
science and religion with theoanthrophocentric-integralistic epistemology.
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