Religious Practice and Religious Moderation Outcomes Following an Educational Program on Jihad, Nationalism, and Ecotheology Islamic Boarding School
Abstract
Abstract
Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) are strategically positioned to strengthen religious moderation because religious learning, social habituation, and character formation occur within an integrated educational environment. This study assessed observed changes in students’ religious practices and religious moderation outcomes following a pesantren-based educational program integrating contextual jihad, nationalism, and ecotheology. A pre-experimental one-group pretest-posttest evaluation was conducted among 25 Grade XII students at Pondok Pesantren Modern Al-Hasyimiyah, Tebing Tinggi, Indonesia. Participants were purposively selected in coordination with the pesantren from members of the student organization (OSIS), and all completed both pretest and posttest assessments. The program was delivered in a single activity day through interactive education, guided discussion, a religious-moderation matching game, and a “Love for the Homeland” snakes-and-ladders game. A 50-item questionnaire assessed religious practice, national commitment, religious understanding, tolerance, and anti-violence attitudes; ecotheology-related content was embedded within selected items rather than measured as a separate scale. Data were analyzed using Shapiro-Wilk tests followed by paired-samples t-tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests according to data distribution, with a Bonferroni-adjusted significance threshold of p<0.010 for five primary outcomes. Posttest scores were higher for religious practice (23.52 to 25.56; p<0.001), religious understanding (26.20 to 29.68; p<0.001), and anti-violence attitudes (34.20 to 36.56; p=0.001). National commitment increased from 33.52 to 34.40 (p=0.110), and tolerance from 32.64 to 33.44 (p=0.303), but neither change was statistically significant. These findings indicate short-term within-group changes in religious practice, religious understanding, and anti-violence attitudes, while national commitment and tolerance may require longer-term reinforcement. Because no control group was included, the findings should be interpreted as preliminary observed changes rather than causal effects. Institutional permission was obtained from the pesantren; no formal ethics-committee approval number was available for this community-service educational activity.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30829/contagion.v8i3.31874
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