Employing Wayang Kancil Storytelling as Democratic Pedagogy in Elementary Social Studies Classroom

Abstract

Indonesia new curriculum of 2013 which emphasized character education supports teachers to implement creative pedagogy in their classroom. Yet, elementary school teachers have used text-book based instruction in social studies. This study aims to employ wayang kancil, or mousedeer puppets as democratic pedagogy in fourth grade social studies in Universitas Negeri Semarang laboratory school. This qualitative analysis used Miles & Hubermann. Using interdisiplinary approach, this study integrated wayang kancil storytelling in social studies. Results of the integration emerged five democratic concepts: (1) mutual acceptance, (2) living together in differences, (3) respect for others, (4) responsibility, and (5) being fair. Encountering with these democratic elements through wayang kancil as medium of instruction promotes students‟ understanding of democracy.