An Analysis of the Moral Values in Earth Novel by Tere Liye

Abstract

Teaching moral values in education is essential for students. According to George and Uyanga (2014), moral values are taught to individuals in society to develop their character and foster good behaviour and well-being. By teaching moral values in education, students can learn to understand others, show respect, and take responsibility for themselves and others. Therefore, moral values are an essential part of education because they teach students the principles that guide their everyday lives. Stories and literature are effective ways to incorporate moral values into education, as they both entertain students and foster intrinsic motivation. The Ministry of Education launched a programme called “Literature in the Curriculum” in 2023 to support the Emancipated Curriculum. Literary works can provide variety in education, decrease boredom, and increase reading interest. One popular literary work is the novel Bumi by Tere Liye, which has a rating of 4.31 on Goodreads and was first published in 2013. Gill Westaway translated this novel into English in 2019 under the title Earth. Many researchers have explored moral values from different perspectives, such as examining moral values in short stories, novels, and movies, and some have also investigated the implementation of moral values in the classroom. Some researchers studied moral values in the classroom, in another novel, in the film, and in the textbooks. Based on the previous studies, there has been relatively little exploration of moral values in the novel from an educational perspective. To fill this gap, this study analysed the moral values in the novel Earth by Tere Liye based on Michele Borba’s (2001) theory of building moral intelligence. Borba’s (2001) theory focuses on seven main virtues of moral intelligence, namely empathy, conscience, self-control, respect, kindness, tolerance, and fairness. This research used documentary research (document analysis) by Bowen (2009) to collect the data. The method of analysing the data followed the steps of content analysis as outlined by Zhang and Wildemuth (2009). The findings reveal that the novel Earth represents all seven main moral values based on Borba's (2001) theory, with the moral values of kindness and empathy as the most prominent, while fairness and tolerance receive less emphasis. A total of sixty-nine examples of moral values were identified. Empathy was found seventeen times, conscience twelve times, self-control four times, and respect thirteen times. Kindness was the most frequently found value, appearing twenty-one times. Meanwhile, tolerance and fairness appeared only once each in the novel. This novel is an ideal teaching resource. The Ministry of Education recommends it for inclusion in the literary curriculum, and it also contains many moral values aligned with Borba’s (2001) theory of the seven main virtues of moral intelligence. In conclusion, the novel Earth is an ideal teaching resource. The Ministry of Education recommends it for inclusion in the literary curriculum, and it also contains many moral values aligned with Borba’s (2001) theory of the seven main virtues of moral intelligence, but the presentation of these moral values is unbalanced. It demonstrates that while the novel Earth is full of moral values, not all aspects of moral values are equally covered. Therefore, the writers of novels or other literary works are advised not only to focus on moral values like kindness and empathy but also to include tolerance and fairness. Teachers can use the novel Earth in the classroom, but since the novel Earth less emphasises the moral values of tolerance and fairness, the teacher can use other resources, such as other novels, short stories, or movies that highlight these moral values. Future researchers are recommended to use Borba's (2001) theory of moral values when analysing Earth or similar literary works. This theoretical framework enables a deeper and broader exploration of moral values. It provides a strong, objective framework for research.