From Ritual Practice to Character Formation: Religious School Culture and Moral Ecology in Indonesian Public High Schools

Abstract

Religious practices in public schools may remain ceremonial when repetition is not connected to interpretation, participation, and institutional reinforcement. This study examines how religious school culture organizes Islamic ritual practices as character-forming experiences in two Indonesian public high schools. Using a qualitative multiple-case design, data were drawn from semi-structured interviews, observations, and school documents involving fourteen informants: two principals, four Islamic Religious Education teachers, and eight students across the two schools. Data were examined through open thematic coding, cross-case comparison, and interpretive synthesis. The findings identify three interconnected patterns: institutionalization of religious routines through classroom, extracurricular, and school-community channels; relational reinforcement through teacher modelling, student agency, peers, leadership, parents, and alumni; and perceived character-related outcomes involving religiosity, discipline, honesty, responsibility, independence, empathy, and cooperation. These outcomes are reported as observed and participant-perceived patterns rather than causal effects. The study interprets the cross-case pattern as a context-bound moral ecology in which routines become educationally meaningful through institutional and relational support. It contributes a mechanism-oriented, rather than activity-counting, perspective to Islamic Religious Education in public-school settings.