Islamic Political Education in Elementary Schools: Developing Democratic Character through Pancasila and Islamic Ethical Values

Rifa'i Rifa'i

Authors

Rifa'i Rifa'i Universitas Al-Hikmah Indonesia

Keywords:

Democratic character, elementary school, Islamic ethics, Islamic political education, Pancasila

Abstract

Political education at the elementary-school level is often narrowly understood as knowledge about elections, state institutions, or partisan activities, whereas at this stage of child development it is more appropriately conceived as an initial process of developing civic literacy, deliberative skills, a sense of fairness, responsibility, the courage to express opinions, and respect for differences. This study aims to formulate a developmentally appropriate framework for Islamic political education in elementary schools through the integration of Pancasila values and Islamic ethics. The study employs qualitative library research using an integrative literature review design. The primary sources consist of relevant scholarly articles, policy reports, and educational documents, with priority given to publications from 2020–2026, along with several foundational references that remain substantively relevant. The data were analyzed thematically across five areas: the conceptualization of nonpartisan political education, the convergence of Pancasila values and Islamic ethics, dimensions of democratic character, pedagogical strategies, and implementation safeguards. The synthesis identifies five major character clusters: integrity-responsibility, justice-empathy, tolerance-diversity, deliberation-participation, and solidarity-public good. This article proposes the Integrative Pancasila–Islamic Ethics Model for Democratic Character (MIPEK-D), which translates normative values into an open classroom climate, classroom deliberation, moral-dilemma discussions, decision-making simulations, social project-based learning, digital literacy, and school-family collaboration. The framework emphasizes that Islamic political education in elementary schools must be nonpartisan, inclusive, contextual, and assessed through students’ everyday democratic behavior rather than their political preferences.

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