Home Economics Education: A Subject for Moral and Character Building in Junior High School Students in Indonesia
Home economics, as an education subject, became the main option for junior high school students in Indonesia before the year 1960. The material is aimed at fostering morale and strengthening the character of learners. However, in 1997, home economics was replaced by a creating handcraft subject. This study aims at forming an academic argument for the reinstatement of home economics in Junior High School's 2013 curriculum. Additionally, this study looks at the feasibility of the justification for ten values in home economics as book material for Junior high school. This case study involved 103 home economics teachers in Junior High School in Central Java. The data was collected using questionnaire and forum group discussion. Research results show the following responses from teachers for the reinstatement of home economics as a subject: 14% (14 teachers) "strongly agree" and 71% (73 teachers) "agree" and 15% (16 teachers) "neutral" The followings are the responses from the teachers concerning the inclusion ten values in home economics as book material for Junior high school: 33% (34 teachers) rate "very feasible" and 57% (58 people teacher) "feasible" and 10% (11 persons) "somewhat feasible" The inclusion of ten values is appropriate to foster morale and character education.