Impact of Character Education Implementation: A Goal-Free Evaluation

Many studies reported the importance of character education for students to support their future success. Currently, the countries have strengthened the implementation of character education in their educational system, including Indonesia. Related to the previous statements, this research aimed to describe the impact of character education implementation as well as challenges and strategies of teachers in implementing the character education. This research was an evaluation research type using a goal-free evaluation model (impact evaluation) with a qualitative approach. The participants of the research were principals, teachers, students, parents, and community members from three provinces in Indonesia; East Kalimantan, Special Region of Yogyakarta, and West Nusa Tenggara. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and also in-depth interviews. The data were then analysed using a model of Bogdan and Biklen to find out the refinement among themes and generate a detailed understanding. The findings showed that character education had a positive impact on increasing the students’ character values including religiosity, personality, social attitude, and competitive attitude. Role-modelling by teachers and other members of the school community and parents, character-oriented activities, and moral and material support from educational stakeholders are key factors in character education implementation. However, some improvements need to be made, such as improving the teacher training and workshops and giving financial support (funding) for character education implementation. Keywords: character education, character value, goal-free evaluation, impact evaluation.