Ihya Ulum: Early Childhood Education Journal

The Role of Teachers in Handling Bullying Among Children in Kindergarten Learning Environments

indriyani Indriyani — 2026-05-29

Bullying in early childhood represents a severe threat to the integrity of social-emotional development within the school environment. This study aims to analyze the manifestations of child bullying behavior in the learning environment of Pabata Ummi Kindergarten, as well as to evaluate the operationalization of teachers' strategic roles in detecting and intervening in such cases. A qualitative approach with a descriptive method was applied in this research. Data were gathered through a one-month passive participant observation, semi-structured in-depth interviews with the principal, classroom teacher, and parents, along with a documentary review of children's developmental anecdotal records. Data analysis was conducted interactively, encompassing data reduction, thematic data display, and conclusion drawing. The results indicated that physical bullying (pushing, seizing items), verbal bullying (mocking parents' names, taunting peers' abilities), and relational bullying (social exclusion from playgroups) still frequently occurred, particularly during free-play hours due to limited daily supervision ratios. Educators play a vital role as counselors, facilitators, and motivators by implementing a conducive classroom environment and executing humanistic, non-violent, curative-restorative measures. Nevertheless, teacher interventions remain reactive-spontaneous based on personal empirical experience, due to the absence of standard operational guidelines at school and a lack of formal competency training. This study recommends the importance of strengthening anti-bullying conceptual literacy for educators through continuous workshops, alongside the necessity of synchronous positive parenting synergy with parents to dismantle the normalization bias of childhood violence in order to establish a safe, inclusive, and child-friendly early childhood education unit.

Obstacle Jump Game in Stimulating Gross Motor Skills of Early Childhood

Ramlah Yusran — 2026-05-29

The development of gross motor skills in early childhood currently faces challenges due to an increasing sedentary lifestyle and gadget dependency, which impact the weakening of children's balance and physical coordination. This study aims to analyze the effect of the obstacle jump game on improving the gross motor skills of children aged 5–6 years in kindergarten. The research method used is quantitative with a quasi-experimental design of a pretest-posttest type without a control group. The research sample consisted of 20 children determined through a purposive sampling technique. Gross motor skills were measured through five main indicators, namely the ability to jump without assistance, running and jumping over obstacles, balance upon landing, movement coordination, as well as the children's courage and initiative. The intervention was carried out in a structured manner through six sessions of the obstacle jump game designed adaptively starting from the warming-up phase, gradual introduction of obstacles, to the cooling-down session. The data collection instrument was an observation sheet, while data analysis used the paired sample t-test assisted by SPSS version 23. The analysis results showed a t-value of 18.965 with a significance of 0.000 (p<0.05), indicating a significant increase in gross motor skills after the intervention was given. These findings indicate that the obstacle jump game is effective as a method of physical stimulation. This activity supports aspects of courage, body coordination, and children's active involvement in enjoyable physical activities, making it highly feasible to be integrated into early childhood education learning programs.

Cognitive Development: Enhancing Classification Skills in 5- to 6-Year-Olds Through Structured Manipulative Learning

Muqimah Surganingsih — 2026-03-30

Classification is a foundational cognitive skill required for early mathematics, yet children aged 5–6 years often struggle to transition from single-criterion to dual-criterion sorting due to cognitive centration. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a structured manipulative intervention, specifically the Shape and Color Sorting activity, in enhancing these skills. A quantitative approach with a pre-experimental, one-group pretest-posttest design was employed. Through total sampling, 20 children from Group B in Raudhatul Jannah Katangka Kindergarten were selected. Data gathered via structured pretest and posttest rubrics were analyzed using descriptive statistics, parametric assumption tests (normality and homogeneity), a paired samples t-test, and a simple linear regression analysis. Descriptive findings indicated substantial improvement in classification performance, shown by an increase in the mean conceptual score from 54.30 (±8.14) in the pretest to 66.95 (±7.63) in the posttest. The inferential analysis via a paired samples t-test confirmed this improvement was highly significant (t=3.632; df=19; p=0.001), proving that structured manipulative activities systematically reduced the children's cognitive centration. Furthermore, regression analysis demonstrated that initial baseline skills contributed 26.8% to the variance of posttest outcomes (R2=0.268; p=0.019). These findings conclude that structured manipulative activities are effective in expanding early childhood classification capacities. This study provides practical implications for early childhood educators to integrate multi-criteria manipulative sorting games within the curriculum to systematically support abstract logical reasoning and cognitive readiness.

Local Wisdom-Based Multicultural Pedagogy: The Foundation of Character and Tolerance Building in Early Childhood Education

Muhammad Akil Musi — 2026-03-30

Early Childhood Education (ECE) plays a pivotal role in shaping children's character and foundational competence. However, integrating local wisdom into the curriculum is often uneven and risks fostering cultural bias if not systematically balanced with broader multicultural values. This study examines the conceptual frameworks, implementation strategies, and effectiveness of local culture integration while developing a comprehensive multicultural teaching model for ECE. Employing a systematic literature review design, this study analyzed peer-reviewed research articles published between 2017 and 2024. The data analysis process advanced through rigorous selection, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification, with trustworthiness established via theoretical triangulation. The synthesis of the literature revealed three core findings: (1) integrating cultural values, folklore, traditional rituals, and cooperative games significantly strengthens children's prosocial behaviors; (2) deploying flexible learning tools spanning digital, print, and physical modalities successfully accommodates diverse early childhood developmental needs; and (3) establishing a curriculum equilibrium fosters an optimal balance between local cultural pride and global tolerance. Grounded in Vygotsky's Socio-cultural Theory and Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Systems Theory, this study presents a structured pedagogical framework designed to mitigate cultural bias. This is achieved by leveraging educators' cultural competencies, structural policy support, and collaborative community teamwork. Ultimately, this research provides vital theoretical background and practical guidance for curriculum developers and ECE practitioners to engineer culturally sensitive, equitable, and highly inclusive early learning environments.