A Prayer Learning Model Based on Student Development Stages: School Action Research at SDN 0109 Janjilobi

Abstract

This study aims to formulate and evaluate the effectiveness of a structured curriculum for teaching obligatory Islamic prayer (fard prayer) that is aligned with the developmental stages of elementary school students in grades 1 to 6 at SD Negeri 0109 Janjilobi. The study addresses students' resistance to conventional instructional practices that predominantly rely on lecturing and rote memorization. Employing a School Action Research approach with a pretest–posttest design conducted over one academic year, the research examines the impact of a developmentally responsive instructional model on students' learning outcomes. The instructional intervention was implemented through three progressive stages: Basic Introduction and Movement Practice for grades 1–2, Interactive Recitation Mastery for grades 3–4, and Meaning Comprehension with Independent Practice for grades 5–6. The findings reveal that the tiered instructional framework significantly enhances students' cognitive understanding, as indicated by an average increase of 20–22 points across grade levels, and improves the overall quality of students' prayer performance. These results underscore the importance of reorienting the national Islamic Education (PAI) curriculum from a cognition- and memorization-centered model toward an affective and practice-based approach that is responsive to children's developmental characteristics.