HUMAN BEINGS IN CONSTRUCTING SOCIO-CULTURAL REALITY
In Indonesian society nationally, the rules, values and norms used in regulating the
actions of individuals are sourced from the national culture which is formal in nature, so that its
manifestation will also be in the formal arenas. Meanwhile, in ethnic communities, all the rules,
values and norms used are sourced from the rules that exist in the society concerned and are
informal, such as ethnic groups, upper, middle, and lower class communities, hobby groups, all
of which are in the form of communities. According to Rudito (2003), when referring to Indonesian
society, of course, it refers to a pluralistic form of society with a very diverse population variation.
Not only in terms of ethnic identity, certain social groups, but also from the level of lifestyle and
cultural models that are very different from each other. Nevertheless, we can still distinguish
them in two social areas 214 with their respective rules, namely the government and the people
The people are a form of a combination of certain tribes, which inhabit a certain region with a
homogeneous culture, which has the same historical and mythological background. In this case,
they are part of the Indonesian society. Culture according to Spradley is the knowledge that is
acquired, which is used by humans to interpret experiences and give birth to behavior (Rudito,
2003). Culture as a series of reference mo
dels in the form of knowledge about the structural position of groups in society, so that
the behavior that emerges is a response to patterns of interaction and communication between
existing groups. The series of reference models is based on cultural values that are the core of a
culture. Cultural values consist of a world view and a belief, both wrapped in ethos (ethical
guidelines regarding good and bad). It can be said that culture is used to understand the
environment, not only realizing 215 responses to specific environments, but also responses to
other cultures through social interaction with other cultures. In other words, culture is a series of
rules, instructions, recipes, plans and strategies, consisting of a series of cognitive models that
humans have and are used selectively in dealing with their environment as manifested in their
behavior and actions (Suparlan, 1982:9). These cultures are manifested in the form of
communities and societies. A community is a group of people who inhabit a certain area where
all members interact with each other, have a clear division of roles and status, have the ability to
regulate their members (Warren, Cottrell in Ndaraha: 1990); While society is a group of people
who inhabit a certain area, its members can interact with each other, and they may not know
each other. The embodiment of culture as a t
ool of knowledge will be seen in the life of the community, in the form of social institutions
that regulate activities - 216 special human activities in order to meet the needs of the community
concerned. Social institutions can be understood as a system between role relationships and
norms regarding activities that are considered important by community members (Suparlan,
2003). This means that in carrying out certain activities, community members will use rules that
regulate statuses and roles for community members to carry out their actions. So the
embodiment of culture is in the life of the community formed in the existing social institutions. In
reality an individual will have many statuses, and one status will have many roles in the life of the
community. Role conflicts related to the status held by individuals in a social institution often
occur, and this can give rise to social relations that are nepotistic. Thus, the social institutions in
the community will basically depend on the context, space and time. 217 B. Description of
Learning Materials Concept and Definition of Social Construction The term social construction
of reality has become famous since it was introduced by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckman
through their book entitled The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociological of
Knowledge (1966). It describes the social process through its actions and interactions, in which
individuals create continuously a reality that is subjectively owned and experienced together. The
origin of the social construction of constructivist philosophy is that it starts from cognitive
constructive ideas. According to Von Glaserfeld, cognitive constructive meaning emerged in this
century in the writings of Mark Baldwin which was widely deepened and disseminated by Jean
Piaget. However, if traced, the main ideas of constructivism have actually been started by
Giambatissta Vico, an epistemologist from Italy, he is the forerunner of constructivism (Suparno
in Bungin, 2008:13) started by Giambatissta Vico, an epistemologist from Italy, he is the
forerunner of constructivism (Suparno in Bungin, 2008:13). 218 In the school of philosophy, the
idea of constructivism has emerged since Socrates discovered the soul in the human body, since
Plato discovered reason and ideas. The idea became even more concrete after Aristotle
introduced terms, information, relationships, individuals, substance, matter, essence and so on.
He said that human beings are social creatures, every statement must be proven true, that the
key to knowledge is logic and the basis of knowledge is fact (Bertens in Bungin, 2008:13). Aristotle
was also the one who introduced his saying 'Cogoto, ergo sum' or 'I think because I am' (Tom
Sorell in Bungin, 2008:13). Aristotle's famous words became a solid basis for the development of
constructivist ideas to this day. Berger and Luckman began to explain social reality by separating
the understanding of 'reality and knowledge'. Reality is defined as the quality contained in
realities that are recognized as having a bei
ng that does not depend on our own will. Knowledge is defined as the certainty that
realities are real and have 219 specific characteristics. Berger and Luckman (Bungin, 2008:15)
said that there is a dialectic between individuals creating society and society creating
individuals. This dialectical process occurs through externalization, objectification, and
internalization. Socio-Cultural Reality in Indonesia According to Tilaar, there is no society that
has not changed. Therefore, various types of theories about social change have been born. Philip
H. Phenix explained that social change can be analyzed in terms of the concepts of structure,
function and social needs. While no exact laws of social behavior have yet been formulated,
some insight may be gained into the basis for individual conformity and deviation and for the
transformation that take place in cultures, institutions, norms, roles and rankings as a result of
internal stresses, environmental factors, or external pressures. Tilaar stated that the changes
that occur in society are caused by three main factors, namely; the need for democratization, the
advancement of science and technology and globalization. First, democratization is very
influential considering that the world's 220 communities are a society without barriers that must
influence and need each other. Second, technological advances have brought a great influence
on the change of a society. This progress is
caused by the need for humanity to act faster and to facilitate all existing human needs
and based on human curiosity. Third, globalization is very influential for change considering that
the relationship between people will feel closer and compete with each other. As previously
stated, there are forces that can affect social change in society. Indonesia as part of the world
community will also be affected. Indonesian society today is very dependent on and affected by
the advancement of science and technology, especially information technology. As can be seen,
221 technological influences have penetrated to remote villages that used to be communities
that did not have access to exit. We can see the development of this technology in all aspects of
people's lives. Advances in science and technology have brought the Indonesian nation to a very
difficult transition period. Political, economic and social life is very much in tandem with the
advancement of science and technology. This change needs to be faced very quickly and
appropriately so that our society will not be a negative target of a technology, but can become a
player to direct existing science and technology to be used as a force that can build a better
Indonesian society. Ideally, to be able to provide a clear direction for this change, education is
the best solution. Education must be able to be a filter between the positive and negative forces
of the development of science and technology. The advancement of communication and
information technology today causes students to get a very rapid burst of information, much
heavier than 222 times that their parents have ever experienced. Tens of thousands of pages are
printed either in the form of books, magazines or newspapers circulating in the community. Many
TVs are broadcast by each television station with very long running hours. Behind the very rapid
changes in social life, strangely, education itself has not experienced significant changes so far.
Today's schools are the same as those of the past. How the school and the classroom are doing,
how teachers teach, how students learn an
d how the relationship between school residents is the same as it was fifty years ago.
Changes in socio-cultural values can also be felt when we see the rise of violence, fights between
students, both individual and group, to asking for casualties, cheating has become a natural
thing, plagiarism of written works is developing, demonstrations by teachers have sprung up, and
drug abuse has entered educational institutions. The change that we can also see as a result of
social change is the desire of many parties to build directed regional autonomy. The autonomy
of this region is the result of the 223 forces that influenced the social change. Basically, the
purpose of regional autonomy is very relevant to the reforms that are being built by society today,
but the negative impact that can arise is the disintegration of the nation if it is not directed
properly. Regional autonomy policies to respond to local demands and the urgency of global
trends need to be directed and carefully observed considering the conditions of diverse
communities and regions that are very vulnerable to national division. Social, political and
regional development changes from a centralistic model to decentralization are not easy things
in the process. This change requires a good attitude and mental change from all apparatus in it.
According to Muchsan, there are autonomy joints that must be fulfilled in implementing regional
autonomy; 1) sharing of power, 2) distribution of income, and 3) independence or empowerment
(Tilaar, 2002:223) Therefore, it is necessary to have a mature, planned, careful, gradual and
sustainable preparation 224 in impleme
nting regional autonomy as a form of social change in Indonesian society. Social changes
that have an impact on social daily behavior in Indonesia and the existence of regional autonomy
need to be faced with education. Education must be able to be an agent of change that can
provide positive changes to social change. Education must be able to develop people's creativity
and minds in order to find something new and useful for the betterment of society. The more
people who display their creativity skills, the richer society will be with changes. Introducing new
things, products of community change, into educational institutions will increase opportunities
for the development of students' creativity. In other words, the learning process that develops
students' creativity and produces social change will further enrich the role of education in efforts
to change society in a quality direction (Abdullah, 2005:5)
