Differential Development of Akhlaq and Adab Following Teacher Led Moral Strategies

Abstract

Islamic primary education requires teaching strategies that transform moral knowledge into observable akhlāq and adab. This study examined changes in the moral behavior of third-grade students after the implementation of structured teacher strategies integrating role modeling, habituation, moral dialogue, positive reinforcement, and guided reflection. A quantitative pre-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was employed with 17 students at an Islamic elementary school in Jakarta during the 2025/2026 academic year. Data were collected through a structured behavioral observation sheet covering respect toward teachers, peer interaction, honesty and trustworthiness, discipline and responsibility, and empathy and self-control. Descriptive statistics, the Shapiro–Wilk test, a paired-samples t-test, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and effect-size estimation were conducted using jamovi. The results indicated a significant increase in overall akhlāq and adab scores, t(16) = 5.56, p < .001, = 1.35. The strongest improvements occurred in honesty and trustworthiness and in empathy and self-control, whereas discipline and responsibility showed no significant change. The study’s novelty lies in identifying domain-response asymmetry, demonstrating that improvements in total moral scores do not represent uniform development across all dimensions. These findings provide preliminary evidence for integrated teacher strategies while requiring cautious interpretation due to the absence of a control group.