THE STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING THE HISTORY OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION Haniefa Nuruddienil Fithriy

The limited allocation of time, which is only 2 hours per week, the curricula that often change, the stereotypes about the History of Islamic Civilization (Sejarah Kebudayaan Islam or SKI) as a merely complementary and a boring subject, are among significant obstacles for SKI teachers to deliver the learning of the subject with demands for changes in the students’ cognitive, affective, and psycho-motoric aspects.This paper aims at studying the strategies employed by the SKI teacher at the Islamic Junior High School (Madrasah Tsanawiyah or MTs) “Bahrul Ulum” Gadingmangu – Perak – Jombang in learning the subject to the students. The study is qualitative field research and the data was analyzed using the descriptive method. The findings show that the teacher’s good preparation and mastery of the subject, the Small Group Work (SGW) technique, and self-habituation activities have helped much in overcoming obstacles in the SKI learning as well as helping students to obtain good achievement both academically and nonacademically.


INTRODUCTION
As one of the predominantly Muslim countries in the world, Islamic education has been taught at educational institutions in Indonesia since the Dutch colonial period and continues to thrive to this very day. 1 Theoretically, Islamic education is an in-depth and detailed concept of thinking about educational problems which is derived from Islamic teachings from the formulations of the basic concepts, patterns, systems, objectives, methods, and materials (substance) of Islamic education which are then compiled into a comprehensive science. 2 Meanwhile, the function of the Education of Islamic Religion (Pendidikan Agama Islam or PAI) taught in Indonesia is to shape Indonesian Muslims to have strong faith and fear of God and possess noble morality so eventually they are able to keep the peace and harmony of within and inter-religious adherents. Such education is also aimed at developing the learners' ability in understanding, living, and practicing the values of the Islamic teachings so that they can harmonize their mastery in science, technology and art. 3 As we all know, there are 2 (two) official auspices of educational activities in Indonesia; one is under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the other is under the auspices of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Both of them produce graduates who are equally recognized by the State. 4 Islamic-based education includes early childhood education in the form of Raudhatul Athfal (RA) and formal education starting from the level of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (MI), Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs), Madrasah Aliyah (MA), and up to the Islamic Religious Higher Education (Perguruan Tinggi Agama Islam or PTAI) are under the auspices of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The research that the authors conducted focuses on the implementation of the strategies regarding the History of Islamic Civilization (SKI) learning at one of MTs in the Jombang Regency of the East Java Province.
In the MTs' curriculum, SKI becomes one part of the subjects of PAI in addition to the subjects of the Quran and Hadith, Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and Aqidah Akhlaq (Islamic creed and manners). The SKI learning through guidance, teaching, training, use of observation and habituation is directed to prepare students to know, understand, and live up the contents of SKI which, in turn, is expected to become the basis of a way of life for students. 5 At the level of MTs and MA, SKI is studied in more detail than in the junior high schools (Sekolah Menengah Pertama or SMP) or the senior high schools (Sekolah Menengah Atas or SMA) in which SKI is discussed in its very basic contents. Actually, SKI learning is neither a difficult nor easy learning, however, the SKI teachers need to master the contents in depth from its preliminary, core, and closing activities. Moreover, it should be noted that in the 2013 curriculum (more wellknown as Kurtilas, the short of Kurikulum Dua Ribu Tiga Belas), 6 educators must also apply three main aspects, namely the aspects of knowledge (cognitive), of attitude (affective), and of skills (psychomotor). 7 The SKI learning at MTs is an integral part of learning the PAI subjects. Therefore, it must be realized in advance that SKI learning is not the only determining factor in shaping the character and personality 5 Abdul Rasyid, "Problematika Pembelajaran Sejarah Kebudayaan Islam di MTs "al-Khairaat" Pakuli Kabupaten Sigi," Scolae: Journal of Pedagogy, Vol. 1, No. 1 (2018): 13-25, 13. 6  of students. However, the SKI subject substantially has a significant contribution in motivating students to practice religious values in their everyday life. 8 There are at least some benefits from learning the SKI, including: 1) to grow up the love and pride of the Muslims, especially the young generations, towards the culture resulted from the work of the past ummah (Muslim community), 2) to foster the participation of the people in preserving the historical heritage of the past ummah by studying and taking advantage of their historical remains whether in the forms of object relics, science, community management systems or their struggle in spreading Islam, 3) to follow good examples and noble characters of the past ummah and to practice them in our daily live, 4) to take lessons from the successes and failures of the past ummah, and 5) to foster enthusiasm and motivation in the effort to improve the achievements of the past ummah and develop them in the present and future lives. 9 The common problems which are often encountered with learning SKI include, but are not limited to, the followings: 1) the role and effectiveness of learning in Islamic schools (madrasas) as the instiller of spiritual values to the public religiosity-life, 2) the emergence of stereotypes that SKI only contains the stories of the past which causes the subject becomes less attractive to the students, 3) SKI is only seen as a complementary subject both by students and teachers, 4) the limited time allocated for SKI in which the subject only gets a 2 hour/week portion which is not comparable to the so dense and important material. Additionally, as part of the PAI subjects, learning SKI also requires the strengthening of knowledge to form a character and personality that is different from the demands of other subjects, especially other nonreligious ones. Unfortunately, it is no more a secret that the learnings in Indonesian schools and madrasas are more focused on the enrichment of students' knowledge (cognitive) rather than on their attitudes (affective) let alone on the aspect of the development of their skills (psycho-motoric). In its implementation, the learning done in our schools and madrasas is more emphasized on the attainment of cognitive abilities but does not pretty much accommodate the affective and psycho-motoric needs. 10

LITERATURE REVIEW Definition of Terms
Before discussing further about the theme in this paper, it is worthy to understand the definition of the words in the title of this paper. Etymologically, the word 'strategy' originates from a derivative word of the Greece 'strategos' which means 'a military commander' in the past democratic Athens era. Initially, this word was used for military purposes only but later on it developed into various different fields so that nowadays it is very common to hear about business strategy, sports strategy (for example in football, basketball and rugby), economic strategy, marketing strategy, trading strategy, management strategy, and so forth.
In the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, the word 'strategy' means 'a plan that is intended to achieve a particular purpose.' 11 Meanwhile, many experts and professionals also provide definitions for the word. It is worthy to note that professionals think about strategy in different ways, so there is no single clear definition of strategy. In this paper, the authors list only a few. Among them, Gerry Johnson, Kevan Scholes, and Richard Whittington, the authors of "Exploring Corporate Strategy," who define strategy as "... the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations." 12 Hamel and Prahalad, as quoted by Husein Umar, define strategy as "an incremental and continuous action, and is carried out based on the point of view of what customers expect in the future." 13 Then, a business strategy guru, Michael Porter, as quoted by Claire Fuller, defines competitive strategy as "deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value." And as "a combination of the ends (goals) for which the firm is striving and the means (policies) by which it is seeking to get there." 14 Meanwhile, Pearce and Robinson stated that strategy is "a company's play plan that aims to create competitive advantage. Thus, one focus of a strategy is to decide whether the business should be there or not there. Strategy can be viewed as a tool that can determine organizational steps in both the short and long term. Strategy reflects a company's awareness of how, when and where it must compete against opponents and with what aims and objectives." 15 From those definitions, it can be concluded that strategy is a way to achieve competitive goals or advantages by looking at and considering the company's external and internal factors.
Etymologically, learning means 'action to acquire knowledge'; 16 it is the interaction process between students, educators and learning resources in a learning environment. In the same Oxford dictionary, the word learning is defined as 'a process to learn something.' 17 Learning is an assistance provided by educators to their students so that the process of acquiring knowledge and science can occur and the mastery of skills and character as well as the formation of attitudes and beliefs also take place. In other words, learning is a process to help students learn well.
One understanding abut learning was put forward by Gagne, Briggs, and Wager who stated that learning is 'a set of external events designed to support several internal learning processes.' 18 Gagne himself put forward a more complete theory by saying that learning is intended to produce an act of studying, thus, external situations must be designed in such a way as to activate, support, and maintain the internal processes contained in each learning event. 19 Meanwhile, according to Isjoni, learning is something that is done by students, not for students. Learning is basically an educator's effort to help students carry out learning activities. Learning objectives are the realization of efficiency and effectiveness of learning activities carried out by students. 20 Then, Oemar Hamalik defines learning as "a combination which is composed of human, material, facilities, equipment, and procedures that influence most to achieve the learning objectives." 21 Additionally, the article 1 of the Indonesian Act No. 20 of 2003 on the National Education System defines learning as "a process of interaction between students and educators and learning resources in a learning environment." 22 From some of the above definitions, it can be concluded that learning is an activity that is deliberately created and there is an interaction between teachers (educators) and students in it which aims to teach. When it is combined with the word 'strategy' discussed previously, the phrase 'strategies of learning', as concluded by 18  Hernawan et al., means the ways to be selected and used by a teacher to deliver learning materials which will make it easier for students to accept and understand them so that, in the end, the learning objectives can be mastered. Furthermore, learning strategies can be interpreted as a planning contains a series of activities designed to achieve certain educational goals. 23 Next, the meaning of a series of words in the History of Islamic Civilization is discussed without separating them word by word. Composed of 3 (three) words, -history, Islamic, and civilization, -the 'History of Islamic Civilization' means the origin or lineage of something that results from the thoughts or minds of the Muslims which are related to belief (creed), science, art, customs, form of government, building architecture, and others. 24 The History of Islamic Civilization (SKI) is a lesson that examines the origin, development, role of Islamic culture / civilization, and outstanding figures in the history of Islam in the past, starting from the history of pre-Islamic Arab society, the history of the birth and the apostolate of the Prophet Muhammad, until the time of khulafāu alrāshidīn (the guided Caliphs). Substantially, the SKI subject has contributed to motivating students to know, understand, and live up the Islamic civilization history which contains wisdom values that can be used to train intelligence and shape students' attitudes, character and personality. 25 SKI is understood as news or stories from the past that have certain origins. The events before and when Muhammad was born and sent as the last apostle are the origin of the history of Islamic civilization. art in Islamic history are called Islamic culture. SKI learning is intended to invite students to understand and live up Islamic culture and then make it the basis of their way of life through activities of guidance, teaching, training, use of experience, and habituation. In the context of learning, SKI has several functions, including: an educational function, a scientific function, and a transformation function. To realize these functions, SKI learning requires an integrated approach that can be carried out by involving several components such as faith, experience, and habituation as well as rational, emotional, functional, and exemplary. The history of Islamic civilization is the same as the history of other cultures and civilizations in general, which is dynamic. The difference lies in the source of its value. 26 The subject of SKI is the teaching material used in the PAI learning which discusses the human past story both regarding the results of thoughts, the totality of thought, and the works of people who lived and took shelter under Islamic banners based on the understanding of Muslims. 27 As Bisri states, SKI indeed materially contains the story of the past but its scope is not as narrow as many people consider. In it, there contained cultures which are pretty much reflected in art, literature, religion, and morals. Also included are human civilizations which are reflected in politics, economy, and technology which of course can be studied for the advancement of today's Islamic civilization. The mechanical and technological progress becomes the manifestation of the intended civilization.

RESEARCH METHOD
This study is qualitative field research. The primary data was obtained from the locus which was the Madrasah Tsanawiyah (or MTs) "Bahrul Ulum" Gadingmangu-Perak-Jombang by conducting in-depth interviews with the madrasa's headmaster, the deputy headmaster in charge for the madrasa's curricula, and the teacher of SKI. Other data regarding the madrasa profile and achievements were provided by the madrasa's administrative staff. The secondary data was collected from some government institutional sites such as the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs 29 and the Ministry of Education and Culture. 30 The techniques of data analysis used descriptive approach which emphasizes on the usage of data obtained from the real field in its natural situation. Kothari explains that descriptive research includes surveys and fact-finding enquiries of different kinds. The major purpose of descriptive research is description of the state of affairs as it exists at present. 31 Meanwhile, according to Nawawi, the descriptive method of a research is a research by describing the state of the subject (person, organization, society, etc.) based on the facts that appear as they are. Characteristically, the descriptive method is a fact-finding method and gives interpretations on those facts. 32

RESULTS The Madrasa in Brief
The MTs "Bahrul Ulum" is situated in the village of Gadingmangu in the sub-district of Perak and in the Regency of Jombang. It is about 5 miles south-west from the town centre of Jombang its educational activities for about 53 years. In 1969, the madrasa was registered as one of the Islamic junior high school after one year of administrative preparation. The madrasa was founded by elders from the Gadingmangu village who shared the same goal of establishing an Islamic junior high school in the village. 33 The madrasa is one of the schools under the auspices of the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs and is considered equivalent to a junior high school within the Ministry of Education and Culture. It was accredited with grade B (good) in 2009. Then, driven by the spirit of high commitment and cohesiveness of all elements under the leadership of the new madrasa's headmaster, -Mr. Mohammad Luthfi who was appointed in 2011, -various improvements were made in all aspects. As a result, the school's accreditation 34 increased to grade A (excellent) in 2014. Then, based on the East Java Province's Accreditation Agency for Schools or Madrasas' (Badan Akreditasi Propinsi untuk Sekolah/Madrasah or BAP-S/M) Decree No. 972/BAN-SM/SK/2019 dated November 05, 2019, at the last reaccreditation which is carried out every 5 years it was again awarded with grade A (excellent). 35 The madrasa has 6 study groups, -2 classes for each grade, -with the students total around 120 to 160 for the last five years. It employs 33 Interview with Mr. Mohammad Luthfi, the madrasa's headmaster. 34 As given by the National Accreditation Agency for Schools/Madrasas, the word accreditation is defined as 'an activity to assess the feasibility of educational programs and/or units based on the criteria that have been determined as stated in article 1 paragraph (22)

Obstacles in Learning SKI at the Madrasa
According to the madrasa's SKI teacher, there are some constraints for implementing the SKI learning development strategies in improving the students' achievement which include: 1) lack of student discipline in the learning process, 2) lack of supporting facilities and infrastructure in schools, 3) inadequate number of textbooks for students so that they experience difficulties in getting the SKI related materials to be studied, 4) the curricula set up by the Government often change, the last two are the KTSP of 2006 and the Kurtilas of 2013, and 5) the teachers are required to utilize up-to-date software applications, including the Power Point, in delivering the learning. Unfortunately, some teachers at the madrasa have not yet mastered them. 37 Whereas from the student's opinion, which is not much different to the findings of Abdul Karim's research, 38 the majority of them also had similar notion about SKI. To their view, any subject related to history is boring and uninteresting because it is mostly about memorizing material that has no meaning and challenging predictions in learning. 39

Strategies implemented by the Madrasa's SKI Teacher
As done by all teachers, to achieve the objective of delivering the SKI learning to the students well and to obtain good results in conveying the knowledge to the students, the SKI teacher takes the 36 Interviews with Mr. Mohammad Luthfi and Mrs. Miftahul Jannah, the deputy headmaster in charge for curricula. 37 Interview with Mrs. Alifah Nur Hayati, the madrasa's SKI teacher. 38 Karim, "Meningkatkan Motivasi Belajar ", 1. 39 Interview with Mrs. Alifah Nur Hayati and with some of the madrasa's students. steps of preparing the learning device of SKI comprising of: 1) preparing the syllabus, 2) preparing the lesson plans, 3) composing the annual and semester programs, and 4) arranging the distribution of time allocation. 40 The solutions taken by the SKI teacher to overcome the obstacles in the SKI learning in the forms of: 1) improving the students' discipline by providing sanctions according to the level of violation, 2) utilizing existing learning facilities and infrastructure optimally by making creativity according to the needs of learning, 3) teachers taking initiatives to provide their own textbooks as a reference for learning materials, 4) taking part on the training and supervision regarding the curricula implementation and then adapting the learning to the latest curriculum, and 5) teachers use other learning media to facilitate the teaching and learning process and at the same time they also try to master some computer programmes such as Power Point which will assist the learning process. 41 Apart from those strategies, to instil good values and develop good characcters that are expected to emerge from the SKI learning is by organizing various self-habituation activities that are carried out every day both before learning activities take place or during learning activities. In this madrasa, self-accustoming activities are carried out in the forms of: a) conducting Ḍuḥā prayer together, b) reciting asmā alḥusnā c) reciting some Qur'anic verses, d) conducting Ẓuhur prayer together, e) collecting social funds every Fridays, and f) carrying out incidental activities like distributing zakāt al-fiṭrah on the month of Ramadan,meats of sacrificed animal during 'Id al-Aḍḥā, and so on. 42 To make the learning process more effective, the SKI teacher uses Small Group Work (SGW) technique by dividing students in one class into small groups comprising of 3 to 4 students. The technique was chosen due to its advantages, including: a) it allows changing the subject matter according to the background and differences between groups. It aims to adapt student needs, interests, and abilities regardless of differences between students, b) it encourages students to verbally express their ideas, and this can help them to understand the subject matter, and c) some students will be very effective when explaining their ideas to other students in their own language so that they can easily understand the subject. This eventually can help group members to understand and comprehend the lesson material more completely. 43 The Students' and the Madrasa's Achievements According to Djamaroh, as quoted by Syafi'i et al, achievement is 'a collection of the final results of a job that has been done'. Furthermore, Djamaroh states that achievement is an activity that has been done and is created both individually and in groups. Whereas according to Purwanto's opinion, achievement is the highest and maximum ability of a child at a given moment in order to obtain stimulant and reaction relationship that ultimately leads to the achievement of the changing process to gain proficiency and skills. 44 As an educational institution, the madrasa has been showing its important role in participating to educate the teenagers from the villages around the madrasa. Its accreditation grades, -'B' in 2009, 'A's in 2014 and 2019, -have become an irrefutable evidence of its achievement in maintaining its best performance.
Meanwhile, the learning achievement is a series of mental and physical activities that have been carried out by someone from a result that has been achieved as a form of behavioral change that is passed with experience and insight to be able to interact with the environment concerning the affective, cognitive, and psycho-motoric domains which is expressed in the student's score report or certificate. 45 43 Interview with Mrs. Alifah Nur Hayati. 44 A. Syafi'i, et al., "Studi Tentang Prestasi Belajar Siswa Dalam Berbagai Aspek Dan Faktor Yang Mempengaruhi", Jurnal Komunikasi Pendidikan, Vol. 2, No. 2(2018): 115-123, 117. 45 Ibid, p. 118 Based on the field observation, interviews, and the data provided by the madrasa's staff, the authors noted that the madrasa encourages its students to participate in both academic and nonacademic competitions. Among notable awards ever won in academic competitions include: a) the first winner in the Regency's biology competition in 2014, b) the second winner of the Regency's PAI competition in 2016, and c) the first winner in the Regency's biology competition in 2017. Whereas in non-academic competition, the madrasa had won, among others, the second place for the Regency's girl scout gymnastics competition in 2016 and the second place for the Regency's boy scout intelligence and creativity competition in 2018. 46

DISCUSSION
Learning activities are teaching-learning activities in which there is an interaction between educators and students both actively and passively and can be carried out both inside and outside the classroom. Educators and students are the main components of the teachinglearning process. In the present era, the educator is not the only center or major source of learning delivery but learners are also able to do that although it has to be still in the context of supervision by educators. 47 It is very natural that delivering knowledge to students through the process of learning will find obstacles which are more or less like those had been discussed earlier. As explained by Karim, the general reasons include: first, the learning methods used by the teacher are not in accordance with the characteristics of the material so that the learning activities becomes inanimate. Second, the systematics of teaching materials is not arranged based on chronological logic in terms of time, events or places. Third, teachers do not master the material or teaching materials well; and fourth, teachers do not master relevant learning methods, thus making the material saturated. 48

[346] ж Jurnal Dinamika Penelitian Media Komunikasi Sosial Keagamaan
Meanwhile, according to S. Nasution's study, as quoted by Rasyid, until now there are three learning models that are often confused with the meaning of teaching. First, teaching is imparting knowledge to students, with the aim that this knowledge is best mastered by students. Teaching in this first type is considered successful if students master the knowledge transferred by the teacher as much as possible. Second, teaching is conveying cultures and civilization to students. This second definition is essentially the same as the first definition which emphasizes the teacher as an active party. Third, teaching is an activity to organize or regulate the best possible educational environment and connect it with students so that the learning process occurs. 49 Furthermore, Rasyid stated that the definition of the first and second teaching models in most traditional societies is still widely used. The result is that there are many students who master a lot of learning material but they don't know how to use and develop it. Meanwhile, the definition of the third teaching model is now starting to be widely used, especially in the modern society's educational institutions. The result is students do not only master the learning material but they know its origin, how to get it, and how to develop it. In this global era that requires the presence of creative, innovative, dynamic, and independent graduates, the third teaching model needs to be implemented in the learning of SKI in madrasas. By applying the third model, learning will not only result in students' mastery of science, but also their mastery of methods of developing knowledge, skills, personality, and so on. In this way, learning activities will automatically occur. 50 In the process of delivering the SKI learning in the MTs "Bahrul Ulum" Gadingmangu -Perak -Jombang, both the teacher and students found some obstacles that they perceive can have a negative effect on the achievement of learning objectives as mentioned previously. The SKI teacher, approved by the headmaster and the deputy headmaster in charge of the madrasa's curricula, has been executing steps to overcome the obstacles as well as to attain good students' achievement. 51 The steps as previously mentioned which are coupled with self-habituation activities are considered suitable in helping students to learn the SKI better, so as with other religious subjects.
To the authors' opinion, the SKI teacher at the madrasa had been adopting the third type of teaching. Additionally, one notable technique the teacher used in the SKI learning activity is Small Group Work (SGW) of 3 to 4 students per group as previously mentioned. SGW is one of the cooperative learning that is perceived to be able to invite students to learn actively. Active learning itself is a learning that can produce lasting learning outcomes. 52 It emphasizes on optimizing the use of all potential possessed by students. In such, they are invited to participate in all learning processes so that they can achieve good learning outcomes satisfactorily according to their personal characteristics. 53 The academic achievements of the last three-year graduates show that in overall their certificate scores are very satisfactory which are higher than 83 (in the value range of 0-100). The SKI itself gained the average of 85.0, 86.6, and 85.9 in the academic year of 2017/2018, 2018/2019, and 2019/2020 respectively. The average certificate score for those years are 83.0, 86.2, and 87.6.
However, it is noteworthy to remind ourselves about what Khasan Bisri had stated regarding the SKI learning. He said that efforts to understand and straighten the real history of Islamic civilization to the younger generation need to be done. SKI teacher's role is very big and important, because the present and future young generations (especially students in the schools) will need to get information about the history of Islamic civilization. This information will influence their development and mindset. Therefore, the history of Islamic civilization