Classroom Teachers as Moral Role Models for Elementary Aged Children: Reconstructing Uswah Ḥasanah in Light of Moral Exemplarism and Moral Development Theory

Rohmat Robi' Rozaqiy; Yoga Wahyu Wicaksono; Mazidatun Ni'mah; Muchammad Naufal  Abid; Faqih Abdul Aziz

doi:10.21580/rjtpd.v3i02.33757

Authors

Rohmat Robi' Rozaqiy UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia
Yoga Wahyu Wicaksono Universitas Islam Negeri Syeh Wasil Kediri, Indonesia
Mazidatun Ni'mah Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia
Muchammad Naufal Abid Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia
Faqih Abdul Aziz Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Ampel Surabaya, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3163-5167

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21580/rjtpd.v3i02.33757

Abstract

Teacher exemplarity is widely recognised as a pillar of character education, and within the Islamic educational tradition it is articulated through the concept of uswah ḥasanah. However, the literature on uswah ḥasanah has long been dominated by a normative-descriptive frame that asserts the imperative for teachers to serve as exemplars without explaining the mechanism of moral emulation or the conditions of its success. This study aims to reconstruct uswah ḥasanah as a dimension of the professional character of madrasah ibtidaiyah classroom teachers. It is a conceptual study of the theory-adaptation type, conducted through library research and employing a comparative-integrative technique that brings uswah ḥasanah into dialogue with moral exemplarism and moral development theory across predetermined dimensions. The analysis reveals that uswah ḥasanah contains an implicit affective architecture admiration driving emulation through narrative and that the effectiveness of exemplarity depends on its attainability for young children. The reconstruction yields an integrated five-component construct: the teacher's character as a concrete moral referent, the evocation of admiration that drives emulation, the mediation between paradigmatic and proximal exemplars, the reflective management of exemplary narrative, and the calibration of exemplar attainability. This positions the classroom teacher as a proximal exemplar mediating the prophetic ideal, rendering exemplarity a developable competence rather than an assumed trait. Its novelty lies in bridging the Islamic tradition of exemplarity with contemporary moral exemplarism, with implications for professional development and prospective-teacher formation

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