From Local Cultural Values to Civic Character: A Case Study of Bugis–Makassar Value Internalization in a Multicultural Elementary School in Makassar
Abstract
This study aims to examine how Bugis–Makassar cultural values are internalized and enacted as civic character through the lived culture of a multicultural elementary school in Makassar, Indonesia, addressing the limited understanding of how culturally specific values are translated into everyday civic dispositions in diverse school settings. Using a qualitative single-case study design, the research involved 31 purposively selected participants, including the principal, teachers, students, and parents. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, non-participant observations, and document analysis and were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis involving iterative familiarization, deductive and inductive coding, theme development, review, and interpretive refinement. The findings revealed four interconnected themes: Bugis–Makassar values as a shared moral vocabulary, school culture as a mechanism of value internalization, the enactment of local values as civic character, and the negotiation of local values within a multicultural environment. Values such as sipakatau, sipakalebbi, sipakainge’, siri’, and pacce/pesse were enacted through teacher modelling, habituation, classroom interaction, school routines, peer relationships, and reflective correction. These practices fostered respect, responsibility, empathy, tolerance, cooperation, integrity, and participation. The findings indicate that school culture functions as a mediating space between local moral traditions and broader civic dispositions, extending previous perspectives on local wisdom by conceptualizing it as a socially negotiated moral resource rather than fixed cultural content. The single-school context limits transferability, suggesting the need for comparative studies across culturally diverse educational settings.
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