The Use of Corn Husks Through Storytelling Techniques to Develop Children's Character

The learning process does not lead to character education, so the child's character needs to be improved. The lack of interesting learning media development is because teachers use monotonous learning media. There are no learning innovations that can attract children's interest. This research aims to create interesting storytelling media using corn husks to build children's character to be better and have good morals. This type of research is R & D research, with this research method referring to the theory of Borg and Gall, which consists of ten steps of research implementation. Research subjects with 15 students as the experimental and five as the control classes. Data collection techniques used were interviews, observation, and questionnaires. The analysis used in this research is quantitative and qualitative. The results of developing media using corn husks through storytelling techniques based on the validation of material experts and media experts are feasible for building polite, honest, and disciplined characters in children. Media development using corn husks through effective storytelling techniques is used to build polite, honest, and disciplined characters in Kindergarten Group B children with a t-test of 21,189 and a t-table of 4,381 or 21,189 more than 4,381. At the same time, the N-Gain score is 71 in the effective category.


INTRODUCTION
Character education needs to be instilled in children as early as possible because early childhood is a child who is still vulnerable and unstable, so if we take one wrong step, it will be fatal in the next life (Nugrahani, 2017;Wiyani, 2017). Strengthening character education (PPK) states that Early Childhood (AUD) is in the golden phase (the golden age) in human growth and development, both emotionally, socially, and spiritually, to obtain effective and optimal results (Nisa et al., 2021;Widari et al., 2021). Early age is a critical period for the formation of one's character. Early childhood education is the spearhead in the fight against digital currents in the era of globalization (Aisyah, 2013;Humaedi et al., 2021). As early childhood educators, we must instill character in children so that they can become provisions for children to respond to the challenges of an increasingly changing era. Early childhood character education prepares reliable human resources (Nurohmah et al., 2021;Ramdhani et al., 2019). The environment around the real world where children live and stand will positively affect children if the environment is friendly. Still, if the environment is harsh, it will hurt children's lives in the future. Every environmental condition reflects how the behavior of the local community is likely to influence the child's character and is imitated by the child repeatedly so that it becomes a habit that sticks with them.
The problem educators face today is the weakness of the teaching and learning process. The learning process in kindergarten tends to be monotonous, and there needs to be more innovation in using learning media that can attract children's interest (Asih, 2022;Ismet, 2017). In the teaching and learning process, it is hoped that teachers can develop creative and innovative media to explore students' potential and creativity (Ansori, 2021;Gusmayanti et al., 2021). The teacher needs to be more active and emphasize the importance of the conservation character of children, and the rules the teacher gives need to be clarified. The teacher does not explain the consequences of the deviant behaviors above or provide opportunities for children to explore their knowledge (Aisyah, 2013;Putry, 2019). Early childhood has different learning characteristics from school children at a higher level. It certainly makes teachers have to be more creative in choosing appropriate learning strategies, methods, and media to teach early childhood. (D. A. Dewi et al., 2021;Solehat et al., 2021). If the problem is left unchecked, it will impact human resources. The solution to overcome these problems is to use learning media. Learning media can be used in teaching and learning activities (Indrayani et al., 2021;Rahayu et al., 2022). As an educator, he must be able to choose learning media that are appropriate and suitable for students so that a teaching goal set by the school is achieved (Ardika et al., 2020;Fitria et al., 2018). Learning media is anything that can convey or channel messages from a source in a planned manner so that a conducive learning environment occurs where the recipient can carry out the learning process efficiently and effectively. Media from corn husks or husks is a by-product of harvesting corn with high crude fiber and low crude protein, so it is necessary to use it as feed. Corn waste, such as corn husk, is an art product with a high selling score. Corn husks are used as cornhusks with stringing, collage, and weaving techniques. Innovation and creativity in processing corn waste can be beneficial if teachers receive proper training and guidance. Apart from the media, appropriate learning methods are needed, one of which is the storytelling method.
The benefit of the storytelling method is that it can communicate cultural, social, and religious scores, work ethic, time ethic, and natural ethos, develop children's fantasies, dimensions of children's cognition, and dimensions of children's language (Anggraeni et al., 2019;Lestari et al., 2020). In addition, storytelling activities can make the class atmosphere more natural, even though there must be a transmission. Storytelling makes the learning atmosphere fun and enjoyable with full encouragement and motivation so that lessons and educational materials can be easily given (N. P. D. S. Dewi, 2019). Some of the findings state that the method of telling stories using wayang puppets on children's conversational abilities (Pebri et al., 2017). Storytelling and self-esteem methods in improving early childhood speaking skills (Anggraeni et al., 2019). Storytelling uses audio-visual media to increase children's understanding (Nur Hidayah et al., 2018). The application of storytelling method has been widely implemented. However, the learning media used corn husks through storytelling techniques in this study. The stories given to children are about exemplary stories of innovations the teacher wrote. Through the development of storytelling media using corn husks as well as exemplary stories of innovations written by teachers by bringing up exemplary stories in the Qur'an, it is hoped that this will be able to build polite, honest, and disciplined characters so that children's characters become better, besides By doing so, children become closer and can appreciate nature by caring for, preserving and being able to make good use of nature. This research aims to create interesting storytelling media using corn cobs to build children's characters to be better and have good morals.

METHOD
The type of research used in this study is R & D (Research and Development), which uses a research and development design with ten implementation steps referring to the theory of Borg and Gall. According to Borg and Gall, Educational R & D is based on an industrial development research model, where research results are used to design new products and procedures and are then systematically tested in the field, evaluated, and refined until they meet specific criteria, effectiveness, quality, and meet standards (Sugiyono, 2015). Research development is product-oriented research. Products developed include media, teaching materials, strategies, or learning methods. This research produces storytelling media products like picture books using corn husks. The development procedure used in this study adopts the development procedure developed by Borg and Gall. This procedure was chosen because it has detailed yet simple steps. The procedure consists of ten steps, presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Development research steps
The population of this study was group B students in the Mawar cluster, Kragan District, Rembang Regency, with 15 students as the experimental class and five as the control class. Research on media development using corn husks through storytelling techniques to build children's character was carried out in semester 2 of the 2021/2022 school year in the Mawar cluster, Kragan District, Rembang Regency, Central Java. Researchers use data collection techniques: interviews, observation, questionnaires, and documentation. Implementation of research and development (R&D) research uses two data collected, quantitative data, the type of data that can be measured or calculated directly in the form of information or explanations expressed in numbers in the form of information or explanations which are translated by an assessment score (SB = 5, B = 4, Enough = 3, less = 2, very less = 1). Qualitative data is data in the form of descriptions and sentences. This qualitative data is in the form of the validator's criticisms and suggestions for the product being developed and a description of the implementation of the product trial, which is translated into SB (very good), B (good), C (enough) K (poor) SK (very poor).

Result
In the first stage, learning data was implemented from initial observations to get an overview of the implementation of learning in TK Masyithoh 6 Kragan Group B in Rembang. This data will be used as a basis for this research regarding the development of learning media using corn husks through storytelling techniques to build children's character in Rembang Regency. Media development using corn husks will be used as a storytelling technique medium. The characters that will be built are polite, honest, and disciplined. Initial observations were also made by observing children when learning was in progress. This data relates to children's activities and responses to the implementation of character learning. The data shows that out of 10 children, only two show interest in the media used by the teacher in character learning. Children need to be more active in asking questions about the media used in learning. Only 3 out of 10 children are active. The media used by the teacher cannot build children's character because it does not attract children's interest, so moral messages cannot be conveyed. In contrast, learning also does not use a scientific approach.
Based on the observations related to the preparation and implementation of teachers in teaching, it shows that out of the ten teachers who were observed, only three teachers made teaching preparations using learning media. Media use needs to follow the RPPH, and the sub-themes that will be discussed are only 3 out of 10 teachers who can apply media that follow the RPPH. Teachers still need to implement the steps of the scientific method. Only 2 out of 10 teachers have just applied the scientific method, so it is difficult for children to improve their motor skills. In addition, out of 10 teachers, only 2 evaluated the learning that had been carried out. After conducting a preliminary study, it was found that in building polite, honest, and disciplined characters in Group B students in Rembang Regency, they still needed to use innovative media according to the theme of children's needs. Therefore it is necessary to develop media that can attract children's interest so that children's character is easy to build. The second stage, learning media using corn husks, is a tool teachers use as a storytelling technique to help kindergarten children understand learning material. Learning media using corn husks aims to build polite, honest, and disciplined characters in Group B students in Rembang Regency. Therefore, in making media, it must be adapted to the characteristics of early childhood. The material must be light, environmentally friendly, and not harmful to children so children can use it without any worries. Based on the questionnaire results about children's responses to media development using corn husks, the third stage showed positive responses, as many as 138 or 92% in the very like category. It is certainly very good for children's learning. Of the 15 children, only a few did not like the learning media that used corn husks. The limited trial is a simulation conducted to determine the product's effectiveness before being used in the field. Researchers tested the media on children in the Karanganyar village family kindergarten and the experimental group at Masyithoh Kindergarten 6, Kebloran village. Based on the results of the t-test, the score of Sig. (2-tailed) of 000 <0.05. The calculated t score is 28,967, and the t table score with df = 18 is 2.1788, so the t calculated score > t table (28,967 > 2.1788). The decision was that Ho was rejected, and Ha was accepted because of Sig. (2-tailed) < 0.05 and t count > t table. It means there is a significant increase in the politeness, honesty, and discipline of Group B Kindergarten children in Rembang Regency after using corn husks through storytelling techniques. The normalized Gain score or N-Gain of 0.8092 is interpreted in the high category in the g > 0.7. It means there is an increase in the character of politeness, honesty, and discipline in children in the high category. The N-Gain % score is 80.9243, interpreted in the effective category. It means that the use of learning media using corn husks is effectively used to build polite, honest, and disciplined characters in students in Rembang Regency. The initial field testing results showed that the media using corn husks through storytelling techniques was needed by teachers and children to support the development to build polite, honest, and disciplined characters in children. It can be seen in the child's positive response of 86% and the teacher's positive response of 92% towards using media using corn husks through similar storytelling techniques.

Discussion
Based on the research results, media using corn husks through storytelling techniques is needed by teachers and children to support the development to build polite, honest, and disciplined characters in children. Learning media to build polite, honest, and disciplined characters in children is necessary. Media is crucial in achieving maximum learning objectives (Nasrullah et al., 2021;Yansyah et al., 2021). In addition, the media also contributes to overcoming boredom when studying in class. The required learning media must be able to provide good stimulation. The role of media in learning, especially in early childhood education, is increasingly important, given that children's development at that time was in a period of concrete thinking (Hasmalena et al., 2022). Corn waste, such as cobs and stems, has a great opportunity as industrial raw materials used to make furfural, xylitol, glucose, plastics, and paper. Corn husks are used as cornhusks with stringing, collage, and weaving techniques. Corn cobs can also be made and realized in this study by finely grinding them into dry powder, processing them with glue and water, and producing various learning media effectively used in early childhood education.
Media development using corn husks through storytelling techniques effectively builds children's character. The teacher's creativity in learning greatly determines the child's character to highlight further the ability to behave through a learning platform. Children's character must be instilled early on. Suppose a child's character has been formed since childhood starting from the social environment to elementary school. In that case, the generation of Indonesian people will become human beings with the character who can become the nation's successors to create a just, honest, and responsible society (Cahyaningrum et al., 2017;Hartawan, 2022). This finding is reinforced by previous studies stating that the story method improves children's communication skills (Musyadad et al., 2018;Syukur et al., 2017). Method of storytelling using wayang puppets on children's conversational abilities (Pebri et al., 2017). Storytelling and self-esteem methods in improving early childhood speaking skills (Anggraeni et al., 2019). Storytelling uses audio-visual media to increase children's understanding (Nur Hidayah et al., 2018). The implications of this research are expected to develop media with corn husks to improve children's character.

CONCLUSION
Using media using corn husks through storytelling techniques can build polite, honest, and disciplined characters in children. Media using corn husks through storytelling techniques according to the validation scores of material experts and media experts in the good category is feasible for building polite, honest, and disciplined characters in children. The response of children and teachers to the application of media using corn husks through storytelling techniques was good, and they liked it.