The Model of Communication of Education in the Village Unit Cooperatives (KUDs) and in the Traditional Islamic Boarding School Cooperatives (Kopontren): A Study in West Java Province, Indonesia.

Introduction

The Background The majority of Indonesia's population, which is 60 percent, lives in the countryside¹. Of this proportion, 46.26 percent earn a living as small farmers or small holders with land ownership of less than 0.5 hectares, so it is not economical. Moreover, the majority of the poor, namely 63.47 percent of the total poor population in Indonesia, amounting to 34.96 million people, are rural residents². Therefore, the role expected from the cooperative to develop the economy of rural communities is directed to the Koperasi Unit Desa (Village Unit Cooperative) which is more popular with the term “KUD”. However, the development of the Village Unit Cooperative was not encouraging. In the case of West Java, for example, of the 484 KUDs recorded at the West Java Village Unit Cooperative Center in 2009, only 200 KUD (41.3 percent) were still actively implementing Annual Member Meetings³.

In the situation of the development of rural cooperatives like this, there is hope that it will be addressed at the Koperasi Pondok Pesantren (Traditional Islamic Boarding School Cooperatives), which is more popular with the term “Kopontren” as a complement to the shortcomings and limitations faced by the KUD in their role as rural economic institutions. This was revealed by Herman Soewardi (1995: 5) that: "Kopontren can be used as a savior for the improvement of the economic crisis at the micro level in Indonesia".

Strengthening views on the role of kopontren, Eva Nur Arovah (2003) from the results of her research on Islamic Boarding Schools and Markets in Rural Cirebon. Religion and Economy in Tegalgubug in the twentieth century, it was concluded that the religious leaders were reformers in the economic field. Islamic boarding schools have stimulated social change and have provided followers with strong motivation for economic development.

However, in the rural of West Java, there are several KUD and Kopontren that have demonstrated their roles very well in the economic development of the community, for example the Bayongbong Village Unit Cooperative in Garut Regency, North Bandung Cattle Breeders Cooperative, The KUD of Trisula in Majalengka Regency, Al Ittifak Kopontren in Bandung Regency, Kopontren of Daarut Tauhid in Bandung Regency , Kopontren of Fathyah in Tasikmalaya Regency, and otthers. The success of these cooperatives is partly due to having a good communication approach carried out by the cooperative management to employees and their members , namely communication based on the spirit of democracy and education,

Based on the description of the background above, the focus of the research problem is directed at the cooperative community, namely the KUD and Kopontren in the West Java Province, which covers four regions (I, II, III, and IV) of West Java. In connection with the focus of the research problem, then the research question/problem statement of this research is “what is the difference of educational communication between the KUDs and Kopontrens ". The problem of the research was discussed according to Communication Studies . To answer the research question, the research was carried out with a qualitative approach .

Based on the background, the author conducted a study on The Model of Communication of Education in the Village Unit Cooperative (KUDs) and in the Traditional Islamic BoardingSchool Cooperatives (Kopontren): A Study in West Java Province, Indonesia.

Purpose of this study is to describe differences in patterns of communication and education in the KUDs and in the Kopontrens.

State of the Art

Various types of communication research can generally be answered by the Laswell formula (in Mulyana, 2001: 147). The process of communication with the Laswell formula paradigm will create structures and effects. The formula put forward is: " who says what channel to whom with what effect " . The explanation of this formula is as follows:

Who is a communicator or who says / speaks.

Says what : is what it says / message content.

In which channel is what media it uses.

To whom are receivers / who will receive it.

With what effect is the effect that results from the communication process that is running.

This formula was later developed by Braddock (in Dewi, 2008: 41) which states that there are other considerations in the communication process besides the five points above. Braddock added two points in the communication process, namely (1) the environment around the communication process, and (2) the purpose of delivering the message. These two elements complement Laswell's formulation for answering organizational communication research, because communication processes in a structured environment.

The Laswell formula, supplemented by Braddock, is also appropriate to explain the process of educational communication in cooperatives. In addition to describing the communication process, this model can also express the intent of communication. Educational communication are intended to educate. Educational communication is intended to educate the people. Educating means giving an idea to the community about what is really, about the facts, opinions, and experiences that can be accounted for in terms of truth, intentionally organized and planned, with the aim of changing human behavior in the desired direction. (Arifin, 1984: 77).

Educational communication in cooperatives is often referred to as cooperative education. Regarding the importance of cooperative education, especially for members, Book Book (1994: 41) states that in order to improve cooperative services, to be able to compete with other business entities, members must attend education on practical issues, understand cooperative methods and understand the changes that occur in the cooperative environment.

Research Method

This study uses a qualitative approach, namely an approach that always tries to express a problem, situation or event as it is with the aim of expressing the meaning behind the phenomenon being studied. The subjects in this study were administrators, supervisors, employees, and members of the KUD and Kopontren in West Java.

The object of research (the phenomenon under study ) is educational communication in the KUD and in the Kopontrens based on elements who, say what, in which channel, in what effect, and environment. Interview and observation guidelines are used as basic information .

The study was conducted on six KUDs and six Kopontrens in West Java Province which were taken from the mountainous regions, highland and coastal eco-system strata of West Java. This is as stated in the following Table 1:

Table 1. The Cooperatives as the location of the research

Research Findings

Communication education in KUD and kopontren discussed using a combination formulation of Laswell communication (ie Who says what in which channel to Whom and in what effect) and Braddock (ie the environment and the purpose of delivering a message).

Educational Communication at KUD

a) who :

Communication education in the KUD is generally carried out by the management. From the work experience point of view, the competence of KUD administrators in communicating is undoubted. On average, KUD administrators have sufficiently established work experience or organization, both experience being a cooperative management which has been on average for more than 5 years, coupled with organizational experience in the community in the context of social organizations or their experience as community leaders or as Village head. Kema m pared them in convincing audiences to communicate very remarkable. Because of their abilities they were selected as administrators in the KUD. However, on average, KUD administrators do not have experience in the field of work as educators, whether in the formal education environment (as a teacher), or in non-formal education environments ( e.g. as ustadz), so that their experience in educational communication is still lacking.

b) Says what:

Communication message disampai e r when communication education between the committee and members of cooperatives in general concerning the implementation of the rights and obligations of members in the cooperative, namely the rights of members in their position as the owners of cooperative (attending a meeting of members, also took the decision at a meeting of members by giving voting rights), and the rights of members as user of cooperative services so that cooperative businesses develops, as well as the obligations of members in their position as cooperative owners (with mandatory savings payments), and obligations as cooperative service users (with timely installment payments) so that the business of the aspirational cooperative runs smoothly.

c) to whom              

The target group in the educational communication in the KUD is the KUD members. They are village communities with very varied livelihoods. But the majority of the members are farmers. Their level of formal education is relatively low on average (the average is on primary school and unfinished junior high school). Organizational experience in the community is still limitted.

Their background seems to influence the way they communicate and capture communication messages. They communicate tend to be what they are. However, they are generally less courageous in speaking in forums, so they will entrust their message to their "champion". On the other hand, they are dominated by several people who have prominent communication skills among them. So, the voice of cooperative members in the forum often does not describe the voice of the majority members of cooperatives, but rather the voices of some people who have prominent communication skills, and other members are affected to follow their voices.

 d) in which channel:

Educational communication in the KUD is generally carried out by the management, except for a number of KUD that carry out dairy business units (such as the KUD of Bayongbong, KUD of Makmur, and KUD of Pasirjambu), educational communication other than KUD administrators is also carried out by special animal health officers. providing technical guidance on handling dairy cow health and confiscating cow's milk so that the quality of milk produced by KUD members meets the requirements set by the Indonesian Milk Cooperative Association (GKSI).

Annual Member Meetings are held in a room that accommodates approximately 200 people. For KUD that have large numbers of members, usually member meetings are held in two stages. The first stage is carried out in a group of members commonly called pre-RAT (pre-annual member’s meeting), the second stage is carried out RAT (annual member’s meeting) in KUD which is attended by representatives of member groups.

Communication takes place face-to-face, using loudspeakers, while communication messages in the form of meeting materials are provided and shared with members in the form of cooperative annual reports. With face-to-face direct communication, the educational communication process is more effective, because things that become misunderstandings can be immediately explained by the management, and feedback can be immediately obtained by the management.

The participants and members' meetings with group representatives are required to submit meeting decisions to the members in their group. There are often a bias between the message delivered or discussed and decided on the RAT with the message that reaches the member. So, often the issues that have been discussed at the RAT are then questioned again by members in the next RAT.

 e) with what effect:

Educational communication in the KUD and in Kopontren is actually an obligation that must be carried out by the management, because this is outlined by cooperative principles, namely about cooperative education. Educational communication is one of the important factors in the cooperative movement which is intended to inhance the understanding and competency of all cooperative groups which includes administrators, employees and members of cooperatives. The competencies in question include a positive attitude towards cooperatives, sufficient knowledge and skills to manage and participate in cooperatives.

Educational communication carried out by the cooperative management to members is often referred to as member education programs. This member education is very decisive for the smooth running of the organization and the cooperative business, so that members can understand and implement their rights and obligations in the cooperative. The understanding and beliefs of members towards the benefits of cooperatives is also one of the outputs of member education. In turn, member education also supports the implementation of voluntary principles in cooperative membership, because the voluntary principle can also be interpreted that an entrepreneur decides to join other entrepreneurs and establish cooperatives, because they believe that by carrying out collective activities there will be an impact of synergy or large-scale economic benefits (economies of large scale).

f) environment :

KUDs are generally in rural community environment. The educational communication process in the KUD is also influenced by cultural values ​​that apply to local rural communities. One of the local cultural values ​​that appear in the educational communication process in the KUD is the enactment of the social structure of the community in the communication process. In the village community there are social layers (upper, middle and lower), this social structure reflects the influence of the community members who are in the upper layer to the people who are in the lower layers. Thus, the social structure then becomes a "power" structure (structure of influence) in the process of educational communication in rural communities.

The structure of influence on KUD members in rural communities can be a positive potential, because this structure can be utilized by KUD administrators to disseminate cooperative education messages to members through KUD members who have influence among other members or among the community. However, on the other hand, the presence of this structure of influence can also have a negative impact on the education communication process, because the voice of KUD members is in fact controlled by KUD members who have influence, and in fact they are a minority group in terms of numbers compared to the total KUD members.

Educational Communication at Kopontren.

a) who :

The educational communication at Kopontren to the members was carried out by the management. In the kopontren environment, the board of the cooperative is the teachers (ustadz) in the pesantren (Islamic boarding school), while the members of the cooperative are community of the pesantren which includes the santri (students) and the teacher in the pesantren. Thus, the ability of kopontren administrators in communicating education with members, both from the aspect of communication messages and from the aspects of communication techniques, is undoubtedly.

The ability of the ustad in the pesantren to convey messages of communication to the santri or pilgrims has been greatly honed. His mastery of the teaching material of Islamic Religion which is very adequate is accompanied by mastery of the method of da'wah (public speaking), so the blend is the amazing competence of da'wah. One of the abilities of ustadz in pesantren is their ability in dispersion and convergence⁴ message. Message dispersion means that a message is elaborated based on elements or characteristics so that it becomes clearer and easier to understand by santri or pilgrims. Whereas message convergence means from messages that are plural and general in nature and then converged into a message essence.

As an example of the dispersion of messages is KH Fuad's explanation of the translation of the meaning of kholifah on earth for the students in the Al Ittifak Islamic boarding school environment.

(1)   Habluminallah : expressed in four words namely “praying on time in congregation in the mosque”, (2) Habluminannas : pillars of religious communities and religious communities, meaning we must establish good relations with fellow interfaith, cross-sectional and cross-sectoral, and (3) relations with nature, all of the nature is useful, even though garbage can be used as compost. The use of land to be appropriate, tanah datar kebonan, tanah legok balongan, tanah gawir kaian (flat land is used for gardens, land used for an overdraft, the slope of land used for timber plants)⁵ .

 b) Says what:

In an Islamic boarding school environment, Kopontren can be a laboratory/place of practice for santri to apply the teachings in Islamic boarding schools about the science of entrepreneurship and cooperative in accordance with Islamic teachings, aside from being an economic institution that can help pesantren meet their economic needs. Therefore, educational communication in the context of delivering basic values ​​of cooperatives and entrepreneurship in the kopontren environment is already part of the education program in the pesantren.

Islam has outlined the principles of entrepreneurship and cooperative (cooperation in business), both in the verses of the Qur'an and in the Al Hadits. There are 23 principles about work ethic ( entrepreneurial ) and cooperatives in the Quran and al-Hadits. These principles are also part of the teachings presented in pesantren. These principles are: (1) the balance of successful goals in the world and in the hereafter, (2) buying and selling is halal, riba is haram (porbidden), ( 3 ) work is ibadah (worship); ( 4 ) responsibility in business; ( 5 ) simple lifestyle; ( 6 ) love for others; ( 7 ) honesty in business; ( 8 ) trust in business; ( 9 ) perseverance in effort; ( 10 ) hard work in trying; (11) planning in business; (12) innovative and progressive in business; (13 ) model and give an example in business; (14) cooperative in business; (15) visioner in business; (16) keep on learning; (17) strong spirit; (18 ) effective and efficient of time consume; (19 ) strugle ; (20) leadership in business; (21) entrepreneurial spirit ; (22) book keeping in business; and (23) professionalism in business⁶.

c) to whom

The target group in educational communication in Islamic boarding schools is santri or students. They belong to the educated class. This background affects the way they communicate and capture communication messages. Communication between ustadz and the santri took place in teacher-student relations, which were characterized by prominent manners and obedience to the teachers. However, the power of the message of educational communication in boarding schools is on the example given by the ustadz themselves.

 d) in which channel:

Educational communication in Islamic boarding schools is generally carried out by boarding schools directly by face-to-face to the students. The communication message is presented in the teaching material (module) which is then explained in more detail with the whiteboard media. With direct face-to-face communication, then the communication process more effective, because the things that become misunderstandings can immediately be explained by the ustadz, and feedback can be immediately obtained by ustadz.

 e) with what effect (mean):

There are two effects of educational communication that takes place in boarding schools in general and the kopontren environment in particular. The first effect is a short-term effect, i.e. the effect expected to be seen as long as the santri/students are still active as members of the kopontren, and the second effect is the long-term effect, namely the expected effect when the students graduated from the pesantren.

In the short term, communication education at the Kopontren is actually an obligation that must be carried out by the management, because this is outlined by cooperative principles, namely about cooperative education. Educational communication is one of the important factors in the cooperative movement which is intended to increase the understanding and competency of all cooperative society which includes administrators, employees and members of cooperatives. The competencies include a positive attitude towards cooperatives, sufficient knowledge and skills to manage and participate in cooperatives.

In the long run, educational communication at the Kopontrens is expected to instill the principles /values ​​of cooperative and entrepreneurship among the santri / students, so that when they graduate from the pesantren, they can apply the teachings that they have received in pesantren about these values ​​in their lives in society. They are expected to earn a living by entrepreneurship, even more than that they are expected to develop cooperatives in the community.

In the language of the pesantren, the purpose of educational communication in the pesantren is so that the santri "bisa ngaji jeung ngejo " (they could learn and eat), meaning that the santri can have religious knowledge and have the knowledge to earn a living so that they can do business independently.

 f) Environment .

Kopontren is in a boarding school environment. The process of communication in Kopontren education is also influenced by traditional values ​​that apply to the pesantren community. One of the traditional values ​​seen in the educational communication process at Kopontren is the enactment of the relationship (social structure) of the ustadz - santri in the communication process. In this connection the visible communication is characterized by an atmosphere of obedience and respect from students to teacher. Traditional values ​​and the community in the pesantren strengthen the process of socializing the values ​​of the educational communication messages from ustadz to the santri. The process of social control took place very strongly, both from the ustadz to the santri and between the santri themselves.

The boarding school environment is an educational institution environment. The educational communication that was held was also part of the education program (curriculum) in the pesantren. Thus the process of educational communication in boarding schools is a planned process of educational communication. This is in accordance with the opinion of Arifin (1984:77) that educational communication is meant to educate the audience with deliberate, organized and planned, with the aim of changing human behavior in the desired direction (Arifin, 1984: 77).

Differences in Educational Communication in KUD and in Kopontren.

Based on the description of educational communication in the KUD and in the kopontren above using the structure of the Laswell communication pattern and Braddock, it can be concluded that educational communication in the Kopontren is stronger than the educational communication in the KUD. This conclusion is based on the following conditions:

who : ustadz in pesantren/kopontren have more competence in mastering communication material / messages and educational communication methods, because their educational background is very adequate in the field of Islamic education.

Says what : the material / message of education communication at kopontren is stronger than in KUD, because the message of educational communication in pesantren has been the standard curriculum in boarding schools.

To whom : the target group of educational communication in Islamic boarding schools is students. They are educated people whose mental attitude is ready to receive educational communication messages from boarding school teachers.

Effect : the purpose of educational communication at the kopontren / pesantren has two ranges, namely short-term purpose and long-term purpose. In the short term the message of educational communication can be applied in the practice of cooperative in kopontren which is part of the pesantren education program, and the long-term purpose is that the education communication message can be applied by the santri when they have lived independently in the community.

Environment : pesantren environment is an educational institution environment. Traditional values ​​and the community in the pesantren strengthen the process of socializing the values ​​of the education communication messages from ustadz to the santri. The process of social control took place very strongly, both from the teacherss to the students and between the students themselves.

Conclusion

Educational communication in kopontren is stronger than educational communication in KUD, because the process of educational communication in pesantren (Islamic boarding school) has been a package of educational program in pesantren that have been standardized in the education curriculum in pesantren. . Thus, the elements of who says what to whom in which channel and in whit what effect and the environment in the pesantren have been packaged in an educational communication curriculum in the pesantren.

Bibliography