Recontextualizing political education as social practice: Integrating social capital and political networking into junior high school learning
Abstract
Although political education in social studies (IPS) is essential for fostering democratic citizens, the implementation of IPS curriculum to teacher operational standard within Indonesian junior high school (SMP) has predominantly been in a formalistic, abstract and disconnected fashion with students lived experiences. This study bridges the void between narrative and action focused on civic education by examining how political knowledge transmission is conceptualized, taught, and experienced as citizens in Social Studies Rooms. Using a qualitative case study design, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with two Social Studies teachers and 16 eighth- and ninth-grade students, classroom observations, and document analysis of lesson plans (RPP) and textbooks at two junior high schools in Kabupaten Magetan. The results show that political education is largely very teacher-centered, fact-based and does not elicit much student engagement; there are weak links between school learning of political concepts and the everyday social construct. Classroom interaction contains latent elements of social capital and relational practices, but these remain unexploited in a systematic way. This study develops a conceptual framework of political socialization that is based on both social capital and political networks, drawing from the relationship strategies used by female politicians to enhance problem-based, community-oriented, participatory education. This study advances political education by reconceptualizing it as a socially embedded and practice-oriented process through the integration of social capital and political networking. The proposed conceptual model translates female politicians’ relational strategies into classroom learning, offering a practical framework for strengthening democratic citizenship, fostering institutional trust, and promoting community-based civic engagement. These contributions provide policy-relevant insights for enhancing democratic resilience and supporting inclusive and sustainable social development across emerging Asian contexts.