From Spiritual Piety To Ecological Piety: Transforming Islamic Education Through The Green School Program At SMP Citra Alam Gunungkidul

Abstract

The ecological crisis reflects not only environmental degradation but also an ethical and spiritual problem in how humans understand and treat nature. Although Islamic education contains ecological principles such as tawḥīd, khalīfah, amānah, mīzān, and the prohibition of fasād, previous studies have primarily focused on conceptual eco-theology and curriculum content, leaving the transformation of spiritual values into students’ daily ecological practices insufficiently explained. This study examines the transformation of Islamic education from spiritual piety toward ecological piety through the Green School program at SMP Citra Alam Gunungkidul. A qualitative case-study design was employed involving nine purposively selected informants: school leaders, the Green School coordinator, Islamic Religious Education and science teachers, and four students. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis and analyzed thematically. The findings indicate that ecological piety was constructed as an extension of spiritual piety and developed through curriculum integration, contextual learning, teacher exemplification, habituation, school culture, and student participation. These processes strengthened students’ ecological knowledge, concern, responsibility, and practices, including waste management, resource conservation, and plant care. The study implies that Islamic environmental education should be implemented through a coherent whole-school ecosystem that connects religious values, learning experiences, institutional practices, and ecological action.