Teachers' efforts in fostering discipline for children with mild intellectual impairment through token economy techniques

10.2478/bjlp-2023-00000193

Abstract

Education is a human right for every Indonesian citizen, and the state must provide educational services for its citizens. One group that needs education is children with mild intellectual impairment. Mild intellectual impairment is a child with intelligence far below average, characterized by limited intelligence and incompetence in social communication. One of the problems experienced in children with mild intellectual impairment is discipline, discipline related to mild mental impairment due to internal factors, namely those concerning the child's will, interest, motivation, emotions, and ability to understand discipline, while external factors such as environmental conditions, parental attitudes, teacher attitudes, and friends' attitudes. There are several efforts to foster discipline in children, one of which is the token economy technique. Other confirmations are often referred to as ideal confirmations. Token Economy is divided into 3 stages, namely the preparation stage, the implementation stage, and the evaluation stage. This research uses a descriptive method with a qualitative approach through observation and interviews. The results of this study show that token economy techniques will change expected behavior into disciplined habits. Recommendations are addressed to teachers to choose and develop other ways or methods that are fun for children with mild intellectual impairment so that they can be applied according to their needs, significantly improving discipline toward daily school tasks.