Energy-Saving Triangle: Internalizing Islamic Ethical Values on Energy Saving in Integrative Learning
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The topic and the title of the paper sound highly interesting and promising. It is important to combine religious teachings with school education in a highly religious society, and even more so as we need to find a way to cope with the environmental challenges. In my opinion, this research unfortunately needs a major improvement to contribute to the scholarship in this regard.
First of all, although the authors repeatedly state throughout the article that Islamic ethical values have a lot to offer in terms of making students more environment-friendly, they do not go into much detail, other than sketching out some basic and largely general teachings (which do not sound distinctively ecological). Instead, they make much less convincing efforts to prove the "greenness" of the Islamic religion by giving such examples as its emphasis on ablution and bathing and water pumps.
Second, I am not sure what the authors are trying to offer in the article. From the introduction, I expected they would present empirical findings of the field research conducted in the two regional schools ("The research design employed a descriptive case study inquiry strategy"), but they did not. When did the field research take place? Wouldn't the Covid-19 pandemic have affected the view of the interviewees? If the students are found to have failed to put ecological Islamic teachings into action, isn't it something that requires an explanation? Is it reasonable to expect students not to watch TV simply because they were taught to avoid "wasteful forms in daily life"? Isn't it too simplistic a view of human bahavior, not to mention a simplistic reading of the greenness of the religion? The Islamic emphasis on energy saving as described by the authors is not unique to the Islamic religion. In all major religions, anyone can find that kind of sound teachings. I think that the authors need to go beyond that to connect ecological lessons to religious teaching and to bridge between ethics based on religion and school education.
I find the draft in need of extensive editing and proofreading.
Just a few examples:
Line 56: solution for what?
63: emission or production?
81: though
97: by training?
106, 107: no verb
111: values include ... values?
117: Indonesia is the first Muslim nation in the world?
118~123: Break down the long, grammatically awkward sentence.
199: findings based on the findings?
211: Identification "of" (missing)
268-270: awkward
332: are.... was... ?
397: Islamic school... was an Islamic school
500-501: ?
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for the opportunity to re-submit our manuscript entitled “Energy-Saving Triangle: Internalizing Islamic Ethical Values on Energy Saving in Integrative Learning", for your consideration.
We appreciate the time and efforts by the reviewers in reviewing this manuscript.
In revising the paper, we have carefully considered your comments and suggestions, as well as those of the reviewers (see attachment). After addressing the issues raised, we feel the quality of the paper is much improved and hope you agree.
I look forward to receiving your further communications.
Yours sincerely,
Authors
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The present study explores the concept of energy-saving literacy within the Indonesian context, focusing on the integration of Islamic values into environmental education. The authors argue that prior research has largely overlooked the potential influence of religious perspectives, particularly within the Islamic framework. This paper presents findings from a descriptive empirical study conducted at an Islamic school, aiming to incorporate Islamic values into environmental education. The comprehensive qualitative investigations conducted at multiple stages of the study lead the authors to a positive conclusion. Building on these findings, the paper proposes an integrated environmental education model, referred to as the "Energy-saving Triangle Model," which advocates for the infusion of overarching Islamic values across all subjects, with a particular emphasis on Science and Religion, as well as practical application in daily life.
Your paper addresses a significant and timely topic related to environmental education and the integration of religious values, specifically within the context of Indonesian Islamic schools. It offers profound insights derived from extensive empirical field research. However, there are some critical observations:
1) Clarity and Coherence: Your paper is challenging to follow due to linguistic and argumentative complexities. Enhanced clarity and coherence in the presentation of ideas and arguments would greatly improve your paper's accessibility to readers. See below.
2) Contextualization: A stronger connection to existing discourses on religious education for sustainable development and a more comprehensive exploration of fundamental questions concerning values education would add depth to your research. Specifically, you could delve into how students acquire values—whether through the imposition of normative values (universal, humanistic, or not least religious), reflection on values, or learning from human role models. - To note: I suppose these suggestions to be better suited for guiding future research on your topic. They may not necessarily require immediate incorporation into the current paper. Instead, in the following section, I offer specific recommendations for revisions within the existing manuscript.
Lines 9-10: Sentence incomprehensible to me
Line 26: “two science disciplines”: which?
Line 36: high impact of religion on environmental education: is there more evidence?
Lines 96-98: Sentence incomprehensible to me
Line 114: “Religious people hold”: all and all the same?
Line 117: “as it is the first and largest”: is this really an argument for your statement?
Line 131: sentence corrupted
Lines 138-139: “the most important issue … absence of spiritual ethical dimension”: Is this really the case and what is the evidence for this statement?
Lines 141-142: “the foundation of Islamic environmental practices”: In which way exactly do you understand that and how can we distinguish between Islamic and Other environmental practices?
Lines 153-155: How do these pedagogical modes follow from what has been outlined before?
Line 157: “Islamic ethical values of energy conservation”: In which way exactly do you understand that and how can we distinguish between Islamic and Other values of energy saving?
Lines 188-189: “raising morally upright individuals”: I can't quite understand how this is meant: either it applies (in my understanding) to every school, or it would have to be explained more clearly here.
Line 266: “Rich picture”: Reword the figure caption
Line 275: “isyraf, tabzir”: please explain to the reader
Line 280: “Fiqh”: please explain to the reader
Line 398: “built by the school”: sentence corrupted
Section “discussion”: I had some difficulties here with interesting things being discussed now that I had not read before in the Results (one example among several: lines 454-459). I recommend looking critically at the relationship between the Results and Discussion sections.
Line 525-526: Rephrase the introductory sentence.
included above; proofreading by a native speaker required.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for the opportunity to re-submit our manuscript entitled “Energy-Saving Triangle: Internalizing Islamic Ethical Values on Energy Saving in Integrative Learning", for your consideration.
We appreciate the time and efforts by the reviewers in reviewing this manuscript.
In revising the paper, we have carefully considered your comments and suggestions, as well as those of the reviewers (see attachment). After addressing the issues raised, we feel the quality of the paper is much improved and hope you agree.
I look forward to receiving your further communications.
Yours sincerely,
Authors
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Review Report
The article offers discussion and analysis of important, relevant, and critical areas of environmental preservation through the inculcation of values in school curriculum and school practices in two Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. The latter is proposed through a conceptual framework of a triangle model (figure 2, p. 9) consisting of Islamic ethical values of energy conservation that is offered as a solution for Indonesia and similar Asian countries, where religion is taught as a subject. It is suggested that in an Islamic country religious beliefs, history, and ethos including fiqh education can be capitalized through integrated learning to build the ethic of a sustainable environment via school curriculum and practices.
Here are some of my observations/recommendations:
1. Literature Review:
· Detailed references to integrated learning of ecology and religion are offered:
i. Internalization of Islamic Ethical values (internalization, values, and habituation defined)
ii. Integrative Learning of Energy Saving
· A little more context building and setting the stage from similar other research through literature review will help contextualize the need for integrating environmental values in the school curriculum and teaching-learning practices
· More substantiation of universal environmental values and Islamic environmental values may help enrich the conceptual underpinning of the framework
2. Methodology:
· Very well described – use of Nvivo and categorization of data (initial coding, focused, category coding, if then test)
i. Design and Locus of study
ii. Analysis of the situation
iii. Identification of Values
iv. Identification of Internalization of values
· Rich and thoughtful Focus Groups
· A thoroughly mapped out multidisciplinary conceptual framework inclusive of all the factors impacting overall educational processes at an Islamic boarding school
3. Results/Findings and implications:
· Results from the study suggest that the triangle model of energy conservation if used/applied by effective educational stakeholders at the school level will result in grounding students in energy-saving practices
· Well defined:
o Context of the Program
o Rich picture – logic model
o Internalization of values
o Daily Activities
· Intelligent and deep connections made with Islamic values (Islam, Iman, Ihsan)
· Why is the model and its implications (only) recommended/valid for Asian countries?
4. Other/Overall:
· Description of the level of students is missing: Which grades, gender? For how long did they remain in the boarding school for these values to be habituated and internalized? Would it be any different if it was not a boarding school?
· What are the international implications of these findings on Islamic schools elsewhere?
· Some comparison and notes on similar integrated learning practices in other faith traditions may help.
· Role of technology?
This is an interesting and relevant research on environmental conservation education within an Islamic framework. It is a critical matrix for integrated energy-saving practices and an essential marker for initiating critical conversations in the Islamic school systems. It also indicates the need and significance of such an education for a long-term sustainable environment. Significantly, the curriculum and teaching-learning practices regarding the ethic of a sustainable environment in a state of global warming in many faith-based schools may also draw insights from this framework and its discussions.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for the opportunity to re-submit our manuscript entitled “Energy-Saving Triangle: Internalizing Islamic Ethical Values on Energy Saving in Integrative Learning", for your consideration.
We appreciate the time and efforts by the reviewers in reviewing this manuscript.
In revising the paper, we have carefully considered your comments and suggestions, as well as those of the reviewers (see attachment). After addressing the issues raised, we feel the quality of the paper is much improved and hope you agree.
I look forward to receiving your further communications.
Yours sincerely,
Authors
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript has gone through extensive editing, which I find now much improved and publishable. I will leave only three additional remarks/suggestions.
1. Despite the inclusion of further explanations on the procedures of the research, it is still unclear to me whether the authors developed a new integrated learning program or they simply examined the existing program that had been already implemented in the two schools. I hope that this is made clearer.
2. The authors state in the introduction that energy-saving programs "generally yield insignificant results" (84). At the same time, they call them "innovative". Isn't it contradictory?
3. When an acronym-like word "PAI" is first used in the manuscript, it needs to be fully explained for those who are not familiar with the term.
Author Response
Bandung, October 3, 2023
Subject: Submission of revised manuscript to Reviewer
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you for the opportunity to re-submit our manuscript entitled “Energy-Saving Triangle: Internalizing Islamic Ethical Values on Energy Saving in Integrative Learning", for your consideration.
We appreciate the time and efforts by the reviewers in reviewing this manuscript.
In revising the paper (round 2), we have carefully considered your comments and suggestions, as well as those of the reviewers (see attachment). After addressing the issues raised, we feel the quality of the manuscript is much improved and hope you agree.
I look forward to receiving your further communications.
Yours sincerely,
Authors
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
