Deepening the Understanding of Bullying Through Creative Learning: Games

Bandung, August 19, 2025 – Amid the rising concerns about school violence and bullying, educational institutions are searching for the most effective prevention methods. For Cut Umuatiyah, a trainer (Widyaiswara) and Curriculum Developer at the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag RI), gamification proved to be an unexpected and enlightening solution.

As an experienced trainer at the Kemenag RI Center for Competency Development (Pusbangkom), Ms. Cut was familiar with conventional training formats. However, while serving as an observer in a Training of Trainers (ToT) for the Violence Prevention and Management Team (TPPK) hosted by PeaceGeneration Indonesia, she discovered a fundamentally creative approach to learning.

"Honestly, the training flow is the same as what we do. But the packaging using gamification, I think we can adapt," said Ms. Cut.

This experience opened her eyes to how a creative medium can transform how teachers and trainers understand complex issues like violence prevention.

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Deepening the Understanding of Bullying Through Creative Learning: Games

In a training world dominated by digital tools, Ms. Cut admitted she was impressed by the effectiveness of creative media that felt like a blast from the past. The TPPK training intensively used board games and card games to simulate various school violence scenarios.

"It's nice, it feels like going back in time," she said. "Participants are presented with activities in the form of a board game, and without realizing it, it represents our actual activities in dealing with bullying cases."

According to her analysis, this gamification approach successfully created profound creative learning through three pillars:

• Joyful: The training atmosphere became lively, making heavy topics like violence prevention easier to discuss without feeling pressured.

• Mindful: The games encouraged every teacher and participant to think critically, raising their awareness of their role within the school ecosystem.

• Meaningful: The relevant simulations made the learning deeply meaningful, making violence prevention concepts practical and applicable rather than abstract.

"Seeing this, I realized that our awareness of a case of school violence can be raised through a board game and cards," she emphasized.

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Carrying Kemenag RI's Mission: Innovative Solutions for the "Curriculum of Love"

Ms. Cut's presence as a Kemenag RI representative in this training was not without purpose. She carried an important mission. "We were mandated by the Minister to conduct training related to a new policy, the 'Kurikulum Berbasis Cinta' (Curriculum of Love or KBC)," she explained.

The biggest challenge was how to introduce this curriculum to teachers in madrasahs without it being seen as a "new burden." This is where her discovery became highly relevant. Kemenag RI needed an engaging and effective method to socialize the values contained in the KBC, which aligns with the spirit of violence prevention.

"This needs fun ways, so teachers can feel its benefits," Ms. Cut stated. The gamification she witnessed was the answer she was looking for a creative medium capable of presenting KBC material in a participatory way and reducing resistance.

The "ATM" Action Plan and the Future of Teacher Training

Inspired by her experience, Ms. Cut formulated an action plan based on the ATM principle (Ambil, Tiru, dan Modifikasi), which translates to "Adopt, Emulate, and Modify." As an expert trainer, she plans to adapt the essence of this gamification and integrate it as the primary creative medium in the design of the Training of Facilitators for the "Curriculum of Love" within Kemenag RI.

"Our mission is how we will adapt this method. We will collaborate to create training that can raise awareness in the madrasah ecosystem," she said.

Ms. Cut's experience is a testament to the power of creative media and creative learning in addressing a fundamental issue like school violence prevention.

For teachers, trainers, schools, and institutions interested in adopting or collaborating on gamification and other innovative approaches, PeaceGeneration Indonesia welcomes discussion via email at [email protected] and provides updates on its social media channels on Instagram and TikTok @peacegenid.

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Ms. Cut's story proves that innovation in creative learning isn't always about advanced technology. A simple board game can be a powerful tool for training teachers and trainers on a crucial issue like violence prevention and management.

This experience has the potential to bring about a wave of positive change in how Kemenag RI trains its educators to create a safe and bullying-free learning environment.

Ms. Cut's experience in the TPPK training, with its creative PeaceGen packaging, can be summed up in one word that represents her entire experience: "Amazing!"