Raja Mulawarman Folktale Wayang as a Local Culture-Based Counseling Medium with a Scaffolding Approach to Strengthen the Social-Emotional Development of Elementary School Children

Abstract

Rapid social transformation in the buffer zone of Indonesia's new capital city (IKN), particularly in KM 45 Bukit Merdeka, Balikpapan, has affected the social-emotional development of elementary school children. This study aims to describe and analyze the use of the Raja Mulawarman folktale wayang as a local culture-based counseling medium combined with a scaffolding approach. Using a descriptive qualitative method, data were collected from fifteen children aged 7–11 years through observation, interviews, and documentation across five mentoring sessions within a Community Service Program (KKN), then analyzed through data reduction, presentation, and verification with technical triangulation. The findings show that the wayang medium increased children's interest and participation, helped them express feelings, and fostered empathy, caring, and responsibility in daily interaction. The scaffolding approach enabled children to construct moral meaning gradually rather than receive it passively. The study's novelty lies in repositioning local folk puppetry from a classroom instructional tool to a contextual counseling instrument for children in a socially transitional region. The Raja Mulawarman folktale wayang can therefore serve as a creative, culturally grounded, and developmentally appropriate counseling medium that simultaneously strengthens character and reintroduces regional culture from an early age.