CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATORS BASED ON SPIRITUAL MERITOCRACY THROUGH PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE AND INTEGRITY

Abstract

This study aims to analyze teacher career development based on spiritual meritocracy through professional competence and moral integrity at Universitas KH. Mukhtar Syafaat (UIMSYA) Blokagung Banyuwangi as the research site. The research focuses on three main instruments: professional training programs such as Outcome Based Education (OBE)-based course design, Internal Quality Audit (AMI), and academic publications on pesantren themes through an International Conference. This research employed a qualitative case study method. A total of 63 informants were involved, consisting of the Rector, Vice Rector I, the Dean of the Faculty of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training, and faculty lecturers. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentation, and analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s interactive model, including data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings show that OBE-based training improved lecturers’ pedagogical competence and teaching innovation, AMI strengthened quality culture, accountability, and moral integrity in academic careers, while academic publications through international conferences expanded global scholarly networks and enhanced lecturers’ research capacity. The research contribution of this discussion is to show that the OBE training program, Internal Quality Audit (AMI), and scholarly publications with a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) theme through international conferences collectively enhance lecturers' pedagogical competence and learning innovation, strengthen the quality culture, accountability, and moral integrity in academic careers, and expand the global academic network as well as increase lecturers' research capacity.