Religious habituation programs are one of the efforts undertaken by madrasahs to instill and maintain students’ religious practices through routine and structured activities. MIN 3 Ponorogo implements various religious habituation activities, including BTA using the Ummi method, tadarus, religious memorization, daily prayers, practical fiqh, and congregational Dhuha and Dhuhr prayers. This study aims to describe the management of the religious habituation program at MIN 3 Ponorogo in developing students’ responsibility and discipline characters, as well as to identify the supporting and inhibiting factors in its management.

This study employed a qualitative approach with a phenomenological orientation. The researcher served as the main instrument and a participant observer. Data were collected through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation involving the head of the madrasah, Islamic Religious Education teachers, homeroom teachers, and students. Data were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, while management analysis employed George R. Terry’s POAC framework, consisting of planning, organizing, actuating, and controlling. The study also referred to Edwards III’s implementation theory, Skinner’s operant conditioning theory, and the character theories of Lickona and Al-Ghazali.

The results showed that the religious habituation program was managed through planning, which included determining objectives, types of activities, schedules, guidelines, and targets; organizing through the division of responsibilities among the head of the madrasah, homeroom teachers, and Tahsin teachers; actuating through routine habituation activities, exemplary behavior, guidance, reinforcement, and communication; and controlling through daily record-keeping, supervision, semester evaluations, and program evaluation. The supporting factors included the leadership of the head of the madrasah, the availability of guidelines and schedules, teacher involvement, students’ characteristics, parental support, and a conducive environment. Meanwhile, the inhibiting factors included limited time, differences in students’ abilities, and the lack of consistent continuity of habituation practices within the family environment.