The Making of Indonesian Education: An overview on Empowering Indonesian Teachers
Abstract
Education is one of the fundamental priorities of nation building. For this reason, the Indonesian government continuously seeks to improve the quality of its education. Empowering education can be done using many strategies, such as reforming school curricula or school systems or both. This article approaches the improvement of Indonesian education from a different angle, by considering teachers and the teaching profession. Before proposing an agenda for improving teachers, the article considers two main problems of Indonesian teachers: the practice of teacher-centred classroom pedagogy; and the emphasis on rote learning in the classroom. In response to these phenomena, this article suggests two main factors responsible for the persistence of such teaching styles: institutional cultures and the nature of assessment systems in Indonesian schools. This article has three recommendations to help Indonesian teachers improve. However, the author is aware that the agendas for improvement are complex and institutional reforms are needed; for example, the reform of teacher recruitment; teacher evaluation and also the reform of assessment systems. This article includes a discussion of what makes for a good teacher, which will help Indonesian teachers to gain an insight to their profession, and a discussion of the changes that could be made to enable the quality of teaching to improve.
References
Azra, A (2002). Paradigma Baru Pendidikan Nasional: Rekonstruksi dan Demokrasi. Jakarta: Kompas.
Belliveau, G (2007). An Alternative Practicum Model for Teaching and Learning. Canadian Journal of Education, 30 (1), 47–67.
Bjork, C (2005). Indonesian Education: Teachers, Schools, and Central Bureaucracy. New York and London: Routledge.
Bransford, JD, Brown, AL, and Cocking, RR (eds) (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Buchori, M (2001). Notes on Education in Indonesia. Jakarta: Jakarta Post and Asia Foundation.
Carless, D (2008). ‘Developing Productive Synergies between Formative and Summative Assessment Processes’. In M-F Hui and DL Grossman (eds), Improving Teacher Education through Action Research. New York: Routledge.
Cherian, F (2007). Learning to Teach: Teacher Candidates Reflect on the Relational, Conceptual, and Contextual Influences of Responsive Mentorship. Canadian Journal of Education, 30 (1), 25–46.
Darmaningtyas (2004). Pendidikan yang Memiskinkan. Yogyakarta: Galang Press.
Dewey, J (1933). How we Think. New York: DC Heath.
Donovan, MS, and Bransford, JD (eds). (2001). How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Fraser, D (2005). Professional Learning in Effective Schools: the Seven Principles of Highly Effective Professional Learning. Melbourne: Department of Education & Training.
Giddens, A (2001). Sociology (4th edn). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Ingvarson, L and Chadbourne, R (eds). (1994). Valuing Teachers’ Work: New Directions in Teacher Appraisal. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.
Kreber, C and Cranton, PA (2000). ‘Exploring the Scholarship of Teaching’. The Journal of Higher Education. 71 (4): 476–495.
Kohl, H (1992). ‘I won’t learn from you’ and Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment. New York: The New Press.
Looney, J (2008). Teaching, Learning and Assessment for Adults: Improving Foundation Skills. Paris: OECD
Loughran, J, Berry, A, and Mulhall, P (2006). Understanding and Developing Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Marjoribanks, K (ed.). (1991). The Foundations of Students’ Learning. Oxford, New York: Pergamon Press.
McCaughtry, N, Kulinna, PH, Cothran, D, Martin, J, and Faust, R (2005). Teachers Mentoring Teachers: a View over Time. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 24, 326–343.
McCombs, BL, and Miller, L (2007). Learner-centered Classroom Practices and Assessments: Maximizing Student Motivation, Learning and Achievement. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
McLaughlin, MW, and Pfeifer, RS (1988). Teacher Evaluation: Improvement, Accountability and Effective Learning. New York: Teachers College Press.
McNamara, G, and O’Hara, J (2009). Trusting Schools and Teachers: Developing Educational Professionalism through Self-evaluation. New York: Peter Lang.
Morton, ML (2005). Practicing Praxis: Mentoring Teachers in a Low-income School through Collaborative Action Research and Transformative Pedagogy. Mentoring and Tutoring, 13 (1), 53–72.
Raihani. (2008). An Indonesian Model of Successful School Leadership. Journal of Educational Administration, 46 (4), 481–496.
Rogers, RR (2001). ‘Reflection in Higher Education: a Concept Analysis’. Innovative Higher Education 26 (1): 37–57.
Schön, DA (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.
Schön, DA (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and Learning in the Professions. San Francisco and London: Jossey Bass Publishers.
Shor, I (1992). Empowering Education: Critical Teaching for Social Change. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Tan, AL, and Towndrow, PA (2009). ‘Catalyzing Student–Teacher Interactions and Teacher Learning in Science Practical Formative Assessment with Digital Video Technology’. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 61–67.
Walkington, J (2005). Mentoring Preservice Teachers in the Preschool Setting: Perceptions of the Role. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 30 (1), 28-35.
Watkins, C, Carnell, E, and Lodge, C (2007). Effective Learning in Classrooms. Thousand Oaks: Paul Chapman Publishing.
Wehmeyer, ML, and Field, SL (2007). Self-determination: Instructional and Assessment Strategies. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press. Wolk, S (1998). A Democratic Classroom. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
York-Barr, J, Sommers, WA, Ghere, GS, and Montie, J (2006). Reflective Practice to Improve Schools: an Action Guide for Educators (2nd edn). Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Daud, ZBM (2009). Mempertanyakan efesiensi UN.
Retrieved 1-05-2009, 2009, from http://id.acehinstitue.org
Khalifa, S (2009). UN, formalitas nasional yang irrasional.
Retrieved 1-05-2009, 2009, from http://id.acehinstitute.org
Lie, A (2004). Tujuan akhir nasional: kesenjangan kekuasaan dan tanggung jawab.
Retrieved 15-09-2009, 2009, from http://www.komunitasdemokrasi.or.id
Oey-Gardiner, M (2005). Ujian Nasional: Mengukur standar mutu atau ‘UUD’?
Retrieved 15-09-2009, 2009, from http://www.ihssrc.com
Soaloon, BT (2009). Dusta ujian nasional.
Retrieved 23-04-2009, 2009, from http://id.acehinstitute.org
Rosemary Viete (international student advisor) at the Faculty of Education, Monash University, April 2009
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. This license allows others to remix, adapt, and build upon the work, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the same terms.
2. Authors may enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., posting it to an institutional repository or including it in a book), provided there is an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their personal website) prior to and during the submission process, as this can lead to productive exchanges and increase citations of the published work (See The Effect of Open Access ).
