Indicting history lessons in schools<\/p>\n
By M. Habiburrohman<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Antara): How would a history teacher feel if his own
\nstudents accused him of teaching them a lie?<\/p>\n
Sumantri from junior high school SMP 18 in Jakarta knows from
\nexperience.<\/p>\n
\"What you said about Supersemar (the March 11 Indonesian
\npresidential executive order) is not the same as what the
\nnewspapers say,\" he quoted his students as asserting critically.<\/p>\n
Long a subject of debate, the document contained president
\nSukarno's order for Soeharto, then chief of the Army Strategic
\nReserves Command, to take necessary steps to restore order in
\n1966.<\/p>\n
Sumantri is not alone. At least 50 history teachers from
\njunior and senior high schools in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and
\nBekasi told the same story in a \"Dialog on History Teaching\",
\norganized by the Directorate of History and Traditional Values of
\nthe Ministry of Education and Culture in March.<\/p>\n
They complained that their students asked them many questions
\nabout historical facts, particularly those, like Supersemar,
\nwhich are controversial.<\/p>\n
\"According to our history books, president Soeharto is the
\n'Father of National Development' and an honest person,\" a
\nparticipant in the dialog said. \"Unfortunately, according to the
\nmass media, he is involved in collusion, corruption and nepotism.
\nSo, students think that we are lying to them.\"<\/p>\n
Agreeing with the participants, director of the Directorate of
\nHistory and Traditional Values, Anhar Gonggong, said the dilemma
\nwas the result of an inappropriate teaching strategy, curriculum
\nand materials for the subject.<\/p>\n
He believed the teaching of the subject was undefined. \"As a
\nschool subject, history tends to be taught as events and dates
\nthat the students have to commit to memory.\"<\/p>\n
Historian Taufik Abdullah said the teaching of history from
\nelementary school to secondary school did not vary. \"It is all
\nabout dates, heroes and foes,\" he said.<\/p>\n
History education, said Abdullah, chairman of the Indonesian
\nSociety of Historians (MSI), tended to be out of tune with the
\nlevel of explanation desired at each educational level.<\/p>\n
\"From the junior high schools to the senior high schools, the
\nsame materials are simply repeated without any effort to expose
\nhistorical events to the students from different angles. He added
\nthat the Diponegoro War, for example, was simply repeated several
\ntimes without any attempt to reveal its various historical
\naspects.<\/p>\n
In his opinion, the history curriculum does not allow students
\nto have an adequate understanding of the subject. \"As a history
\nlesson is fraught with political content, it is vulnerable to
\nlies,\" Anhar said.<\/p>\n
Politically, a history lesson always sides with the interest
\nof the ruling class; the significance of a historical event can
\nbe belittled or exaggerated according to what those in power deem
\nto be appropriate.<\/p>\n
As a result, Taufik said, the teaching of history in schools
\ntended to be ideologically oriented. It is reflected, for
\nexample, in the awarding of the title \"The Father of Development\"
\nto Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Owing to the ideological orientation, the teaching of history
\nin Indonesia only cherishes great hopes. \"As a result, the
\nsignificance of the dimension of time usually eludes the
\nstudents,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Taking the March 1, 1949, general attack as an example, Anhar
\nsaid the event was evidence that the teaching of history was
\ncoopted by the interest of the ruling regime. \"Soeharto's heroism
\nin this event has been exaggerated,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Book<\/p>\n
Anhar also identified the constraint that many books history
\nbooks were inadequate but \"unfortunately, these books are
\ncompulsory at school\".<\/p>\n
He said most of the history textbooks had passed a credibility
\ntest because they were written without adherence to a correct
\ntextbook writing methodology.<\/p>\n
\"The trouble is that these books are already in circulation,
\nand some are being used as a teaching material simply on the
\nbasis of a consensus between the publisher and the history
\nteachers concerned,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Taufik seconded the opinion, saying that many history
\ntextbooks were not fit to be used as teaching materials because
\nthe pointers used to elucidate an event can indicate, at least,
\nthat the textbook writers are incapable of drawing up a good line
\nof historical description.<\/p>\n
It was justified by a study of history textbooks for secondary
\nschools which was conducted by a group of students at the Jakarta
\nTeachers Training Institute (IKIP Jakarta).<\/p>\n
\"The study has shown that many textbooks on history do not
\nmeet the requirements, at least in respect to the line of
\ndiscussion and the language used,\" said Syamsiar, a teacher at
\nIKIP Jakarta's history department.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, the Directorate of History and Traditional
\nValues has concluded that history textbooks are a problem for
\nboth students and teachers on a national scale.<\/p>\n
Controversial<\/p>\n
In an attempt to compensate for the weaknesses, Anhar Gonggong
\nsuggests that controversial historical facts should be honestly
\nexposed. \"History is controversial,\" he said.<\/p>\n
As an example, he said, revealing the facts related to
\nSupersemar, the birth of Pancasila or March 1, 1949, must be
\ncoupled with putting them in their historical background.<\/p>\n
\"In this way, there will be no more cases in which a figure is
\ngiven more prominence than other figures or the role of a certain
\nfigure in a certain historical is abolished,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In this context, a sociological explanation of a historical
\nevent plays a significant role to ensure that historical facts
\nwill no longer be exposed and understood as merely black or
\nwhite.<\/p>\n
In addition to this sociological explanation, Taufik believes
\nit is necessary to develop the materials of history as a subject
\nin accordance with the maturity levels of students and
\neducational stratification.<\/p>\n
In this way, said Taufik, who is vice president of the
\nInternational Association of Historians on Asia (IAHA), the
\nmaterials for the subject must be able to kindle the students'
\nimagination about a particular historical event.<\/p>\n
\"This may avoid a level of explanation which is either too
\nsophisticated or too naive,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Regarding the curriculum and materials of a history subject
\nthat fail to conform to the intellectual development of the
\nstudents, the Directorate of History and Traditional Values views
\nit as the impact of the gap between historians and the team
\ndrawing up a curriculum for the teaching of history.<\/p>\n
\"The Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education
\nand the Directorate of History and Traditional Values must be
\nsynchronized,\" a meeting concluded.<\/p>\n
Taufik has suggested a thorough study of various textbooks on
\nhistory now available in bookstores. \"Teachers must also be able
\nto evaluate the credibility of a textbook on history,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The study must encompass the framework of discussion or
\nchapters, the line of description of a particular historical
\nevent and the style of the language used in a history textbook.<\/p>\n
\"The style of the language used in a history textbook must
\nreflect history as a discipline. It means that each word chosen
\nmust have a concept behind it.\" He added that there were frequent
\ncases of overlapping use of terms and words in textbooks on
\nhistory, such as the words \"battle\" and \"war\".<\/p>\n
He continued that a history textbook should be provided with
\nattractive illustrations to conform with the historical events
\nbeing discussed to ensure that history will be more interesting
\nto study.<\/p>\n
Anhar believes improvements in the teaching of history are
\nessential because the presence of too many confusing items will
\nonly perplex students and teachers.<\/p>\n
He admitted efforts to improve the teaching of history would
\nnot proceed well unless the government shows its political will
\nnot to include its political interest in the curriculum or
\ntextbooks.<\/p>\n
In the conclusion made at the preparatory meeting, the
\nDirectorate of History and Traditional Values affirmed this,
\nsaying that the teaching of history must be freed from political
\ninterests from now on.<\/p>\n
As long as political interests remain in the curriculum and
\nmaterials for the subject, the fate of Sumantri and his fellow
\nhistory teachers will remain difficult. They will continue to be
\ncaught between feeling deceived by the curriculum presented to
\nthem, and having to deal with being called liars by their
\nstudents.<\/p>",
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