Instilling learning discipline in schools worth retaining<\/p>\n
By John Phillips<\/p>\n
This is the second of two articles exploring the good and bad
\nsides of American and Indonesian school learning processes.<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Early childhood education experts have
\nstressed, for many years, the importance of the example of the
\nparents and their attitude towards education as being crucial in
\na child's socialization to education. Thus, we did not just say
\nhow important we thought education was, we lived it and in the
\nprocess provided a strong foundation upon which Iin could build
\nher own educational values and her willingness to participate in
\nlearning, not just attend to it. The lesson here is that parents
\n(and teachers) lead best by example.<\/p>\n
The fact that we had a house filled with books is another
\nfactor in our daughter's success. In fact, it is an absolutely
\ncrucial factor in national development as well.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto struck the right note of urgency in
\nexhorting the nation to read more books. For in them one finds
\nthe keys to economic development, technical, political
\ndevelopment, basic skills needed for democratic institutions and
\nsocial development, adapt to increasing international integration
\nand cross-cultural communication.<\/p>\n
In fact, the decline in the effectiveness of the \"American\"
\neducational system can be traced directly to a decline in
\nliteracy and a decline in the ability of children to acquire
\nlateral and critical thinking skills as a result. Reading is a
\n\"habit\" that once acquired is almost never abandoned. Readers, in
\nturn, by virtue of the act of reading and reading widely, become
\nthinkers adept at processing information and, even more
\nimportantly, ideas. Knowledge (not just information) is the
\nultimate power and it leads to the ability to control one's own
\ndestiny to the extent human beings are capable of doing so. Thus,
\nanother lesson of our daughter's success is that reading is the
\nfoundation of education and a society that does not promote it,
\npromotes its own decline.<\/p>\n
Importantly, Iin also had plenty of opportunity to achieve
\neducational excellence. Her schools in the United States, even
\nthe average ones, had a lot of resources that would be considered
\na luxury here in Indonesia. The teachers had a lot of education
\nand training. They were also paid a \"living\" wage though not an
\nextravagant one, meaning that most had to work only one job.<\/p>\n
And, the society itself has a lot of media resources including
\nextensive libraries, educational television, and \"free\"
\neducational materials. More importantly, Iin has benefited not
\nonly from our example and willingness to sacrifice for her
\neducation (including allowing her to remain in the United
\nStates), but she has also benefited greatly from her \"guardians\"
\nproviding her with not just a place to stay, but also a place in
\ntheir hearts and minds.<\/p>\n
These people who were unrelated to her and who received really
\nonly enough money from the living arrangement to take care of her
\nneeds still provided all of those things that children need to
\nsucceed in school, including love and understanding.<\/p>\n
In many ways, their sacrifice in terms of \"privacy\" as a
\nretired couple and inconvenience was much greater. This is a
\nlesson that cannot be ignored, and that is that \"opportunity\" is
\nnot just an abstract idea but combined efforts of individuals and
\nsociety to provide whatever is necessary to ensure that each
\ngeneration has the opportunity to become educated and productive
\nmembers of the society.<\/p>\n
This includes paying taxes, committing money and time, and
\nmaking choices that lead to increased opportunity for those
\nwilling to take it. In recent years the American commitment to
\nproviding this kind of opportunity has been declining at the same
\ntime that the Indonesian commitment has been increasing. It seems
\nto me that in terms of the direction these societies are going
\nin, Indonesia has the right idea. However, there has also been
\nanother decline in educational \"health\" in the United States in
\nan already weak area in American schools, \"discipline\". By this,
\nI only partly mean the same kind of discipline I think Lee Kuan
\nYew means.<\/p>\n
Basic discipline which is taught by parents and by schools is
\nonly the first stage of learning how to be disciplined. This kind
\nof discipline is often based on social and legal restrictions
\nspecified by authorities who \"sanction\" any violation of these
\nrestrictions.<\/p>\n
As any parent or legal authority can testify, this kind of
\ndiscipline is the most transient and least effective means for
\n\"controlling\" behavior and it is even less effective in
\npersuading people to do \"what is good for themselves\" when they
\nhave a choice in the matter.<\/p>\n
In fact, since it removes from the individual the real
\nresponsibility for making choices and attempts to coerce them
\ninto the \"appropriate\" behavior, there is little if any
\ncommitment to the desired behavior. There is an old saying that
\n\"you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink\"
\nwhich expresses the essence of the problem.<\/p>\n
People, especially children, who have to be forced to do
\nsomething, do so unwillingly and half-heartedly. Unwilling and
\nhalf-hearted learning is not learning at all; it is simply
\nconforming.<\/p>\n
A nation needs citizens who do not \"just conform\", but who
\nwillingly participate in the hard work of building a nation, of
\nwhich learning is no small part.<\/p>\n
So, the kind of discipline that a system needs to encourage
\nand to build into its educational system is \"self-discipline\".
\nStudents, like everyone else in the society, must make choices
\nfor themselves which include postponing gratification, working
\nhard for \"future rewards\", and willingness to expend time and
\neffort beyond the minimum requirement.<\/p>\n
Former U.S. president Richard Nixon may have had an abundance
\nof faults and may not have been the most brilliant of statesmen,
\nbut he \"succeeded in accomplishing many of his goals by having
\nwhat he called an 'iron butt'.\" That is, in order to achieve his
\ngoals, he knew what he wanted and he was willing to work harder,
\nsacrifice more and persist longer despite setbacks, unlike most
\nof his contemporaries.<\/p>\n
This then is the true meaning of discipline in the educational
\ncontext as it is in the social context. If citizens are to be
\ntruly educated, it must be accomplished by them, not for them,
\nthrough hard work, sacrifice, commitment, and \"self-discipline\".
\nAnd this is the true meaning of my daughter's success. In the
\nfinal analysis not only must one has the will to succeed but one
\nmust also have an \"iron butt\".<\/p>\n
John Phillips, is an American educator working at the Gadjah
\nMada University, Yogyakarta.<\/p>",
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