JP\/9\/YUSUF<\/p>\n
Romo Mangunwijaya's dreams for education<\/p>\n
Yusup Priyasudiarja
\nContributor
\nYogyakarta<\/p>\n
Impian dari Yogyakarta (Dreams from Yogyakarta) by Y.B.
\nMangunwijaya, Penerbit Buku Kompas, Feb. 2003, 308 pp<\/p>\n
Romo Mangun was widely known as an architect, priest,
\nintellectual, social worker and novelist and also regarded by
\nmany as a fighter for the liberation of the poor from stupidity,
\npowerlessness and injustice.<\/p>\n
He toiled to help poor children and people in repressive
\nsituations to be independent and to act on their own choices. He
\ncontributed his ideas on crucial issues, especially on education,
\ndemocracy and politics. Born in Ambarawa in 1929 and involved in
\nthe struggle for independence as a young soldier, he then
\ndedicated his whole life to the development of this country
\nthrough education.<\/p>\n
During the independence struggle, Romo Mangun was deeply
\ntouched by Major Isman's speech during a reunion of Tentara
\nPelajar Indonesia\/TPI (Indonesian student battalions) in Malang
\nin the early 1950s. Isman said that the real heroes of the
\nrevolution in the independence struggle were not soldiers but the
\npeople who suffered during the war.<\/p>\n
Since then, he decided to contribute his life to others,
\nespecially the poor and weak. He entered a seminary and became a
\npriest in 1959. His service as a priest outside the confines of
\nthe church hierarchy in Kali Code, Salam, Kedung Ombo,
\nGunungkidul and Mangunan parishes, brought him into direct
\ncontact with the poor. His death, four years ago, was a great
\nloss to the country but his vision for humane education still
\nremains inspirational.<\/p>\n
His valuable ideas on education have been collected in this
\nbook, which consists of 39 essays published in Kompas in the
\nperiod 1974 to 1998. Even though some of his essays were written
\nbefore 1980, they are still relevant to today's educational
\nissues. This book, then, can serve as the heritage of his great
\nideas on education for the young generation.<\/p>\n
In most of his features, Romo Mangun, the author of the novel
\nBurung-burung Manyar argues that basic education in elementary
\nschool plays a significant role in the whole process of
\neducation. The quality of basic education will determine the
\nquality of higher education. As children are by nature
\nexplorative, creative and curious, teachers should provide
\nstudents with activities to stimulate them to be explorative
\nlearners and critical thinkers.<\/p>\n
In reality, however, our education has "killed" these natures.
\nOur education system does not boost students' creativity. Their
\ncreativity is hampered through the learning-teaching process,
\nwhich does not treat students as the subject of education but as
\nsmall political groupings. In other words, students are still
\nregarded as objects or containers, which are filled with a huge
\nrange of information.<\/p>\n
Besides, the learning-teaching process in class is mostly
\ncarried out in the form of wordy lecturing, and students tend to
\nbe passive-receptive. Hence students are likely to merely
\nmemorize facts but learn nothing.<\/p>\n
Romo Mangun notes that students should be stimulated to be
\nmore critical, to ask a lot of questions, to observe their
\nsurroundings, to analyze data and find their own answers. As
\nbasic education is very vital, teachers in elementary schools
\nshould also be creative, well-educated and qualified.<\/p>\n
They should not be the one who determine everything in class
\nbut serve as a close friend, brother and counselor for their
\nstudents. Besides, they should not view the naughtiness of
\nchildren at a narcissistic age as a negative aspect of their
\ndevelopment, but as a creative process of learning.<\/p>\n
Jean Piaget, a Swiss philosopher and psychologist, best-known
\nfor his pioneering work on the development of intelligence in
\nchildren, shows the stages of cognitive development of children.
\nHe believes that children are not empty vessels to be filled with
\nknowledge but active builders of knowledge: little scientists who
\nare constantly creating and testing their own theories of the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
Children are basically explorative; they are the ones who
\nteach themselves. Hence their learning process can be optimally
\nachieved through active exploration. It seems that Romo Mangun
\nwas inspired by Jean Piaget's ideas on developmental psychology.<\/p>\n
Besides, all children are basically clever, but it is the
\nteaching-learning process in class that makes them slow, as
\nillustrated by Jean Jacques Rousseau's "God makes all things
\ngood; man meddles with them and they become evil."<\/p>\n
One of Romo Mangun's strong criticisms on education rests on
\nthe educational system. He points out that we have oppressed (not
\nto mention "killed") our 30 million children every day through
\nour educational system in formal schools, in which methodology,
\nevaluation systems and management structure inhibit the
\ncreativity, spontaneity and explorative natures of children in
\ntheir learning process (p.48).<\/p>\n
In our educational system, evaluation systems such as THB,
\nNEM, EBTA, EBTANAS and many others, are considered the factors
\nthat hamper the development of our education. The mushrooming of
\ncourses (nonformal education) and the high interest of parents in
\nenrolling their children on courses indicate clearly the failure
\nof formal education in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Romo Mangun put his ideas on education into practice by
\nrunning an alternative elementary school, Dinamika Edukasi Dasar
\n(Basic Education Institute) in Mangunan, Yogyakarta. He applied
\nthe curriculum used by other formal schools but modified it by
\nadding some subjects such as question formulation and music
\nlessons.<\/p>\n
He thought that question formulation would stimulate students
\nto think logically and music lessons would be good for building a
\nsense of esthetics among students. The lessons at SD Mangunan are
\ndesigned according to students' cognitive development, as
\nelaborated by Jean Piaget.<\/p>\n
Here, students are given the greatest opportunities to explore
\nand develop their creativity. SD Mangunan has become one of
\nexamples of Romo Mangun's work on education, in which its
\neducation system is children-oriented. He also highlights the
\nimportance of language mastery among his students. According to
\nhim, language is the key to grasping as much information as
\npossible and to comprehending any culture.<\/p>\n
As a product of Dutch colonial education, Romo Mangun has
\npicked up some goods points on the colonial education system. He
\npoints out that instead of the negative effects of Dutch
\ncolonialism, we can learn positive things from their education.
\nColonial teachers, with their humane educational background,
\ntaught students to be gentle, to think progressively,
\nconsistently and logically and to dared to say "waar of neit"
\n(right or wrong). Teachers in class do not only teach math,
\nhistory and science but also teach students to observe, to
\nanalyze systematically and to draw conclusions critically and
\nsystematically (p.103).<\/p>\n
Hence the colonial education system incredibly manages to
\nproduce good graduates having universal values, analytical
\nthinking and a strong character, such as Soekarno, Hatta,
\nSyahrir, Soetomo, Agoes Salim, Adam Malik, Maramis, etc.<\/p>\n
In some of his essays, Romo Mangun also points out that our
\ngovernment has not put education as the priority of development.
\nCompared with China, Indonesia has still been left behind in
\neducation. In China, education has been a very vital aspect of
\nlife. It does not only cover formal education but also nonformal
\neducation within the context of life-long learning.<\/p>\n
Education is carried out through TV, which can serve not only
\nas a medium of entertainment, but also of education. Despite the
\napparently negative aspects of teaching, such as low salaries and
\noverbureaucratization of education systems, teachers in China are
\nstill dedicated and have self-esteem. Education should be the
\nmain concern of our government if we really want to build a great
\nnation.<\/p>\n
In this book, there are at least three points highlighted by
\nRomo Mangun. First, it is hoped that there will be a law which
\neffectively protect children in all aspects of life from any
\nunfair treatment from other people, including parents and
\nteachers.<\/p>\n
According to him, the quality of culture in one nation is
\ndetermined by the following determinant: how children are
\nprotected, treated and improved naturally and culturally (p.112).
\nAs the development of the nation is mainly determined by the
\nquality of its basic education, our education paradigm should be
\ndirected more to students in elementary schools. Second, the
\ngovernment should prioritize education in its development plans
\nby allocating more funds. The budget for education in our country
\nis still much lower than that of neighboring countries. Third, he
\nalso suggests that nonformal and informal education also
\ncontribute a lot to the development of this country. Hence, the
\nlaw on education should not only cover formal education but also
\nnonformal and informal education.<\/p>\n
This book gives us a deeper insight into Romo Mangun's vision
\nand concern for education in Indonesia. Now it is our task to
\ncontinue his great work to build the nation through better
\neducation.<\/p>",
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