Political education begins in kindergarten<\/p>\n
By Mochtar Buchori<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For about two weeks I watched my grandson
\nstruggling very hard to memorize the five principles of
\nPancasila. The first principle, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa Belief in
\nOne God), was easy enough for him. When it came to the second
\nprinciple, Kemanusiaan Yang Adil dan Beradab (Just and Civilized
\nHumanity), he had trouble. He just could not get the word
\nkemanusiaan (humanity) pronounced right.<\/p>\n
Instead of saying ke-ma-nu-si-a-an he always kept saying
\nke-ma-nu-si-an. He constantly failed to pronounce the syllable
\n\"a\" before the last syllable \"an\". His mother -- my daughter --
\nbecame impatient. Sternly she said: \"No, Dana, it is wrong. It is
\nnot ke-ma-nu-si-an but ke-ma-nu-si-a-an. I saw that my grandson
\nwas quite close to crying.<\/p>\n
I tried to come to the rescue. \"Okay, Dana, let us do it
\ntogether. Repeat after Eyang (grandfather), okay?\" I said the
\nword ke-ma-nu-si-a-an very slowly. He repeated it. Then we said
\nit again together: ma-nu-si-a (human being). We said this word
\nseveral times. Then I broke down the word kemanusiaan into its
\ncomponents, ke-manusia-an, saying it also very slowly. He
\nrepeated it correctly and then we said it together several times,
\neach time a little faster. Finally I asked him to say the entire
\nword by himself. He did it. His clouded face was gone and the
\ntears were also gone. He smiled broadly.<\/p>\n
My grandson is six years and four months old. He is still at
\nkindergarten. He was born in the United States and came home to
\nIndonesia only at the end of August, last year. His Bahasa
\nIndonesia is basically okay, I think. He still makes a few
\nmistakes here and there. He knows the difference between kita
\n(we) and saya (I). On the whole, however, I think that he speaks
\nthe Bahasa Indonesia quite well. His knowledge of the language
\nis, of course, still too limited to understand and repeat by
\nheart those formal phrases within the Pancasila pledge. This
\nbecame quite obvious when he had to memorize the longest
\nprinciple, the fourth one: Kerakyatan Yang Dipimpin Oleh Hikmah
\nKebijaksanaan Dalam Permusyawaratan Perwakilan (Sovereignty of
\nthe people led by the wisdom of deliberation among
\nrepresentatives). Could you memorize this long phrase yourself? I
\nstumble every time.<\/p>\n
I felt very, very sad, watching this whole scene. Is this the
\nway the entire young generation is receiving its political
\neducation? And can we call this \"political education\"? I really
\nwonder. And if after every hard struggle and much emotional agony
\nchildren like my grandson manage to memorize the entire Pancasila
\npledge, does it really mean that they have succeeded in
\ninternalizing the Pancasila spirit: religiosity and religious
\ntolerance, humane and civilized humanity, national unity and
\nnationalism, democracy and people's sovereignty, and social
\njustice? I doubt it.<\/p>\n
In my opinion Pancasila education should not consist of
\ndrilling exercises towards memorizing the whole pledge, but
\nshould primarily consist of efforts to make children understand
\nthe meaning of the five principles of Pancasila and internalize
\nthe values that are contained in those five principles. Pancasila
\neducation should not, in my opinion, be reduced to mere
\nverbalism. It should be elevated to become the main educational
\ninstrument for stimulating the development of personal character,
\nnationalism, and humanism within each child.<\/p>\n
Another aspect of this episode that makes me deeply perturbed
\nis that this method of teaching Pancasila at the kindergarten
\nlevel is clearly in violation of one of the basic principles of
\npedagogy. If I am not mistaken, one of the first maxims of
\npedagogy is that we should never treat children like miniature
\nadults. We should not dress them like adults, we should not talk
\nto them like we talk to adults and we should not require them to
\nthink like adults.<\/p>\n
Children need clothes that suit their needs and age. This
\nclothing style will gradually change to become an adult clothing
\nstyle. Children have their own language, children's language,
\nwhich will gradually develop into adult language. And children
\nhave their own logic, which in time will develop into adult
\nlogic.<\/p>\n
The big question we have to answer in this respect is how to
\nrectify the situation. I do not think that this problem can be
\nseparated from that of examining the educational validity of the
\ncurrent design for political education for the entire school
\nsystem in this country. What is happening to my grandson and his
\nclassmates is not an isolated incident. Throughout the nation
\nPancasila education within the formal school system is done in
\nthe same way: by rote memorization, first of the five principles,
\nand later on of any official formulation of national political
\ndecisions. The emphasis has always been on memorization, not on
\nunderstanding; on acceptance as an expression of political
\nloyalty, and not on critical scrutiny. The end result is that
\nformal political education brings about competence only in
\nrepeating official slogans and repeating official arguments, and
\nnot on competence in analyzing the current situation and finding
\nalternatives for a future course.<\/p>\n
It is only after we find a solution to this general problem
\nthat we will be able to address the specific problem of improving
\npolitical education at the kindergarten level. It is only after
\nwe have agreed on the general design of political education in
\nour schools that we will be able to talk about political
\neducation at the kindergarten level that conforms to the basic
\npremises of preschool education.<\/p>\n
How long will it be before we find solutions to these
\nproblems? And what will happen in the meantime to our children?
\nThis is another worry. If we take the time factor into account,
\nthen we will realize that we just cannot wait idly until a
\nsolution is decreed by the government. This is a problem, in my
\nopinion, that teachers and parents alike should be concerned
\nabout. Indifference on the part of parents -- and grandparents, I
\nsuppose -- will lead to an educational situation where our
\nchildren will become increasingly conditioned to look at the real
\nworld through ideological spectacles and become estranged from
\nthe realities of political life in this country. They will become
\ncitizens who will be able to conform, but not to reform or
\ntransform.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/political-education-begins-in-kindergarten-1447893297",
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