Quality in Teaching -- Who is Responsible?<\/p>\n
Andrew Vivian
\nSurabaya<\/p>\n
A recent article in this newspaper about the quality of
\nexpatriate teachers in Indonesian schools raised some important
\nissues, and some serious concerns, about the employment of
\nforeign teachers in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
What we do need to understand is that we exist in a global
\nsociety. For this reason, in every country, there are foreign
\nworkers who bring in their skills and knowledge.<\/p>\n
Indonesian education is in rapid transition, from a system
\ndesigned to provide a basic education for all, to one which
\ngreatly facilitates Indonesia's competitiveness in global
\nsituations. The current Kurikulum 2004 is a framework for
\nreflecting these needs, and educational trends internationally.
\nIt was devised in consultation with experts from outside
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
For an organization to effectively manage change, a major
\nrequirement is training and development of its personnel. In
\neducation, as in a number of other areas in Indonesian society,
\nthe expertise needed may not be available in this country.
\nExpatriate workers are hired in management and consulting
\npositions to improve organizational structures and to train and
\ndevelop their Indonesian colleagues.<\/p>\n
There often seems to be a discrepancy between the salaries of
\nexpatriates and their Indonesian colleagues. There are two
\nreasons for this perception.<\/p>\n
First, to attract quality expatriates, salaries and benefits
\nmust be lucrative enough to lure them from their home countries.
\n\"If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.\" The fact that salaries and
\nconditions paid to expatriate teachers and other professionals
\ntend to be far higher than that of their Indonesian counterparts
\nis not the fault of expatriates. Who sets the levels of pay for
\nIndonesian citizens at rates that allow some to become
\nunimaginably wealthy, while the vast majority struggle to make
\nends meet?<\/p>\n
Second, the work of expatriates is not the same as their
\nIndonesian colleagues. They are bringing different skills to the
\norganization, and are paid the \"market price\" for them.<\/p>\n
It is economically unwise to pay a foreign worker a high
\nsalary to do the same job as an Indonesian teacher. An
\nexperienced, qualified expatriate teacher can add value to a
\nschool by mentoring Indonesia colleagues in teaching and learning
\nstrategies, by collaboratively planning courses and units of work
\nand by modeling good teaching.<\/p>\n
In Indonesian private schools that employ expatriates, the
\nowners are usually Indonesians. The expatriate teachers,
\npresumably, carry out the wishes of their employers. If a school
\nhires under-qualified expatriate teachers, and allows them to
\n\"lord it over\" their Indonesian colleagues, then it is the
\nresponsibility of the Indonesian owners to rectify the situation.<\/p>\n
There seems to be an anomaly by which some teachers employed
\nin English Language schools find their way into some schools.
\nSomeone who has done a 12-week (Teaching English as a Second
\nLanguage) TESOL course might be competent at teaching after-
\nschool English classes, but they are unlikely to provide regular
\nschool students with as much value as an experienced school
\nteacher with a university degree and professional teacher
\ntraining.<\/p>\n
If there are schools that retain less-than-competent
\nexpatriate teachers, then one needs to inquire into the reasons.
\nPerhaps the \"market\" (ie: Indonesian parents) prefer any
\nexpatriate to a talented Indonesian teacher? The choices in
\naccepting such a situation are made by the school community.<\/p>\n
It seems that private education is providing such a
\nbewildering array of choices that many parents may not be able to
\nkeep up. The well-off (in every country) have the opinion that
\ngovernment education is poor, and seek something better. What
\n\"better\" actually means is different for each family.<\/p>\n
In such an environment, it is easy for businesspeople, with
\nno background in education, to set up a school that panders to
\ncurrent market tastes, but, which may be educationally suspect.
\nThus we see schools that heavily promote a particular religion,
\nor the education from another country, or instruction in a
\nparticular language. Parents get what they want, but, ultimately,
\nmany do not want what they get. And, what is the long-term effect
\non the students?<\/p>\n
One of the wonderful things about working in an Indonesian
\nschool is to see the abilities and potential of Indonesian
\nteachers and students. There are many, many examples of
\nindividual successes of Indonesian students and teachers, but the
\neducation system nationally is under-resourced and Indonesian
\nteachers are under-paid.<\/p>\n
Most schools do not have the resources, expertise or time
\nneeded to provide teachers with the skills and knowledge they
\nneed to deliver the new curriculum. However, like teachers all
\nover the world, the good teachers will battle on and make
\nsomething of it, and the not-so-good will close their classroom
\ndoor and continue doing what they have always done.<\/p>\n
A growing number of schools in Indonesia are becoming known
\nnationally, and in the region, as good schools, because of the
\nquality of their human resources and their programs. Currently,
\nthey are usually in wealthy neighborhoods, because they have the
\nresources to look globally for the expertise needed to develop
\ntheir Indonesian teachers with international standards of
\nprofessionalism. This includes hiring quality expatriate
\nteachers.<\/p>\n
These schools can be a resource for other Indonesian schools,
\nby sharing expertise and providing assistance and advice. They
\nare a major source of talented Indonesian teachers, who have a
\nglobal perspective about education. These teachers will move out
\ninto other schools and take their skills and knowledge with them.
\nTheir places will be taken by other teachers, eager to make a
\ndifference.<\/p>\n
The writer is the principal of Ciputra High School in
\nSurabaya.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/quality-in-teaching-who-is-responsible-1447899208",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}