Ahead of 2004 curriculum, teachers must focus more on students
Ahead of 2004 curriculum, teachers must focus more on students
Simon Marcus Gower
Director of Research and Development
Harapan Bangsa School
Tangerang, Banten
The role of the teacher in Indonesia, as with most other
places around the world, is changing. The role of the teacher is
and has to be an ever-changing one. But for many in Indonesia the
modern day shift in emphasis of what a teacher is and what a
teacher should do has, perhaps, not been easy to accommodate.
But teachers must accommodate change as the implementation of
a new curriculum, that of 2004, draws nearer -- that will demand
that they change.
The need for change and flexibility in teaching is undeniable
and as we are increasingly exposed to the vagaries of
globalization, teaching, and an accompanying appreciation of
learning, has to be able to respond.
The ability to change and appreciate such challenges means
that the shift in emphasis for teachers has been one in which
they have, at least somewhat, been taken away from center stage.
Here, student-based learning is where the emphasis lies.
Bringing the learners and the learning process to the center
so that they are the key determinants of how an education
develops and grows.
Learner-based education recognizes that learning is best
conducted as a multi-faceted activity and relationship. In the
past, and indeed many retain this mentality today, learning has
been viewed with the singular simplicity of the spoon-feeding
procedure. The learner is marginalized -- implicitly made passive
and thus less effective.
People still entertain the pitiful notion that a learner is
mostly an empty container into which the teacher simply pours the
facts, figures and knowledge generally. The piteous way in which
this misses both opportunity and reality is something that a
learner-centered approach to education directly seeks to redress.
By focusing on the learning and the learner, a series of
relationships and activities are opened up that make the whole
approach far more respectful, holistic and able to capitalize on
the valuable innate qualities that the learners already possess.
Rather than a straightforward teacher-to-student instructor
relationship, other more complex and receptive relationships may
be realized. For example, there is a student-to-teacher
relationship, student-to-student encounters and the potential for
teachers and students to work alongside each other in project-
based type work. Implicit here is the very real notion that
teamwork may and probably should exist in providing and
developing an education.
These conditions, then, alter the learning environment and
should enhance the learning experience in a number of ways. The
divisions separating "teachers" and "students" are broken down.
With the removal of such divisions a more positive sense of
belonging and participation may emerge, in which the notion of
"we" are working towards learning encourages participation and
creativity in the process of learning.
There should be no fear of the prospect that sometimes the
teacher is learning and sometimes the student is teaching. The
teacher that believes that he has nothing to learn from his
students probably should not really be a teacher.
By creating such a key role for the learner, in which a
realization may emerge that the learner may both learn and
progress to teach, a real sense of involvement and responsibility
can be nurtured. This can and should, then, logically and
naturally extend beyond the classroom so that the learner does
not just switch off when a class session has finished.
A sense of involvement and responsibility can act as a
motivator, and the negative perception of going to school being a
chore, rather than a positive choice, can be sidelined.
The weaknesses of learning by rote are all too obvious. Simple
repetition and thoughtless automaton-like following of the
teacher are of little value in the modern world. The ability to
think and think with originality and creativity is a far more
beneficial outcome from education.
Learner-centered education should seek out such originality
and creativity. The depth in the learning process that may be
achieved through the students and teachers actively participating
in the learning process is fundamentally important.
With such participation there is the prospect of near
unlimited creativity and consequent intellectual and social
development. Provided that this participation is well managed,
the outcomes can be rewarding for all.
The sense of fulfillment and achievement can be great when
both learner and teacher feel that they have made a discovery and
truly advanced themselves or others.
In the past it may have been sufficient to simplify our world
for learning purposes. But if not cautiously and well done, such
simplification can alter or even destroy the reality on which it
is based.
Modern education should seek to maximize students' ability to
think of and understand the world in which they must participate.
Their participation in their own education is a vital ingredient
in this preparation to participate in the wider world.
Modern teachers, then, need to be able to maximize the
opportunities for students to develop their powers of creativity
and originality. This has the knock-on effect of requiring that
teachers are creative, flexible and able to adapt to new ideas.
The Indonesian education system is moving towards this with
the design of the new curriculum; so the sooner teachers open
themselves up to new ways and a more student focused approach the
better.
It should be possible for teachers to retain the necessary
respect and regard from their students -- but this is attained,
not simply assumed and taken for granted. The learner should be
able to reach a point where he appreciates and values his
teachers' input and participation in his education.
In Indonesia, the "us and them" division between teachers and
students is still too great. With the aims of the new curriculum
teachers will have to think more carefully about their
relationship with students; and in turn make students the center
of their attention.