Applying 'Deep Learning' Approach Encourages Teachers to Write Boldly

Surabaya (ANTARA) - During a ‘Supercamp Menulis’ event at SSC Ponorogo, East Java, attended by state vocational high school (SMK) teachers, a participant asked, ‘How do you write well?’

Spontaneously, I answered, ‘Write about something you have experienced. Let it spring from the soul of your professional experience, enrich it with feeling and heart, so that the writing has a soul. Writing with a soul is far more valuable than mere argumentative messages based on logic and paradigms alone.’

The participants appeared enthusiastic and discovered a new space for contemplation that they might never have found before. I call this writing approach ‘deep learning in writing’.

The deep learning approach centres on how participants not only understand a problem but truly realise and find meaning in the material they face, enabling them to practise it in daily life. Because the participants are teachers, it is beneficial for the habituation and development of their teaching profession.

Deep learning, as per the policy of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, is essentially a learning process that relies on three pillars: mindful learning, meaningful learning, and joyful learning.

In the practice of teacher writing training, deep learning provides an exploration of professional experience through written expression that is not only mindful but also meaningful for the professional life they lead, in an explorative and creative manner.

In the practice of deep learning to start writing, here is an interesting explorative experience based on three important steps that can be modelled.

First, the importance of exploring ideas and materials based on real experiences—what is seen, heard, thought, and felt. This stage is the most important because it is where the essence of the writing is ‘cooked’ through the maturity of the soul and the intelligence of the mind.

Analytical skills are required, along with quality argumentation based on data and facts, and how the writing material can find a value of awareness so that it can be presented expressively, fluidly, mindfully, and substantively. Writing with a soul truly springs from such things.

Here is an example of an explorative process of a writer’s awareness that can be pondered.

A participant asked, ‘Why not build something bigger? Why not pursue a higher position? Why not establish a large Islamic boarding school, a grand educational institution, a large company, or become a figure known to many? Why is it important for us to build culture and civilisation through writing?’

I did not answer immediately. Because such questions cannot be adequately answered with logic. They must be answered by life’s journey and experiences that are fully mindful and meaningful. They need to be answered with a sincere heart, a pure soul, and profound feeling.