Political education begins in kindergarten

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): For about two weeks I watched my grandson struggling very hard to memorize the five principles of Pancasila. The first principle, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa Belief in One God), was easy enough for him. When it came to the second principle, Kemanusiaan Yang Adil dan Beradab (Just and Civilized Humanity), he had trouble. He just could not get the word kemanusiaan (humanity) pronounced right.

Instead of saying ke-ma-nu-si-a-an he always kept saying ke-ma-nu-si-an. He constantly failed to pronounce the syllable "a" before the last syllable "an". His mother -- my daughter -- became impatient. Sternly she said: "No, Dana, it is wrong. It is not ke-ma-nu-si-an but ke-ma-nu-si-a-an. I saw that my grandson was quite close to crying.

I tried to come to the rescue. "Okay, Dana, let us do it together. Repeat after Eyang (grandfather), okay?" I said the word ke-ma-nu-si-a-an very slowly. He repeated it. Then we said it again together: ma-nu-si-a (human being). We said this word several times. Then I broke down the word kemanusiaan into its components, ke-manusia-an, saying it also very slowly. He repeated it correctly and then we said it together several times, each time a little faster. Finally I asked him to say the entire word by himself. He did it. His clouded face was gone and the tears were also gone. He smiled broadly.

My grandson is six years and four months old. He is still at kindergarten. He was born in the United States and came home to Indonesia only at the end of August, last year. His Bahasa Indonesia is basically okay, I think. He still makes a few mistakes here and there. He knows the difference between kita (we) and saya (I). On the whole, however, I think that he speaks the Bahasa Indonesia quite well. His knowledge of the language is, of course, still too limited to understand and repeat by heart those formal phrases within the Pancasila pledge. This became quite obvious when he had to memorize the longest principle, the fourth one: Kerakyatan Yang Dipimpin Oleh Hikmah Kebijaksanaan Dalam Permusyawaratan Perwakilan (Sovereignty of the people led by the wisdom of deliberation among representatives). Could you memorize this long phrase yourself? I stumble every time.

I felt very, very sad, watching this whole scene. Is this the way the entire young generation is receiving its political education? And can we call this "political education"? I really wonder. And if after every hard struggle and much emotional agony children like my grandson manage to memorize the entire Pancasila pledge, does it really mean that they have succeeded in internalizing the Pancasila spirit: religiosity and religious tolerance, humane and civilized humanity, national unity and nationalism, democracy and people's sovereignty, and social justice? I doubt it.

In my opinion Pancasila education should not consist of drilling exercises towards memorizing the whole pledge, but should primarily consist of efforts to make children understand the meaning of the five principles of Pancasila and internalize the values that are contained in those five principles. Pancasila education should not, in my opinion, be reduced to mere verbalism. It should be elevated to become the main educational instrument for stimulating the development of personal character, nationalism, and humanism within each child.

Another aspect of this episode that makes me deeply perturbed is that this method of teaching Pancasila at the kindergarten level is clearly in violation of one of the basic principles of pedagogy. If I am not mistaken, one of the first maxims of pedagogy is that we should never treat children like miniature adults. We should not dress them like adults, we should not talk to them like we talk to adults and we should not require them to think like adults.

Children need clothes that suit their needs and age. This clothing style will gradually change to become an adult clothing style. Children have their own language, children's language, which will gradually develop into adult language. And children have their own logic, which in time will develop into adult logic.

The big question we have to answer in this respect is how to rectify the situation. I do not think that this problem can be separated from that of examining the educational validity of the current design for political education for the entire school system in this country. What is happening to my grandson and his classmates is not an isolated incident. Throughout the nation Pancasila education within the formal school system is done in the same way: by rote memorization, first of the five principles, and later on of any official formulation of national political decisions. The emphasis has always been on memorization, not on understanding; on acceptance as an expression of political loyalty, and not on critical scrutiny. The end result is that formal political education brings about competence only in repeating official slogans and repeating official arguments, and not on competence in analyzing the current situation and finding alternatives for a future course.

It is only after we find a solution to this general problem that we will be able to address the specific problem of improving political education at the kindergarten level. It is only after we have agreed on the general design of political education in our schools that we will be able to talk about political education at the kindergarten level that conforms to the basic premises of preschool education.

How long will it be before we find solutions to these problems? And what will happen in the meantime to our children? This is another worry. If we take the time factor into account, then we will realize that we just cannot wait idly until a solution is decreed by the government. This is a problem, in my opinion, that teachers and parents alike should be concerned about. Indifference on the part of parents -- and grandparents, I suppose -- will lead to an educational situation where our children will become increasingly conditioned to look at the real world through ideological spectacles and become estranged from the realities of political life in this country. They will become citizens who will be able to conform, but not to reform or transform.