Preference to white-skinned teachers

Preference to white-skinned teachers Muhammad Iqbal Jakarta

The number of new schools that are being developed in the Greater Jakarta region is an indication of the growing number of options available to parents considering their children's education. However, it might also be an indication of the growing number of people that are entering into the world of education and, perhaps, their motives are not always solely philanthropic and selfless in nature.

There is a growing number of people who are entering into education with little more than the desire to make money from a growing market. That growing market is the many parents who are frustrated with the national education scene and are looking for alternatives.

But the search for alternative routes or forms of education should not been done idly or blindly. Although it may seem odd to say this, it is increasingly important parents shop around for the right school for their children. There are indeed some "right" schools but it has to be realized that there are also some quite "wrong" ones that offer no great improvements to what exists nationally.

Also, parents must adopt a sophisticated approach to education and apparent educators. They should not be easily fooled into believing the promises of school managers or in the credentials of school staff members.

A recent article in this newspaper, by a representative of a national plus school, set about defending the role of expatriate teachers in Indonesia. A part of this article revolved around the idea that the "market (Indonesian parents) prefer any expatriate to a talented Indonesian teacher." This is key question and problem for us as educators and parents in Indonesia.

This offensive idea that we might choose "any expatriate" ahead of and instead of talented Indonesian teachers should not be allowed to stand unchallenged. The awful reality is that often good and even excellent Indonesian teachers are overlooked in preference to expatriate teachers and this amounts to nothing more than prejudice and racism.

What makes this situation even more unacceptable is the fact that often highly capable, experienced and qualified Indonesian teachers have to suffer the ignominy of being required to "assist" or be "directed" by expatriate teachers who may, in fact, not even really be teachers. Alternatively these expatriate teachers turn out to be either of limited educational experience or have educational experiences that are not up-to-date. One former colleague of mine described some expatriate teachers in Jakarta as "the teachers that could not find work in schools in their own countries."

Such a statement, indeed, may seem overly hard but we can see examples that suggest that sometimes it may not be too far from the truth.

A friend, who has enjoyed success in both working in industry and in education, applied to two private schools in Jakarta for a teaching post. With a bachelor's degree from Australia, a master's from the United States and work experience around the world, he can objectively be seen as a highly qualified and competent teacher with a wealth and depth of experience that any school should be wanting and happy to receive within its teaching staff.

Both of the schools that this excellent teacher went to for interview ultimately turned his application down and, it is known, that the teachers that were selected for the positions turned out to be expatriates. In the one case it is known that the selected candidate had no teaching experience and had not even completed a university degree in any subject. In the other case, the successful candidate's age would make it clear that he could not possibly offer the same depth and wealth of experience and qualifications.

Of course, many factors influence the recruitment policies and practices of any organization, (even, quite subjectively, personalities can sway a decision) but in a case such as this it is difficult to see the rationale behind the recruitment decision. An Indonesian of high caliber has been overlooked and expatriates of lowly caliber have been selected. Perhaps, in fact, it is not so difficult to see the rationale to the recruitment decision. Perhaps "the market" and race have intervened.

But the market and race should not be allowed to intervene in this way. Schools must make decisions based on the educational need that they have and the educational objectives that they are setting out to achieve. The selection of a candidate simply on the basis that he or she is a Westerner or simply not Indonesian cannot be seen as legitimate.

We have allowed ourselves to look negatively upon Indonesian education and Indonesian teachers and, certainly, there are good and unfortunate reasons for this. However we should not let this blind us to the real world of education and educators, and in particular those that would come to Indonesia claiming to be educators.

A while back I met an expatriate teacher at a private school in Jakarta. He handed me his name-card and after his name appeared a series of letters to indicate the various qualifications that he had. I looked at them and wondered whether he had ever done anything outside of education (in the real world, as they say).

During our conversation I turned to ideas about differentiated teaching and looking at multiple intelligences in the classroom. This person seemed to become nervous and it became clear that he had little knowledge of what I was talking about.

Expatriate teachers may be fine in our schools but it essential that they are really contributing to our schools' development. Parents should not just look for the white faces among the teaching staff of schools; they should and must look for people that can truly educate their children. If they happen to be expatriates this is fine but if they also happen to be Indonesians that should be fine too.

The market should not be simplistically defined through ignorance of what is really required; it must be defined by the suppliers, the schools that employ real teachers.

The writer is a teacher and educational counselor.