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.