Putting emphasis more on learning

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): It has been said that a good teacher is one who constantly and continuously studies or learns. The moment teachers stop learning, they begin to decline in their teaching competence.

When they stop reading anything related to their teaching functions, then they will no longer be capable of performing a good teaching job. They will become dead wood.

This insight has now been accepted in many educational circles, especially in relatively "enlightened" ones. The complaint frequently expressed in these circles is that the majority of our present stock of teachers are only sufficiently prepared in methods of teaching, not in methods of learning.

The few theories of learning some teachers have received during their training are usually related primarily to how children learn. Most of them have never had a course on how adults learn, and how communities learn.

Without sufficient skills in dealing with a vast variety of leaning material, most teachers become lost when they are put in a rich learning environment. They feel frightened. And they feel too embarrassed to ask for help from the attendants. Most of them just shied away from good libraries and other learning centers.

The end result of this situation is that the majority of our school teachers stop learning once they begin to function as classroom teachers. The impact of this condition upon the nation is that the learning capability of the younger generation has gradually become weaker and weaker. Only the best among them can make some sense out of the wealth of information that has become available in our environment. The majority of them cannot even distinguish the important items from the trivial ones. At the end, this very much affects the learning capabilities of our nation.

If we want to stop this situation, and make the young generation gain a greater learning capability and be capable of dealing effectively with their problems, then we must teach them how to learn from daily life situations. We must teach them how to learn formally, non-formally, and informally.

Looking at the present condition pertaining to the young generation, I think that basically there are three capabilities the young generation should acquire with regard to learning. These three can be reached through educational guidance, which consists of three equal parts: (1) guidance in academic learning; (2) guidance in learning to know the world of labor market; and (3) guidance in understanding the process of socio-cultural transformation that has been going on in our society.

Capabilities in academic learning is very important to make the young generation digest all the information that comes into their lives, build up their personal repertoire of knowledge, and eventually acquire some wisdom in their life. Without these capability they will never be really literate in their lives, whether economically, politically, socially or culturally.

The capability to learn to understand the opportunities and the dictates of the labor market is very vital for their economic well-being. The majority of our young people today do not have any knowledge about the intricacies of the labor market. Also they are unaware of the existence of many pre-occupational training opportunities. This has led in many cases to months, sometimes even years, of frustrating job hunting, and the acceptance of underemployment. This waste of manpower and energy can be significantly reduced by providing the young generation with capabilities in reading and interpreting available information about the labor market.

The capability to understand the ongoing socio-cultural transformation is very much needed to generate a positive attitude toward the future. If I am not mistaken a very great number of sincere young people in this country see their future in very dark perspectives. They have no idea concerning the possibilities that are still open in the future for this nation and this country. Capability in deciphering the present, and building images about the future are essential to fight against loss of faith in the nation's capability to build up a better future.

Can all this be done? This is a challenge that Indonesian educators have to answer.

The writer is rector of the IKIP-Muhammadiyah Teachers Training College.