Right education for building a democracy

Right education for building a democracy

By A. Chaedar Alwasilah

Democracy is like a raft. It never sinks, but, damn it, your
feet are always in the water. -- D.W. Brogan, The Free State.

BANDUNG (JP): The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union
was perceived as a symbol of supremacy of democracy over
communism. The contemporary world witnessed these historic events
with astonishment and now believes democracy is the most valid
form of government.

Democracy enhances the development of human potential in
various aspects, through equality of access to education and
active participation in all walks of life. The trend is
particularly evident in recent years.

At home, Soeharto's downfall last year marked the beginning of
the democracy era. Indeed not until May 1998 did the Indonesian
people gain independence from their own ruler. It took years of
hardship, suffering and incessant struggle to drive him to step
down, yet there will be more years of trouble and effort ahead of
us to maintain democracy as the sole teaching and the very
foundation for building the nation.

Democracy presumes the existence of enlightened and rational
citizens, respect for human dignity, equality and commitment to
work together toward a common end. A theory says that these
values are truly in accord with the pillars of the state
ideology, Pancasila, a genuine concept unearthed from the soil of
the newly founded Indonesia.

Unfortunately, the concept was buried again for decades. The
biggest agenda of the country on entering the third millennium is
indeed educating the bureaucrats how to exercise democracy.

Why the bureaucrats?

In Max Weber's framework, bureaucracy leads to antidemocracy.
Increasingly complex problems of coordination and regulation
cause expansion of the state, as much as government becomes the
biggest bureaucracy in the society. Weber alerts us to the
antidemocracy potential inherent in the ruling bureaucracy,
namely the ruling group aspiring to maintain the status quo.

How is education for democracy carried out? First of all, in
democratic countries all citizens are entitled to basic
education. The government should provide them with basic
education. Second, the sustainability of democracy is assured by
dint of education, namely basic education for all and lifelong
education, both of which should be promoted in a democratic
environment.

The burning question is: Have all the citizens received basic
education yet? Unfortunately, the answer is negative.

In 1997 alone, according to data from the Ministry of
Education and Culture, the school-age population, ranging from
elementary to high school levels, was 52.7 million, while the
number of school dropouts was 17.5 million. Now, as the country
endures social conflicts and economic collapse, many more youths
will swell the number of school dropouts. The statistics tell us
that so far the government is not able to provide citizens with
basic education, thus indicating democracy is not fully exercised
yet.

Lifelong education suggests the completion of formal education
is not the end of education. It presupposes the formation of a
learning society, one where ongoing learning activities will be
broadly embraced. Opportunities for lifelong education should be
made available to the greater number of citizens as part of the
right to education, and not be restricted to a few.

To be successful, lifelong education must be based on basic
education during which students will have acquired basic learning
and language skills to enable them to make good use of available
opportunities of continued learning. Outside school walls, there
constitutes a lifelong learning laboratory in which democracy is
learned and exercised. It is in this laboratory that the values
of dignity, equality, mutual trust, appreciation of others'
belief and culture and freedom of expression are observed.

The goal of education for democracy is essentially to enhance
the human qualities imbued with the values mentioned above, i.e.,
to make those values internalized in the citizens, so that they
can fully participate in all aspects of life, including
democratic decision-making at all levels that will lead to
equality, justice and peace.

How should the goals above be operationalized in the
curriculum? The content areas of education for democracy include
the following.

* Information and knowledge on democratic principles, various
forms of democratic governance, political institutions and
democracy in practice, democratic ways of life including
nonviolent conflict resolution, dialog and consultation,
collective decision-making and cooperation.

* Attitude and values to be inculcated to promote democracy in
daily life. This comprises mutual trust, belief in human dignity,
equality, freedom of expression, recognition of other's rights,
especially of minorities and the deprived, belief in
participation, cooperation and the need for sharing and caring.

The upcoming general election under Habibie's administration
will be his greatest lesson on democracy to all the citizens of
Indonesia, and the whole world as an eyewitness. High school
students, as well as other citizens, will go to the ballot to
exercise long-awaited democracy. The nation has learned a lot
about democracy but, unfortunately, there have been no good
teachers. Unless the general election is carried out fairly,
education for democracy held in the classroom will contribute
nothing to political maturation at home.

What skills are to be taught to students? To practice
democracy, they should have skills of expression and
articulation, dialog, consultation, participation, teamwork and
cooperation, negotiation, decision-making and peaceful solution
of problems. Education for democracy is a continuing process;
appropriately introduced at all levels and forms of education
through an integrated approach or through special subjects. These
skills are to be taught not by civics or social studies teachers
alone, but teachers of all school subjects. Those skills are
essentially communication skills instrumental for transferring
and developing knowledge.

Teaching democracy across the curriculum entails
reconstructing textbooks, with major emphasis on the value of
building challenges to student's thinking rather than emphasizing
only factual information with indoctrinating overtones, a common
characteristic of textbooks during the New Order.

Basic to developing democratic ethos and attitudes is
reflective thinking as the means through which curricular
elements are unified. Teachers transfer knowledge to their
students in democratic ways, where students are free to
articulate their opinion and even to disagree with the teachers.
Both teachers and students agree that truth is never final and
always negotiable.

Developed in the classroom, reflection is extended to social
problem solving. In other words, reflective thinking is the
testing of conclusion through application. Once they are taught
the meaning of Pancasila democracy, for example, the students
will critically observe whether the 1999 general election is
carried out fairly. And if it is not, like those during the New
Order period, Pancasila will not be perceived as a valid form of
government.

Language teachers play major roles in developing communication
skills for "doing" democracy. Verbal skills are particularly
essential in developing competence for engaging in dialog,
negotiation, teamwork, cooperation and collective decision-
making. Indonesia is culturally rich in languages, religions,
music, arts, literature, dance and games. These constitute
themes, topic, and materials to be adopted and adapted for
teaching democracy. It is in diversity that democracy counts a
great deal.

The writer is a lecturer at Bandung Teachers Training
Institute, West Java