Schools must be able to stimulate their students to love learning

Simon Marcus Gower, Executive Principal, High/Scope School, Jakarta

Classrooms in Indonesian schools can be sombre places. Heavy benches behind which students sit in regimented rows. Walls with meager decorations hardly portray any evidence of active use of the space, but funds may be a problem here.

However, even slightly exuberant behavior from students may be construed as unruly and is quickly put down by a dictatorial teacher. Certainly this is not every classroom in Indonesia but many times this scene may be observed and how contrary to what a classroom could, and probably should, be it is.

Sombre classrooms generate a negative environment that makes the teacher's job all the more difficult. It is one of the most regrettable features of regimented and militaristic approaches to education, and in particular classroom management and control, that the natural youthful exuberance and playful and curious activity of school students can be quashed by a heavy handed dictatorial teacher.

All too often it is possible to observe highly active, (and even well motivated to learn), students that are reprimanded for their behavior. Too often such students are made to feel a sense of shame or even guilt for being active in class.

An example illustrates this -- one student of a south Jakarta high school gained something of a reputation for "disturbing other students". This reputation was such that he would be regularly warned and admonished for his conduct and even sent to the headmaster's office.

A little inspection of the circumstances here revealed that the student was hardly "disturbing" his fellow students. He was in fact a highly capable student and so was well able to complete his tasks ahead of others. His apparent "disturbing" of others was more often than not an understandable curiosity in what others were doing.

Often it seemed that his teachers were not well placed to contain and divert this student's behavior toward more favorable outcomes. Instead his conduct was construed, and allowed to become, an unwanted presence in the classroom.

This strikes to the heart of what needs to happen in so very many of Indonesia's classrooms. A "presence" needs to be nurtured; a presence that speaks to the hearts and minds of students and says to them that the classroom is a place of learning and learning is a wonderful thing to possess.

It is probably fair to say that all around the world students at some time or other come to begrudge going to school or attending certain classes, but creating a good atmosphere in the class goes a long way to ameliorating these negative feelings.

Nurturing a conducive environment for learning does not necessarily mean that money needs to be spent or facilities installed. The teacher alone can create an atmosphere that is positive and appealing just by being receptive, responsive and attentive to students' human needs.

Still, too often within classrooms it is possible to observe an overbearing and oppressive drive from teachers to pass on the required knowledge and demand retention, (mostly in terms of short-term memory), and neglect any depth of understanding.

Recent interviews with senior high students illustrated this type of experience. Asked how well they were handling concepts and tasks in the subject of economics they consistently expressed confusion and lack of understanding.

When asked why they did not ask their teacher to help them, they said they did ask for such help. So what was the problem? The teacher would, apparently, sideline such enquiries with curt statements like, "We don't have time for that now. We have too much to get through. Let's continue!"

Here, then, true understanding and learning was sadly neglected. The teacher, perhaps understandably but not really forgivably, was rushing through the material; no doubt to meet the targets identified in the syllabus.

But simply ticking off topics or tasks on a list as having been covered did nothing for his students. They were left perplexed and far away from any good or positive learning experience.

For them learning was not something that they were enjoying or in anyway forming a sense of love for. Sadly for them learning was becoming a minefield of problems, confusions and lack of understanding that only made their school life more of a chore and more of a difficult encounter.

It is probably an extremely simplistic notion but it is one that is worth remembering in the classroom -- namely that if we enjoy doing something, it is quite likely that we will do a good job or achieve reasonable success in doing the thing.

If we can only construe what we do as a chore, as a bind that is not at all pleasurable or easy for us to do, then what we do is doubtless going to become more difficult.

Obviously not all school learning experiences can be enjoyable or pleasurable for all of the students all of the time but by maintaining a commitment to not unduly stressing students a greater sense of enjoyment and hence love of learning may be nurtured. Some teachers have been encountered that actually take pleasure in burdening their students with negative notions.

For example, a teacher of math consistently noted her pleasure in welcoming new students with the line that the subject proves difficult for most students but she would "at least try to help them pass", a rather derogatory and harmful statement.

Just by setting a different, more positive tone this teacher could always create a better learning environment that encourages and motivates rather than instills fear and loathing for the learning ahead. Teachers are the leaders of the class and as such have to create a series of relationships that will help students in their understanding and learning.

The classroom is not an empty shell. It is not merely some neutral space in which the mere gathering of knowledge happens to take place. It is, in fact, a venue for a near endless rendezvous of hearts and minds that can open-up the wonderful world of learning for both teachers and students.

The spirit of wonder and enjoyment of learning is something that good teachers can bring to the classroom. The barest and most rudimentary of classrooms can still be the venue for excellent learning experiences. Facilities help but without heart and commitment, great facilities count for little. Schools that address the very human needs of their students are likely to enjoy greater successes.

Active students should be encouraged to actively learn and learning should be a life experience. Learning should be a memorable encounter. Boredom and dull experiences in school are counter-productive. Bringing life to the learning will foster a love of learning.

It is said that a lesson lived is a lesson learned. Within schools learning should be lived, should be alive and then learning may truly be effective.

The opinions expressed above are personal.