Schools must be able to stimulate their students to love learning

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.