Schools should give a sense of stability

Simon Marcus Gower, Director, Research and Development, Harapan Bangsa School, Tangerang, Banten

These are difficult times for schools. Pictures have now become commonplace of schools either closed because of concerns over SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) such as in Batam or the taking of precautions against the possible spread of SARS. Even in classrooms in the capital city Jakarta children have been attending classes wearing masks over their mouths and noses. But the extent of the threat from SARS really does not seem to be clear yet. Naturally concerns exist as to how infectious and dangerous it really is.

It is natural and appropriate for schools to be cautious under potentially dangerous conditions but it is equally important that schools do not contribute unnecessarily to people's fears. Concern may easily spill over into paranoia and the distance between paranoia and panic is not great.

As yet the extent of the threat locally from SARS is still being explored and indeed the extent of the threat globally has hardly been fully determined. Undoubtedly complacency cannot be condoned but a realistic and educational position needs to be adopted that ensures that people possess the best and most comprehensive knowledge of what is really going on.

In essence it is incumbent upon schools to respond and react to what is happening in the wider world with a sense of proportion and wisdom that informs and guides its students. SARS is perhaps just one example of a world issue that schools must respond to and find appropriate policies for. But our current times bring a litany of issues and potential difficulties that may prove problematic for schools to respond to.

No matter how problematic or even controversial the issues are, it is vital that schools offer their students a sense of stability and understanding of what is going on. This has to be achieved by educating students about current affairs and considering why things are happening and what would constitute an appropriate response.

Appreciation of, and thoughtfulness regarding, current affairs is, perhaps, a key area of education in schools that needs to be developed in Indonesia. Quite often students in Indonesian schools seem less aware of what is going on around them and they lack thoughtfulness in forming opinions and responses to what is happening in the world currently.

Clearly there is a need for students to be encouraged to read more. Whether it is a newspaper or a magazine, the greater depth of thought and stimulation to thought that comes from reading is something that many Indonesian school students are not fully appreciating.

Obviously a teacher's and school's role in guiding students to awareness of current affairs can be critical. Left to their own devices students will only delve into the relatively limited news that they can access through television. They really need to be guided and educated to seek out a greater depth and width to their worldview and teachers may be key players in bringing this to students' attention.

But examples from Indonesian schools do suggest that teachers are not as actively encouraging thought from their students and in particular critical and deep thought.

Consistently, across a variety of Indonesian schools, students are instructed to complete a task known as "clipping". Essentially what this involves is students opening recent newspapers, finding headlines that match the topic that they have been told to look for, cutting these articles from the newspaper and putting them together in a scrapbook of recent developments.

Of course, the notion of getting students to open up and read newspapers is a good one but that notion must be advanced to get the students to think about and respond to the articles that they have clipped.

Rarely, if ever, are these scrapbooks accompanied by any work from the students. Students do not have to write anything or answer any questions on the articles they have collected. This leaves a situation in which the students may or may not have actually read the articles and equally, and most worryingly, the students may or may not have understood the contents of the articles that they have collected.

Essentially, then, in activities such as this students are limitedly having their awareness stimulated but any check on comprehension or understanding is left undone. This leaves the job of educating at best only half done, at worst pretty much neglected.

This kind of half-hearted or even neglectful attitude towards education is not only unwanted but also dangerous. Place a half- hearted or neglectful attitude in the context of SARS and you have a recipe for, if not disaster at least, the sustenance of paranoia and the potential for panic.

Schools need to be models of stability and knowledge and when a worry such as SARS emerges schools could and probably should be resource centers of information and educational guidance that will help students and parents alike to respond to the situation and make sense of it within their worlds.

A variety of current affairs offer opportunities for lessons to be learnt and understanding generated within schools.

From SARS to the war in Iraq to the war on terrorism, the real world is full of challenges and potential lessons. It is increasingly important that schools are relevant to the world we live in today. And so, like it or not, it becomes increasingly important for schools to incorporate current affairs into their curricula and the way in which they deliver education.

Few would dispute that we are living in difficult times but a key way in which we can overcome these times and look to a brighter future is by ensuring that our schools are strong in equipping future generations for times of trouble. This requires that schools are pillars of stability within society and they generate the opportunities for intelligent thought to be applied to the way the world really is today.