Trust your children: Leading psychologist
JAKARTA (JP): Encouraging children to be independent from an early age is a must in today's increasingly competitive world, according to a leading Indonesian psychologist, and one way of fostering such independence is to have faith in children's capacity to develop themselves.
Fawzia Aswin Hadis, speaking at her induction as a professor at the University of Indonesia on Saturday, called this approach the "constructivist" view of childrearing.
"A constructivist parent or teacher will see the child as someone who can develop himself and develop actively," said Fawzia, a specialist in developmental psychology.
Such a parent believes that the child can handle a range of situations and is able to use feedback and take initiatives to gain experience. "Such a parent will be more sensitive and will behave more responsively toward the child," she added.
This attitude will lead to a creative and independent child, said Fawzia in her oration titled "Parental Ideas in Reaching Optimum Quality of Human Resources".
However, citing her own research in 1993 and another study on mothers in urban and rural areas in Central and West Java, she said many parents are not supportive of creative and independent children.
Most parents, she said, still stress children's obedience towards them.
"More parents prioritize obedience, honesty, diligence and sincerity ... and discourage children from feeling free, self- confident, independent, and having adequate intelligence."
These latter features, said Fawzia, are needed to develop future Indonesians. A number of ideal characteristics are already mentioned in the state guidelines, she noted, but a change in parental views is needed to enable better nurturing of children.
Among tips in encouraging children's creativeness, Fawzia said children should practice writing.
"The stress is on the process, rather than the result, of writing," said Fawzia, who has four adult children.
This way, writing is a creative, rather than a mechanical, expression, she added.
Fawzia, the 43rd female of 244 professors at the university, also referred to characteristics of the "modern Indonesian" as formulated by sociologist Harsya Bachtiar.
Harsya's 13 features include faith in God, respect for the law, a degree of independence, cooperation with others, appreciation of time and interest in national and world news.
Besides studying parents' views on raising children, Fawzia's earlier work included monitoring the curricula of schools for the disabled and a study on nutrition improvement for children under five years of age.
Fawzia currently heads the Islamic Al Izhar Foundation in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta. (anr)