Using school vacation time for introspection
By Aloysius Unditu
JAKARTA (JP): Arif Rachman is a firm believer that learning does not stop the minute one steps out of the classroom, but is a continual lifetime process.
Education can occur at any time and place, says the principal of the state SMU 81 senior high school in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.
Arif also uses modern media as a forum to educate. He hosts the daily morning Islamic show Hikmah Fajar on private television station RCTI.
Arif, 45, who is originally from Malang, East Java, is the younger brother of Mien Uno, president of John Robert Powers Modeling School in Jakarta. He once dreamed of becoming an economist, but changed his mind after witnessing the reciprocal communication between students and teachers during a student exchange program in the United States.
Arif believes school vacations can also be a time for learning.
He told The Jakarta Post recently his views on efficient and effective use of time when school is out.
Question: What should school vacations mean for senior high school students?
Answer: Well, I think vacations should have a special meaning for senior high school students because it is time for them to prepare themselves to enter their next life cycle. For those who fail in the final year examination, the vacation means a preparation period to improve themselves.
The bottom line is that the vacation is a time for students to introspect and reflect on their life.
Our life consists of many cycles, ranging from planning, executing, exercising, examining, introspection and reflection stages.
A holiday means a preparation period to enroll in university for final year students of senior high schools, for example.
It means a preparation period to enter into the second and third years for other students.
Q: Do you think students and parents hold common perceptions about the school vacation?
A: No, not all. Some think that vacation merely means escaping from their daily routine in classrooms. Students like this do not see vacations as part of the chain of their whole life cycles.
Q: Why?
A: Because most headmasters of senior and junior high schools in Indonesia do not give clear explanations to students about the best ways to spend the vacation.
It is important to stress that spending the break in effective ways should be "socialized" in Indonesia, or at least it should be explained that vacations are a time for introspection.
During the introspection period, students can prepare themselves to improve their academic achievements by taking additional training and courses. Some prefer to enhance their religious beliefs by attending a short religious course, like Pesantren Kilat for Moslems, and retreats for Catholics.
Other students experience global cultural diversity by joining an overseas homestay program. There are also students who take internship programs in government and private corporation offices.
But some junior and senior high school students do not have these activities, partly because their parents are not aware of the programs.
Effective ways of spending the vacation do not have anything to do with the finances of the parents.
I know some children of my fellow senior high school teachers who go to work during the vacation, and students from the upper- class who just stay at home doing nothing except watching videos and laser discs, and making phone calls to their friends. But there are also students whose parents are rich who participate in tours of tourist sites.
I believe that spending vacations in effective ways should be popularized among parents and students in Indonesia. If possible we should make it like a "culture" or a way of life, so that parents whose kids prefer to stay home during vacations would feel embarrassed.
Q: Why don't school principals do that?
A: Because the principals do not gather together the parents and the students before the vacation. At my school, I gather together all the parents before the students receive their report cards. I tell them to prepare programs for their kids during the vacation. I also help the parents to make a future plan program for their children.
Q: But making plans like that may be something exclusive to educated, well-off families...
A: No. It does not have any relation to the level of their education. You know, a farmer's family, living at the foot of Burangrang mountain in West Java, must send the kids to junior high school in the nearby town of Purwakarta. During the holidays, the boy must go home. When he is home, he will face his daily rural routine, like getting up early in the morning, helping his parents in the field. That poses no problem.
Perhaps students who live in big cities with limited activities will have problems with what to do during the vacation. But I observe that most students living in Jakarta are very creative in spending their vacations.
Q: How about students who help their parents, for instance, at their food stall?
A: That is very good. If the students have enough time to help their parents in a food stall or a kiosk, the process of improving relations between them takes place.
The parents trust the children and the children feel that they are needed by their parents. Although the advantage is not scientifically proven, the students will find an added value in such activities.
Q: Some students take job training program in government institutions and private firms. Is it in line with education goals?
A: I think all regular programs aimed at developing particular skills or enriching one's knowledge are always much better than doing nothing.
Students appear to be forced into taking these programs.
No. The schools do not force them to do so. But the students have to apply the business and management knowledge they obtain in school, how to cope with the daily business activities in offices.
Q: What lessons do they learn from such a program?
A: The program assesses three dimensions -- the cognitive, affective and psycho-motoric dimensions. The cognitive dimension assesses the students' economic knowledge, the affective dimension appraises their entrepreneurial attitude and the psycho-motoric dimension evaluates skills to deal with the customers and communicate with people.
Q: But not all students spend their time effectively...
A: Well, there are some, but the percentage is small. For example, out of 48 senior high school students in Jakarta, three would maybe fall into this category. Students like this are usually delinquent, skipping school and having no goals.
Q: Does your school put on any special programs during the vacation?
A: SMU 81 offer four programs for the upcoming vacation: homestay, retreat, pesantren kilat and umrah (mini haj pilgrimage) for the first and second year students. Students in the third year receive preparation programs to go to college.
But the programs are not compulsory because some parents have arranged a better program for their children.
Q: Are these annual programs?
A: Yes. The teachers participate in making the program a success.
Q: Does your school organize the homestay program?
A: No, we do not organize it but we encourage students to take part in it.
Q: How good is the program?
A: Very good. The homestay program provides cross-cultural awareness for students. You know, while they are away from home and live with a family overseas, they will find their own identity, and their nationalism will improve. In addition, they will gain a more objective perspective on their hometown.
Q: The homestay program has turned into a lucrative business...
A: Yes, I think it's okay for people to make business out of the homestay. At present, more overseas institutions are increasing their homestay programs in Indonesia.
Q: What about the roles of teachers in the program?
A: The teachers are the organizers. They organize cooperation programs with the Armed Forces for the leadership program, with the School of Psychology of the University of Indonesia for personality development, with a priest for the retreat program, and with the mosque's youth group for the pesantren kilat program.
Q: All the programs sound good, but in reality there are not many school which have qualified programs like yours...
A: That's right. The most important point here is how to socialize the effective ways of spending holidays. The media are encouraged to promote it.
It is also important to note that the entertainment and recreational aspects of spending vacation time should not be ignored.
Q: It might be difficult to achieve both recreational and educational goals simultaneously during vacations...
A: That's why the recreational aspect of holidays should be well incorporated in the students' heart, otherwise bad impression will perpetuate in their life.
Q: Is there anything else you'd like to say about students spending their holidays effectively?
A: There should be a political will from the government to aggressively plan regular programs for senior high school students by providing legal guidance, excellent facilities and youth centers.
It is also worth noting here that senior high school teachers should not only busy themselves preparing lesson plans, examination and the learning-teaching process, but should provide sophisticated co-curricular programs as well.