Ways, means to fight political illiteracy

Ways, means to fight political illiteracy

By Setiono

JAKARTA (JP): In this political reform era, political
education stands as a central focus of contemporary concern about
the improvement of the democratic climate in Indonesia. In the
last 32 years under Soeharto's regime, political education was
tailored to create a "zombie-like community" in which political
rights were always oppressed and centralized by the elite
bureaucrats.

The unfortunate educational by-product of the New Order regime
undoubtedly produced a politically illiterate society. In his
article Developing Political Literacy, (The Jakarta Post June 7,
1999), Chaedar Alwasilah eloquently articulated and exemplified
the immaturity of Indonesians' political education. Alwasilah's
piece lamented the failure of our educational system to provide
political literacy and to shape educated and cultured
politicians.

Alwasilah's position, in this case, is understandable on at
least two counts. First, political education in the past was
overwhelmingly loaded with manipulation and propaganda that not
only impoverished society's critical and innovative thoughts but
also corrupted the moral sense of genuine political views. It is
evident that members of our society have been deceived by
fallacious and misleading political jargon notoriously
characterized by excessive use of "euphemism".

Second, in formal schooling the failure of teaching systems is
potentially severe. Teachers, for example, often fail in
developing a student's behavior or belief system. However, even
if they succeed, the behavior may turn out to be inappropriate or
the belief to be unwarranted. The high incidence of student
brawls on our streets is a case in point.

The failure may in turn be a disadvantage in his or her
pursuit of creating an educated and cultured community: the
students may fail to acquire the general characteristics that are
fundamental to one's choosing, holding or pursuing any view of
the cultured and politically mature society; the student may
adopt a view of an educated community that is poorly understood
and, thus, proves ultimately unsatisfactorily; or the student may
fail to acquire the knowledge or skills required to advance his
or her view of a politically educated society.

What seems crucial and relevant to combat the present
political illiteracy and enhance political literacy in this era
of political reform is the concept of "community-based
education".

Community-based education should not be equated with community
education. The former is viewed as a form of social action within
a community framework that extends beyond formal schools as an
institution, and thus allows community members to become
politically self-oriented participants in the creation of an
inductive learning environment that the school offers.

Most importantly, community-based education allows community
members to become critically and meaningfully involved in shaping
their own futures not only through the schools, but also via the
other agencies in their community. In fact, meaningful school
reform calls for this type of participation, in which people can
freely express their counter interpretations, renegotiate and
reconstruct the ways in which a school relates to its community's
interest. As such, community members can become self-aware and
active political subjects.

In contrast, community education, which has been practiced
over the last 32 years, tends to be authoritative in nature and
seems to diminish the value of truth, particularly if related to
political issues. As this type of education views its learning
participants as objects rather than the subjects of learning, it
underpins no room for active participant involvement in the
decision-making process.

The above discussion implies that a revolutionary outlook in
shifting the present political paradigm is indeed imperative in
order to liberate our society from chronic political illiteracy.

The practice of community-based education in this reform era
will truly benefit our diverse communities who have equal needs
and interests and who want to free themselves from their long-
repressed aspirations for self-determination and justice, as well
as from political oppression.

In the formal school setting, research is beginning to confirm
the real value of community-based education. Corson (1999), for
example, demonstrates evidence to support the claim through the
following conclusions:

* active parental involvement in decision-making brings
children from class or cultural minorities closer to their
teachers, who usually come from the dominant class and culture.

* students' parents themselves grow in confidence and develop
a sense of their own efficacy which impacts positively on their
children's learning.

* the harmful stereotypes that dominant culture and that
teachers often develop about their pupils and their families fall
away as teachers begin to collaborate with parents.

* local communities grow in self-respect and acquire genuine
political influence at the same time as they take greater
responsibility for their schools.

Above all, this model of education has a great deal in common
with the model of education voiced by many reform-minded
education specialists. They typically share the conviction that
school must change to reflect the community, all teaching should
be linked to real life issues, curriculum has to be continuously
revised and redesigned and that all politically related issues
must lie at the heart of education.

The writer is a member of the teaching staff in the Department
of Education, Atmajaya University, Jakarta.