We need right kind of education

We need right kind of education

You have raised pertinent issues in your article Traditional
or alternative methods for our students (The Jakarta Post, June
11). Several concerns and issues of education have been raised in
this article and it is a timely one. Is Indonesian education one
that is lagging behind other countries?

As you have mentioned, overhauling the education system in
Indonesia would be the most pressing need. As a foreign
consultant involved with an educational institute here in
Indonesia, this has been my concern. How can we provide the right
kind of education here in Indonesia?

The way to go would be to rethink the current education system
and be open to global changes and challenges, try to be current
with educational philosophies and practices; and consider how our
students can benefit by this change.

The traditional system is to have uniform schools. They teach
the same way and assess the same way. The more people that are
alike, the better. Traditional methods in the classroom have very
little constructive thinking and design. They can make students
go to school, but they can't make them think.

Alternative methods have individualized programs where every
child's mind is taken as seriously as possible, for example, to
take differences of the individual as the focus. As Howard
Gardner the guru of multiple "intelligence" succinctly puts it,
"The most important moment in a child's education is the
crystallizing experience when the child connects to something
that engages in curiosity and stimulates further exploration".

The education system needs to go through a restructuring
process i.e. to change the image of the learner, teacher and the
classroom. According to Vygotsky, "Good education is
characterized by a teacher, a pupil and an environment that is
active."

Teachers need to relearn and need to be open to new changes
and challenges. They may have the knowledge, but they need to
have the right skills, attitudes and values. As you have
mentioned, not everybody relishes the idea of learning something
new, but they have to start somewhere. Good teachers do the right
thing at the right time.

In my experience as a consultant for Fajar Hidayah, an
Integrated Islamic School established in 1999, has been to train
teachers to undo what they have been doing in the past and to see
students as learners; to cultivate the interest for learning, to
create a flexible curriculum and environment where children feel
good about their learning. For their serious efforts in investing
in teacher training and innovative programs, they were featured
recently as one of the favorite schools in the Nebula magazine.

PUSPA SIVAN, Education Specialist, Founder, Director, PTC Learning School,
Bogor, West Java