Indonesian Education and The National Awakening in the 21st Century

By: Iwan Syahril

Indonesia

❖ Indonesian history proved that education was the main force towards social transformation.

❖ Education educated citizens as agents of change.

❖Question:

Does education still hold the promise to transform Indonesian society to meet the challenges of the 21st century?

The Current State of Indonesian Education

❖ More than 310,000 schools.

❖ More than 3.3 million teachers.

❖ More than 51 million students.

❖ More than 90% literacy rate.

Mathematics Science

1999 2003 2007 1999 2003 2007

Indonesia 403 411 (34/35)

397 (36/49) 435 420

(36/45)427

(36/49)

Top Achiever 604 605 598 568 578 567

Lowest Achiever 275 264 307 243 244 303

International Average 466 451 473 466

Score Performance of Indonesian 8th grade Students’ in Mathematics & Science According to TIMSS

Source: Jalal, F., et al. (2009) Teacher Certification in Indonesia: A strategy for teacher quality improvement. Jakarta, Indonesia: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia

Science Reading Mathematics

Indonesia 393 (52/57) 393 (48/56) 391 (51/57)

Top Achiever 563 556 549

Lowest Achiever 322 285 311

Median 443 421 430

Score Performance of Indonesian 15-Year-Old Students in Science, Reading, and Mathematics According to PISA 2006.

Source: Jalal, F., et al. (2009) Teacher Certification in Indonesia: A strategy for teacher quality improvement. Jakarta, Indonesia: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia

27 Singapore

37 Brunei

57 Malaysia

92 Thailand

97 The Philippines

108 Indonesia

Human Development Index 2010

Opportunity-to-learn Standards

OUTPUTPROCESSINPUT

Adequate Funding

Qualified Teachers

Test Scores

Adequate Funding ???

Operational Definition of Quality Education ???

Sanders & Rivers, 1999

8 years old Student A Student B

high quality teachers

low quality teachers

11 years old 93% 37%

Educational Challenges for the 21st Century

TECHNOLOGY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21st CENTURY

Sir Ken Robinson, 2009❖ 3 Features in Many Educational Systems:

1. Pre-occupation with certain sorts of academic ability - numbers and words.

2. Hierarchy of subjects: math, language, science - humanities - art (music, visual art - dance, theater).

3. Growing reliance on particular types of assessment - standardized tests.

Darling-Hammond, 1997

❖ Building a system of schools for contemporary society requires 2 things:

1.To Teach for Understanding

2.To Teach for Diversity

5 Principles in Educational Transformation

❖ A good education should not lock students’ creativity and imagination.

❖ A good education should not silence students’ curiosity and inquiry.

❖ A good education should model the values we believe as a society.

❖ A good education should not discriminate and should not instill seeds of suspicions or hate based on race, ethnicity, religion, wealth, and social status.

❖ A good education should lead to a learning culture modeled by all teachers.

A Learning Country, A Learning Nation!