Month: February 2016

The Dead of Death

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

I had an interesting lecture this evening. It’s about death, loss, and bereavement. In the beginning, I was thinking – how is it going to have something to do with education? Well, that is why it’s interesting.

Talking about death from different cultural points of view is interesting. And it is almost unbelievable how the concept of death, loss, and bereavement change historically. It was just never occurred to me, really. But how it is then connected to education is almost as bizarre. But then, hey, it’s not learning when you don’t have any cognitive dissonance, isn’t it?

However, here is my thought..

As any other concepts in the world, death concept is highly cultural. Looking back at my own culture and my experience, it is difficult to find the real conception of death explicitly explained. It is avoided as in taboo. Talking about death, especially to children is regarded inappropriate. Parents specifically ask teachers not to talk about death, especially to children who experience bereavement. WHY?

Yes, why? While on the other hand, other kind of loss which isn’t death, such as divorce, is often explained to children as death. Why is it? Is divorce then regarded worse than death so that children should not know about it and they better of with explanation about death?

Maybe, death is a simple answer. It doesn’t have any moral implication – right or wrong questions following it. Death is just.. death. Especially when then it is linked into religious explanation. Well maybe then.. death is an easy out.

What is going to happen then, if children are exposed with the idea that death is an easy out? They will find death as a solution for their problem. It’s easy – without thinking about the implication of it. There was this news about a primary school boy who attempted to commit suicide because his love was rejected by a girl he liked. This is a really good example about how death is seen as a quick fix to a problem.

This thought was just occurred to me during the class. Well then maybe, maybe.. it is the fact that the concept of death, loss, and bereavement is not thoroughly explained to children that they not only don’t understand about death and its friend but they also don’t understand about the meaning of being alive. When the concept of death is dead, how are children going to understand about being alive?

Mar 15, 2013

Educational Neurosis: ‘Kita’ and ‘Kami’ in the Context of Indonesian Education

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

Education in Indonesia as in many other countries is separated into two forms, public and private. Basically, public education should be accessible by all citizens. However in Indonesia most educational provisions, public or private, are not free. As a result, education, especially good education, can only be accessed by certain groups of people who have social or financial capital.

The condition of education in Indonesia creates a wide discrepancy between people who are in the position of power and those who are not. Most citizens should be satisfied with the basic public education which provides them with basic skill to be workers, servants of powerful people. Education as public goods does not have power to inspire people to contribute to the society. On the other hand, specific group of people who can access qualified education in private institution feel that they have no obligation for the society and use education to benefit themselves.

The division of education as public and private goods is related to two words used to describe sense of togetherness in Indonesian language, ‘kita’ and ‘kami’. The English translation of those words is ‘we’. Indeed, since a long time ago, Indonesian people have two perceptions of togetherness.

The word ‘kami’ is used when one wants to describe about you and I and other people who stand in the same group with implicit message of exclusion (Hassan, 2005). Those who do not belong to ‘kami’are excluded or seen as enemy. On the other hand, ‘kita’ is used when one wants to describe you and me and other people all together (Hassan, 2005). “Kita” embraces individuality while people walk together in one reality. Those words which describe about Indonesian people’s perception of togetherness were used by Indonesian scholar, Fuad Hassan, to understand more about neurosis. According to Hassan (2005), individual’s existential crisis which leads to neurosis is a result of his confused perception about his place in the society, how they perceive togetherness.

Applying ‘kita’ and ‘kami’ in education world brings an interesting point of view. In Indonesian education, the culture of ‘kita’ was once implemented. At the time near Indonesian independence, educational philosophy as the foundation of education practice emphasised people’s empowerment within society. Education as public goods can be translated genuinely by ‘kita’ culture. It promotes inclusion, respect individuality in order to achieve better living condition for all. As the time goes by, people have started to become ignorant of the terms they use in expressing togetherness because they use ‘kita’ and ‘kami’ interchangeably (Sarwono, 2012). What happens in the society reflects what happens in education. Indonesian education is in confusion. On one hand, it tries to include as many people but at the other hand it resists the inclusion of certain groups and creates barriers to learners. The government wants it to be public goods for the sake of its benefit but seems to be resistant to invest in education. People who have power can change education system and create any educational policy with self-focused intention. Education can be pulled around, changed to be private goods with the shell of public provision. I think maybe Indonesian education has lost its identity. It does not know its aim, future, and direction. As human who cannot decide his position in the society become neurotic; Indonesian education may be at the same state, the state of educational neurosis.

Mar 07, 2013

Sustainable

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

I was thinking lately about this word. Sustainable. The first time I really involved with this word was when I had to teach my private student about 8 goals of MDGs. But then, it turns out that I have to use the word more often.

Several months ago I went home with my friend from school where I worked. I had a chat with her about some of my students. We were wondering why their scores in so many subjects are bad. I thought that there are three possible reasons for this.

First, the reason is unclear explanation from the teachers. But then there will be so many teachers at stake here. There is one teacher for one subject and we doubt that all teachers are that incompetent. No way. They are hired as a teacher for some reasons and the reasons must be good. Nope, I don’t think that the teachers are the reason.

The second reason is students’ preparedness of the test. It should be worked out by teachers and parents. At school they study, do exercises and they did well. They were given homework to study at home. I am quite sure that the parents were aware of the upcoming exam and asked their kids to learn. Well, at least the kids told so.

Then there is the third reason. Maybe they can’t absorb the materials and extract them when they are needed! Humans have brains, right? How can they not be able to absorb knowledge? I remembered one of my students who always gets answer for his questions easily. Whenever he is challenged, he step back and choose not to try. Maybe that is the reason. They always get the answers to their questions easily that they don’t have to think, analyze, and strive to come up with an answer.

Finally I concluded. The later reason lead me to think that maybe the schooling system which depends a lot on test scores makes children feel that learning is only a way to get good scores. If children can get good scores not by learning, then what’s the point? Maybe this is what Freire (1996) warned as the result of banking concept in education which reduce the whole educational experience into test scores. People forget the educational process. They forget, as Pranoto (2012) said, how to fall in love with learning, knowledge, and science. Education is treated as a mean to an end while it should make people to be full of resources which will benefit them in the future. Education makes people educated and educated people make what they got from education sustain in order to benefit not only themselves but other people and their environment, to make people and the world sustainable.

May 7, 2013

The Concept of Value in Education

Published on by Izza DinillahLeave a comment

In my opinion, value is a special message embedded in education. It may consciously or unconsciously transferred from those who are in power to students or those who have less power. As education is not an isolated function (Mittler, 2000), value in education reflects the condition of society.

The history of education and its value in Indonesia may be as far back as Netherland’s colonialism. At that time, education, which only accessible for upper class people, promoted western concepts and way of life. National value was socialised to be negative in order to strengthen Dutch’s power. Around the time of Indonesian independence, an Indonesian educator, Ki Hajar Dewantara, established an education system which was called ‘freedom system’ because its value was independence; ability to be obedient but autonomous (Takwin, 2010). It reflects the high level of nationalism because at that time Indonesia was pursuing and maintaining its independence. In the late 1960s, the system was substituted by a curriculum that stresses on conformity. Governed by an authoritarian leader, differences were seen as inappropriate; and people’s freedom was once again robbed, now by their own nation kin.

Since Indonesian reformation in 1998, educational environment has been unstable. People’s regained freedom creates new and various values that people want to attach to education. However those values are defeated by the largest problem faced by Indonesia, economy. According to Indonesian vice president, Boediono (2012), education is a strategic sector used to prepare future workers in getting their skills in science and technology. The statement implies that education is a mean to get skills and diplomas in order to get good jobs which ends in good payment and higher tax income to increase national economic power. Despite the government’s need of educated people, politicians inside the government devalue people who have higher education degree. It is shown by some politician’s statement that people who study abroad are thieves (Febriyan, 2012) and that people who graduated from high-rank national university are corruptors (Andhika, 2012). Government’s treatment towards people with higher education degree creates confusion about how the government values education.

Tracing back to the history of Indonesian education, I think most education systems, except the freedom system, has brought values that devalue students as human beings by using them to fulfill the needs of those who have power. Indonesian perspective about education is almost the same as what Freire (1996) called as “banking concept of education” or what Lipman (2009) called as “economizing of education” which sees men as objects. In my opinion, education should not be used as a ‘machine’ to give more power to powerful people; it should be used as a strategy to distribute the power in order to empower all people. The value of education should be attempted to humanize human; regarding people not as objects of civilization system but actors who transform the civilization.

Mar 07, 2013