A deep knowledge of certain school subjects is not the only requirement for being a teacher. More than that, teachers must be able to be creative in solving problems among students and in local environments.
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Kompas/Karina Isna Irawan
Semarang School for the Disabled (SLBN) teacher Fanie Dipa Pawakaningsih, 47, teaches a student articulation and communication in Semarang City, Central Java on Wednesday (7/3). Every day, each student is asked to speak a sentence before they go home.
A deep knowledge of certain school subjects is not the only requirement for being a teacher. More than that, teachers must be able to be creative in solving problems among students and in local environments.
Amid limited facilities, a number of teachers across the archipelago have proven their creativity in advancing their students’ intelligence. They have won awards for their creativity and yet they said that they were in it not for the awards.
Arif Darmadiansah, 29, for instance, uses cellphone apps to make his classes more interesting. He projects attractive pictures through a hologram projector to pique his students’ learning spirit. For his work, Arif won the Inovasi Belajar (Learning Innovation) 2017 award.
Arif was concerned upon seeing his students’ lack of enthusiasm when he relied too much on lectures and rote-learning. The Semarang State University (Unnes) graduate then tried to break free from the conventional teaching methods commonly used at the school where he teaches, some 65 kilometers south of Kalabahi in Alor, East Nusa Tenggara.
Arif projects attractive pictures at the front of his classroom by optimizing his cellphone’s multimedia features. He displays a hologram on the cellphone’s screen and projects it in front of the class. The colorful pictures amaze his students. Consequently, his classroom turns into a fun learning environment and his students feel more comfortable. The innovation is called hologram-based discovery inquiry.
In biology class, Arif projects pictures his students could only have imagined, including those of elephants, giraffes, rhinos and lions. Through the media, students can learn about the characteristics of vertebrates, herbivores and carnivores. In other classes, students are similarly amazed by pictures of trains, a transportation mode they could only see on television and in books.
How can electricity be supplied to the projector and the cellphone? Arif thought hard about this as electricity supply to his region was minimal. He resolved this by using a solar panel. He purchased a 40-centimeter-by-20-centimeter solar panel with Rp 1.5 million (US$109.5) from his own pocket. He can use the equipment after putting it under direct sunlight for eight hours. “I am glad and proud that I can pique the learning spirit of children in a remote region,” Arif said.
Achmat Fauzi, 29, and Vera Ertiana, 26, both from Surakarta in Central Java, also work in remote regions in East Nusa Tenggara. They are teachers at Padang Panjang public elementary school in East Alor. They improve local children’s motivation to go to school by talking with their parents.
M. Miftakul Falah, a teacher at Madrasah Aliyah 2 public Islamic senior high school in Kudus, Central Java, has won teacher achievement awards at city, provincial, national and Southeast Asia levels. Together with his wife Dyah Ahsina Fahriyati, the Unnes masters of science graduate stimulates the learning spirit of local schoolchildren. Through the Weekend Science Kids program, the couple organizes free science activities at a number of locations. Currently, the couple has 400 volunteers helping them teach local students.
Empowering disabled people
Fanie Dipa Pawakaningsih, 47, has dedicated half of her life to educating children with special needs. The learning atmosphere at Semarang public school for the disabled (SLBN) is very different from that in other formal schools. Oftentimes, students go in and out of classrooms and run around as they please. Some students are also busy in their own private worlds.
At the end of every school day, Fanie teaches articulation and communications skills to her students. She gets them to say the words, “Good day, Bu Fanie, I am going home now”. Although they are simple words, teaching special needs students to say them is not easy. The majority of students find it difficult to say them as they are hearing- and speech-impaired.
“The approach for each student is different, depending on their needs. Teachers must understand how to communicate with students with mental disability, hearing impairment or more complex disabilities such as autism,” said Fanie, who teaches students at Grade 12 in SLBN Semarang, on Wednesday (7/3/2018).
Fanie is just one among many teachers who dedicate their life to educating special needs children in Indonesia. It is a poorly-kept secret that many Indonesian youths avoid the profession of special education teacher. Apart from an extra dose of patience, special education teachers work longer hours and have more complex teaching materials.
Before teaching at SLBN Semarang, Fanie established Tiara Bhakti junior high school for special needs students in Purworejo, Central Java. The graduate of the Indonesian Education University’s special education study program was moved to SLBN Semarang in 2010. Her special skills include articulation and communication. Her devotion won her a national award for creative teaching in 2015. She was also given the prestigious Satya Lencana Pendidikan award for teachers from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2016.
Nurul Huda Maarif, 38, a teacher at Qothrotul Falah Islamic boarding school in Lebak, Banten, has another enlightening activity. He actively writes books to campaign for tolerance. He won an award from the Banten religious affairs office in 2016. His campaign literacy amid his busy work as a teacher also won him the Madrasah Education Appreciation award from the Banten religious affairs office in 2017.
Nurul also actively campaigns for religious peace through his websites qothrotulfalah.com and jalandamai.org as well as through his Facebook account.
