Teachers, Students and Parents Collaborate for Educational Advancement
The success of education is not only determined by teachers in school but also by students and parents. The three stakeholders should cooperate to create a sound and mind-sharpening ecosystem of learning.
A wall-mounted display broadcasts the livestream of Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim Education leading the National Education Day ceremony on Saturday (2/5/2020) by video link from Jakarta. A skeleton crew held the flag ceremony at the ministry to prevent a public gathering during Covid-19.
The success of education is not only determined by teachers in school but also by students and parents. The three stakeholders should cooperate to create a sound and mind-sharpening ecosystem of learning.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS —National Education Day of 2020 is commemorated amid social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The national education world is trying to draw some wisdom from it, which is the time to strengthen collaboration between teachers and parents in educating children to get them prepared to face the dynamics of life.
A lecturer of psychology at Indonesian Education University (UPI), Bandung, Ifa H. Misbach, in her email to Kompas on Saturday (2/5/2020) in Jakarta maintains that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in which there is still no certainty about how long it will last, parents should be aware of the reality that their home has become a school. It means that parents need to learn so as to be able to accompany their children in studying. The present condition can be taken to signify the time when education returns to its natural character, in which the mother and father are first and principal educators of children. Making a living and educating children are the duties that should be performed in proper balance.
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In this situation, what should first be prepared is the mental condition of parents with no basics of pedagogy, as they are now required to play the role of educators. Parents should first of all master their ability of regulating emotions. In other words, parents should train their emotions so that when children get bored or cranky, they will not be provoked while keeping their composure when interacting with children.
A person holds a mobile phone screen displaying the livestream of Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim delivering his National Education Day by video link speech on Saturday (2/5/2020) from the Education and Culture Ministry in Jakarta.
“Children’s boredom and bad moods are very natural because they indeed have their time to play and interact with their peers. Parents need to play the part of friends to discuss whatever they like, rather than merely everything related to their academic tasks in school,” said Ifa.
In her view, there are various ways of overcoming children’s boredom, such as vegetable planting, house cleaning, playing music and practicing hobbies. Such methods are considered necessary as it is about shifting their boredom through the activities unconnected to their tasks so that their brains have the opportunity to rest instead of being fed up with monitor gazing.
At a further stage, according to the head of the Psychology Clinic of Melinda 2 Hospital, Bandung, the important aptitudes that should be honed during the COVID-19 pandemic period are life skills that can become the means of enriching children’s future lives. The works of children during this pandemic time can be recorded in daily journals and given some reflections. “The most important thing is to foster collaboration between teachers and parents first so as to achieve a common understanding,” added Ifa.
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Facing uncertainty
Bogor Agriculture University’s Arif Satria at the national webinar on “Educational Transformation in COVID-19 Pandemic and Post-Pandemic Situations” said on Saturday (2/5/2020) in Jakarta that the COVID-19 pandemic became the opportunity for any party, not only those in the educational sector, to understand the importance of learning to face uncertainty.
Uncertainty will always occur in life so it necessitates critical, adaptive and innovative abilities. The national webinar was organized by the Central Board of the Indonesian Islamic Students Society.
Members of the event team hold a flag ceremony to mark National Education Day on Saturday (2/5/2020) at the Education and Culture Ministry in Jakarta. In compliance with the Covid-19 health protocol, a skeleton crew managed the ceremony, which was then livstreamed on YouTube. Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim delivered his speech and student representatives across the country sang “Ibu Pertiwi (Homeland)” by video link.
A member of the House of Representatives Commission X from the National Mandate Party Faction, Zainuddin Maliki, said since 10 years ago, the national education world had been warned of the need to promptly undertake transformation in the face of explosion in science and digital technology as well as its various implications. One of the real implications is that life is getting even more complex.
Such an existence cannot be faced by creating standards. Humans are demanded to possess flexible and adaptive capabilities.
Sadly, Zainuddin observed, many schools and teachers had remained trapped in the paradigm of standards as a requisite, even in the current COVID-19 pandemic prevalence. In his opinion, online learning should now focus on teaching children lessons in adaptation to life.
“In the situation before the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers had not yet mastered creative learning methods. Teachers preferred to use the lecture method. Learning was affected as a transfer of knowledge in textbooks,” he said.
Zainuddin added that several countries continued to impose social distancing despite the abating COVID-19 pandemic. The period of online learning becomes even more uncertain. The Education and Culture Ministry was urged to provide training for teachers in good and correct online learning soon.
Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim in his speech at the virtual ceremony to commemorate the National Education Day of 2020 on Saturday (2/5/2020) from his residence in Jakarta said the COVID-19 pandemic brought important lessons to the Indonesian education world. Teachers have carried out online learning by the network method for the first time. By this means, educators have finally realized that learning can be wherever they are.
Besides, for parents, the COVID-19 pandemic has made them aware of how difficult it is for teachers to execute their duties and teach children effectively. Parents also show their empathy to teachers, an attitude that may have not yet appeared previously.
Education minister special staffer Iwan Syahril added that the COVID-19 pandemic forced all circles, including the educational sector, to bargain with the inconvenient situation. Inconvenience has to be accepted so that new ideas come out that solve the problem.
“Even advanced countries are in trouble. The present condition encourages more intense collaboration and mutual assistance between teachers and parents in learning,” he said.
Free teachers
Early Childhood Care and Development Advisor at Save the Children, Lusi Margiyani, at the national webinar on “Early Childhood Educational Care: Condition and Status of Teachers of Early Childhood Education (PAUD)/Kindergartens (TK) in the Pandemic Period”, said the Holistic Integrative PAUD National Coalition had surveyed 42,357 PAUD teachers on 4-10 April 2020. The survey was executed by using Google Forms.
One of its important findings was that 47.9 percent of the respondents surveyed lost their income sources or earned less as an impact of social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The teachers as respondents varied in occupational age. It means that the impact of the pandemic knows no age limit.
“The survey took place in early April 2020, so its results could be different from present circumstances. If the COVID-19 pandemic still lasts long, we can’t predict its further impact on the PAUD teachers. Even before the pandemic their economic life was comparatively most vulnerable,” said Lusi.
Central Board General Chairperson of the Early Childhood Education Teachers and Personnel Association (Himpaudi), Netti Herawati, said her organization kept intensifying communication with parents and fellow teachers, with the aim of ensuring the success of online learning. “We’re also encouraging teachers to persistently beef up children’s psychological condition,” she added.
West Java Education Office head Dewi Sartika holds a virtual ceremony on Saturday (2/5/2020) to mark National Education Day at the Pakuan building in Bandung municipality.
National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network (JPPI), Ubaid Matraji, called on the government not to forget Indonesia’s vulnerability to disasters. Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, the government should have since a long time ago maintained a policy that favors educational service in times of disaster. For instance, educational funds in the Education Ministry and Religious Affairs Ministry should not be shifted to non-educational expenses.
“The poverty rate has the potential to rise sharply with the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation will have an impact on parents’ capacity to send their children to school. Meeting daily consumption needs is quite hard, let alone paying school fees,” said Ubaid.
Secretary-General of the Federation of Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI), Heru Purnomo, noted that the commemoration of the National Education Day of 2020 coinciding with online learning served as a reminder of the extent of freedom of teachers. Free teachers should first be put into practice on the mindset level, followed by knowledge, teaching skill and evaluation of students.
“The understanding of freedom also involves the formulation of learning plans. If all the aspects are supported by the capability of using information technology, freedom in learning isn’t just jargon,” said Heru.
