Contextual Education for Empowerment
Diah Widuretno practices contextual education, which encourages people to empower themselves with the potential of their village.
Diah Widuretno
Feeling uneasy about the state of formal education, Diah Widuretno (43) initiated Pagesangan School in Gunung Kidul regency, Yogyakarta. Diah practices contextual education, which encourages people to empower themselves with the potential of their village.
Pagesangan School is a community that conducts learning activities under a contextual education model. Instruction is carried out according to the context of the participants\' daily lives.
That is why the community is called the Pagesangan School. In Javanese, the word pagesangan means life, thereby Pagesangan School can be interpreted as a school of life.
Formal education does not talk about reality and does not touch the lives of people who take part in the education process.
Pagesangan School was initiated by Diah Widuretno in late 2008 in Wintaos hamlet, Girimulyo village, Panggang district, Gunung Kidul. In contrast to formal schools, instruction at Pagesangan School takes place in an open space and students do not wear school uniforms.
According to Diah, the initiative to create Pagesangan School emerged out of anxiety from seeing how formal education was disconnected from the realities of life. "Formal education does not talk about reality and does not touch the lives of people who take part in the education process," said Diah, on Friday (19/2/2021).
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The impact of formal education can be seen clearly in a number of Gunung Kidul areas, including in Wintaos hamlet. "Formal schools keep them [young people] away from the village. Generally, children who graduate from formal schools then relocate to become migrant workers in urban areas. This is because formal schools make them think that welfare can only be attained in the city,” said Diah.
Pagesangan School Activities in Wintaos Hamlet, Girimulyo Village, Panggang District, Gunungkidul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region.
The learning process at Pagesangan School starts from the daily problems faced by residents. Schools choose agriculture or food as the main focus of learning.
Like many areas in Gunung Kidul, Wintaos is classified as an arid area that is lacking of water because the soil structure consists of karst rock. The hamlet community, consisting of mostly farmers, has a food system that can adapt to these conditions.
Diah said residents of Wintaos relied on rainwater as a source of irrigation. They also apply the tumpangsari (intercropping system), which is to plant various types of plants on one field. Apart from rice, the residents also plant sweet potato, cassava, corn and nuts.
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Most of the agricultural products of the Wintaos residents are consumed by the residents. For the food to last long, some food items will be stored and preserved in various ways. The sustainability of this unique food and agriculture system is maintained through the Pagesangan School.
Diah also invited teenagers and adults in Wintaos to learn about farming and food processing together. Currently, there are several processed foods that are produced by villagers, such as mocaf (modified cassava flour), gaplek (cassava flour) and instant tiwul (cassava rice). Various processed products are marketed outside Wintaos and through social media.
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Diah stated that learning at this school was carried out in a participatory manner. In teaching and learning activities, she and a number of volunteers position themselves as facilitators or study partners. "When they want to make a curriculum or study material, residents are asked what they need or want to study. I just became a friend to discuss to redefine their problems and needs,” said Diah.
Currently, Pagesangan School activities are attended by around 40 children as well as 60 teenagers and adults. Besides Diah, there are also a number of volunteers from outside Wintaos who help with school activities. The volunteers, among others, came from Yogyakarta and Jakarta.
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Diah Widuretno
Since her school days
Even though she has worked for years in Gunung Kidul, Diah does not come from that area. She was born in Banyuwangi regency, East Java, and studied at the Biology Department of the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB). Since being a student, Diah has had concerns about formal education.
In 1998, when she was still studying at IPB, Diah often saw drop-out children working as motorcycle taxis or selling fried food. She then organized learning activities for children who worked on the street, offering umbrellas when it’s raining and selling fried foods in Bogor, West Java.
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According to Diah, this learning activity was attended by 20-30 children aged 7-11 years. Some of them have dropped out of school because their parents have no money to pay for the school fees. "The venue [of the class] can be anywhere, for example at my boarding house. Sometimes I take them to campus, then if there is an empty class, we just sit there to study,” said Diah, who now lives in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta.
Even though I moved to Yogyakarta, my concern about education still continues. I feel there is work that is not finished yet.
In 2000, Diah joined an NGO called Rimbawan Muda Indonesia (RMI). When she joined RMI, she got acquainted with the people in villages in Bogor regency. It was this introduction that prompted Diah to establish an open school in a village near the Mount Halimun Salak National Park area.
The open school activity lasted until the end of 2002. The activity had to stop because Diah relocated to Yogyakarta in 2003 after getting married. "Even though I moved to Yogyakarta, my concern about education still continues. I feel there is work that is not finished yet," she said.
In Yogyakarta, Diah is active in a number of social and research activities. In 2006, she was involved in research on school dropouts in Gunung Kidul which was run by an international organization. Then, in 2008, Diah was introduced by her friend to the people of Wintaos hamlet. That acquaintance has given birth to Pagesangan School until now.
Diah Widuretno
Age: 43 years old
Education: Biology from Bogor Agriculture Institute Activity: Initiator of Pagesangan School, Gunung Kidul
This article was translated by Kurniawan H. Siswoko.
