Juliana, A Journey of Endless Devotion
Juliana’s professional journey has been colorful. Such challenges pose no impediments, but rather become a lash of motivation for her journey of endless devotion.
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Juliana (50).
The third graders of State Elementary School 008 of East Tanjung Palas, Binai village, Bulungan regency, North Kalimantan, cheered as their teacher, Juliana, 50, took an illustrated story book and walked to a reading corner at the back of the classroom on Wednesday (12/4/2023). It meant that the reading lesson was about to begin.
A total of 25 students were sitting on the plastic-carpeted wooden floor. Meanwhile, Juliana sat on a long bench to be viewed by all the children. She was opening one page after the other, reading its contents.
Now and again she asked the students about the pictures in the book. This was intended to stir up the students’ creativity in telling stories based on the objects observed.
“The students are free to relate everything. While nurturing self-confidence, this method is also useful for the enhancement of their creativity,” she said.
A number of students raised their hands to give descriptions of the picture of a child accompanying his father who is netting fish. The drawing also had a brief narrative. Some told fairly long stories in more than five sentences. However, others were shorter versions in two or three sentences.
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Juliana does not mind it, because she recognizes the capacity of each of her students. Seven students still belonged to the pre-reading category. They were not yet conversant with all the letters, making it difficult for them to spell.
Every semester, the 2015 graduate of Open University makes a recapitulation of formative or diagnostic assessment data. Students’ achievements and inadequacies are recorded in detail. These records serve as the basis for mapping out students’ capacity and academic development.
“This method facilitates the determination of the appropriate means of learning. Students who still have difficulty in reading, for instance, make more use of pictures or paper pieces printed with words to practice composing sentences,” she explained.
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Juliana (50) reads a picture story book to class III 008 Tanjung Palas Timur Public Elementary School, Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan, Wednesday (12/4/2023).
Juliana studied the method when the school had a partnership with the Innovation for Indonesian School Students (Inovasi). It was a partnership program between the governments of Indonesia and Australia.
New learning methods are not easy to apply. Juliana has to more intensively identify the strengths and weaknesses of every student. This is quite an exhausting process as it drains her energy and mind.
However, Juliana keeps striving. She devises learning aids independently. She wants her students to learn, but they feel as if they are playing.
Her students are divided into five groups based on their level of competence. The division applies the differentiation of learning as specified in the Freedom Curriculum.
Its results are heartening. In semester I of the 2022/2023 school year, 13 students were still in the pre-reading group. In this category, students are not yet familiar with the letters so they have spelling difficulties. Nine students belonged to the group of fluent readers and six others were well-versed readers.
Even old teachers also have to keep learning to be able to teach their students correctly.
At present, only seven students are still left in the pre-reading group. Those in the group of well-versed readers total 13 students.
As a teacher, Juliana has applied various curricula. Since the reform period, education in Indonesia has utilized several curricula such as the Competence-Based Curriculum, the Educational Unit Curriculum, the Curriculum of 2013 (K-13) and the Freedom Curriculum.
“Each curriculum posed its own challenges. They were tough enough for teachers to face. But I wish to continue to learn for the sake of children’s future in this village,” she said.
Previously, Juliana claimed to have pinched students when they failed to grasp her lessons. She thought that her slight pinches would make them learn harder.
Yet her assumption was mistaken. Frequently, students were scared of their teacher and felt sad when learning. “I’ve come to realize that it’s not only students who need to learn. Even old teachers also have to keep learning to be able to teach their students correctly,” she added.
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A grade III student at Public Elementary School 008 Tanjung Palas Timur, Bulungan Regency, North Kalimantan, shook hands with Juliana, before leaving school, Wednesday (12/4/2023).
Fighting ignorance
Juliana’s loyalty as a teacher is inseparable from her childhood. When she was a junior high school student in Long Paliran, Malinau regency, North Kalimantan, many of her friends had dropped out at her age.
She was thus aware that ignorance was very close to the circle of poverty. Since then she has been fully determined to work as a teacher in order to fight ignorance.
“My mind was very simple as a child. When I became a teacher, I could take children to school and make them smart. In this way, their future will be better than that of their parents,” he said.
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But the road to fulfill the aspirations was not smooth. Her parents had to sell goats to enable Juliana’s study in the Teacher’s Training School (SPG), Tanjung Selor, North Kalimantan (formerly East Kalimantan). At the time, the route from Malinau to Tanjung Selor was through the river on a motorboat for two days and one night.
“In Tanjung Selor, I stayed with my uncle. My parents could not afford to pay the rent for a boarding house,” she said.
Graduating from SPG Tanjung Selor, Juliana started her career as an Elementary School (SD) teacher in Long Uli, Malinau, in 1991. After three years, she moved to State SD 008 school, East Tanjung Palas.
Then there was no land access to the new school. Therefore, from Tanjung Selor she had to travel over the river by a ketinting (small boat) for 12 hours.
“I wouldn’t dare to go by boat on the same route if asked to do so now. A ketinting is prone to capsize, and the river is teeming with crocodiles,” she said.
The land route to Binai village was opened only in 2006. But the road was not asphalted. It took six to eight hours to reach the village from Tanjung Selor to cover 65 kilometers.
I wouldn’t dare to go by boat on the same route if asked to do so now.
It would take a longer time in the rainy season. When the road was muddy, it was very hard to pass. Vehicles were even frequently trapped in the mud and could only be evacuated the next day.
“Some residents and I had traveled several times by truck that failed to go on due to the mud. So, we put up a tarpaulin and spent the night,” she concluded.
Today, the access to Binai village is far better. Part of the road is already asphalted and the distance can be covered from Tanjung Selor within two to two and a half hours.
Juliana’s professional journey has been colorful. Not infrequently has she been overwhelmed by the necessity to teach students according to their respective requirements. Such challenges pose no impediments, but rather become a lash of motivation for her journey of endless devotion.
Juliana
Born: Long Paliran, Malinau, 23 July 1972
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Open University (2015 graduate)
Husband: Hamsyah
Occupation: Teacher of State SD 008, East Tanjung Palas, Bulungan regency
This article was translated by Aris Prawira.
