The bed is still warm.
I can still feel her lying there.
Her tiny and fragile body lying
next to me.
So weak
and thin
that she cannot even turn her back on her own.
I can still hear her voices asking me to help her.
Yet ...
inside that frail body,
I can still feel her aura strengthen me
and calm the storm inside my heart
The bed is still warm
Warm with her smiles and extended arms,
showing her love
just by stroking my hair
or holding my hand.
The bed is still warm.
Warmed by my tears that won't stop.
Can't believe
that she is only a corpse.
Can't run to her anymore
and I have to stand
alone.
The bed is still warm.
My mom is gone....
WEI/28 October 2003
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sampah dan Kegiatan Belajar Mengajar
Saya baru saja kembali dari Ambon untuk melatih para guru Sekolah Dasar Negri dari beberapa daerah di sana. Saya tercengang ketika melewati tumpukan sampah di dekat pasar-pasar. Banyak sekali kardus-kardus besar yang dibuang begitu saja. Hmmm…., pasti pekerjaan menjadi pemulung belum dilirik di sini…
Daripada sekedar memikirkan peluang menjadi pemulung, saya lebih terbeban bagaimana pendidikan di sekolah bukan hanya dapat membukakan pemahaman bagaimana mengurangi sampah, tetapi juga memanfaatkan sampah sebagai bagian dalam proses kegiatan belajar mengajar (KBM) itu sendiri.
Pendidikan yang baik harus ditunjang dengan perlengkapan yang bagus dan canggih. Apalagi kalau uang sekolahnya mahal. Pasti barang-barang yang dipakaipun harus yang mahal dan baru. Itulah yang menjadi paradigma banyak orang. Seakan-akan, kata bagus identik dengan mahal, baru dan canggih.
Ketika kita mengamini pendapat di atas, gerakan 3 R atau keinginan mengurangi sampah menjadi semboyan belaka. Pendidikan terhadap lingkungan hidup (resmi tercantum dalam kurikulum SD) hanya menjadi wacana diskusi sebatas ruang kelas dan pengukuran untuk mendapatkan nilai ulangan yang baik. Kalaupun dibahas, polanya pun masih menekankan cara ”khotbah” ataupun dialog tanpa aksi. Aspek kognitif tidak langsung terkait dengan sikap, padahal, katanya, penilaian di raport menyangkut aspek kognitif, afektif dan sikap. Dengan mudah kita mendapatkan siswa-siswi berseragam membuang bungkus permen atau plastik bekas minuman di dalam atau melalui jendela kendaraan umum. Tanpa ada rasa bertanggung jawab. Apalagi bersalah. Entahlah dengan para gurunya.
Pendidikan yang Memanfaatkan Sampah
Peluang dalam KBM yang dapat memanfaatkan sampah secara langsung tak terhitung banyaknya. Paling tidak, sampah kering. Dus-dus bekas berbagai ukuran bisa dipakai dalam pelajaran geometri (pengukuran tiga dimensi), dikaitkan dengan tata kota dan anak-anak membuat maket tata kota impian (IPS dan kertakes) dimana selanjutnya bisa dikembangkan menjadi bahan dalam mengajarkan skala dan denah (IPS dan Matematika). Gelas, sendok dan botol plastik berbagai ukuran dapat dipakai dalam pembelajaran pengukuran baik berat maupun volume.
Dus-dus bekas juga bisa dibuka dan dipakai bagian dalamnya untuk menjadi sarana menulis puisi dan membuat cerita (bahasa Indonesia). Guntingan-guntingan kecilnya bisa dibentuk berbagai ukuran (matematika kelas dasar) atau membuat simbol dalam menciptakan pohon keluarga (IPS). Brosur-brosur penawaran barang dari berbagai toko bisa dipakai untuk pelajaran klasifikasi, perbandingan, statistik, ekonomi, data dan peluang. Aah..., rasanya daftar bisa saja dibuat makin panjang bila kita saling menambahkan.
Pendidikan Politik Peduli Sampah
Ada banyak kesempatan untuk berdiskusi tentang pengelolaan sampah dalam pelajaran PPKN yang dianggap paling ”garing”. Dari mulai kelas 1 SD (melaksanakan aturan yang berlaku di masyarakat) sampai misalnya saja ke kelas 4 mengenai pemerintah daerah. Ketika dalam KBM mata pelajaran IPA sedang membahas lingkungan hidup, bukankah dalam PPKN kita dapat mengajak siswa untuk berdiskusi bagaimana memilih calon pemimpin yang peduli terhadap gerakan 3 R? Atau, ketika bicara mengenai pajak, bagaimana warga negara yang katanya dianjurkan taat pajak, bisa juga dicelikkan matanya untuk memperhatikan bagaimana pemerintah mengelola dananya untuk mengurangi sampah. Anak-anak bisa diajak membentuk kelompok masyarakat, pemerintah dan DPRD. Pengelolaan sampah menjadi topik diskusi. Sebelumnya mereka bisa diajak mencari artikel di koran mengenai permasalahan dengan sampah.
Mari, kita mewujudkan pendidikan pengelolaan sampah dengan cara praktis dan tidak birokratis ataupun teoritis.
Weilin Han, M.Sc.
Daripada sekedar memikirkan peluang menjadi pemulung, saya lebih terbeban bagaimana pendidikan di sekolah bukan hanya dapat membukakan pemahaman bagaimana mengurangi sampah, tetapi juga memanfaatkan sampah sebagai bagian dalam proses kegiatan belajar mengajar (KBM) itu sendiri.
Pendidikan yang baik harus ditunjang dengan perlengkapan yang bagus dan canggih. Apalagi kalau uang sekolahnya mahal. Pasti barang-barang yang dipakaipun harus yang mahal dan baru. Itulah yang menjadi paradigma banyak orang. Seakan-akan, kata bagus identik dengan mahal, baru dan canggih.
Ketika kita mengamini pendapat di atas, gerakan 3 R atau keinginan mengurangi sampah menjadi semboyan belaka. Pendidikan terhadap lingkungan hidup (resmi tercantum dalam kurikulum SD) hanya menjadi wacana diskusi sebatas ruang kelas dan pengukuran untuk mendapatkan nilai ulangan yang baik. Kalaupun dibahas, polanya pun masih menekankan cara ”khotbah” ataupun dialog tanpa aksi. Aspek kognitif tidak langsung terkait dengan sikap, padahal, katanya, penilaian di raport menyangkut aspek kognitif, afektif dan sikap. Dengan mudah kita mendapatkan siswa-siswi berseragam membuang bungkus permen atau plastik bekas minuman di dalam atau melalui jendela kendaraan umum. Tanpa ada rasa bertanggung jawab. Apalagi bersalah. Entahlah dengan para gurunya.
Pendidikan yang Memanfaatkan Sampah
Peluang dalam KBM yang dapat memanfaatkan sampah secara langsung tak terhitung banyaknya. Paling tidak, sampah kering. Dus-dus bekas berbagai ukuran bisa dipakai dalam pelajaran geometri (pengukuran tiga dimensi), dikaitkan dengan tata kota dan anak-anak membuat maket tata kota impian (IPS dan kertakes) dimana selanjutnya bisa dikembangkan menjadi bahan dalam mengajarkan skala dan denah (IPS dan Matematika). Gelas, sendok dan botol plastik berbagai ukuran dapat dipakai dalam pembelajaran pengukuran baik berat maupun volume.
Dus-dus bekas juga bisa dibuka dan dipakai bagian dalamnya untuk menjadi sarana menulis puisi dan membuat cerita (bahasa Indonesia). Guntingan-guntingan kecilnya bisa dibentuk berbagai ukuran (matematika kelas dasar) atau membuat simbol dalam menciptakan pohon keluarga (IPS). Brosur-brosur penawaran barang dari berbagai toko bisa dipakai untuk pelajaran klasifikasi, perbandingan, statistik, ekonomi, data dan peluang. Aah..., rasanya daftar bisa saja dibuat makin panjang bila kita saling menambahkan.
Pendidikan Politik Peduli Sampah
Ada banyak kesempatan untuk berdiskusi tentang pengelolaan sampah dalam pelajaran PPKN yang dianggap paling ”garing”. Dari mulai kelas 1 SD (melaksanakan aturan yang berlaku di masyarakat) sampai misalnya saja ke kelas 4 mengenai pemerintah daerah. Ketika dalam KBM mata pelajaran IPA sedang membahas lingkungan hidup, bukankah dalam PPKN kita dapat mengajak siswa untuk berdiskusi bagaimana memilih calon pemimpin yang peduli terhadap gerakan 3 R? Atau, ketika bicara mengenai pajak, bagaimana warga negara yang katanya dianjurkan taat pajak, bisa juga dicelikkan matanya untuk memperhatikan bagaimana pemerintah mengelola dananya untuk mengurangi sampah. Anak-anak bisa diajak membentuk kelompok masyarakat, pemerintah dan DPRD. Pengelolaan sampah menjadi topik diskusi. Sebelumnya mereka bisa diajak mencari artikel di koran mengenai permasalahan dengan sampah.
Mari, kita mewujudkan pendidikan pengelolaan sampah dengan cara praktis dan tidak birokratis ataupun teoritis.
Weilin Han, M.Sc.
Anak-anak Mandiri
Biasa…., saya gelisah kaya cacing kepanasan lagi.
Saya memang tumbuh di keluarga yang percaya melakukan pekerjaan rumah tangga itu merupakan hal yang biasa dilakukan sendiri, tanpa harus ada perbedaan gender ataupun hirarki (misalnya, anak beres2, bapak leha2). Jadi misalnya, mencuci piring, menyapu, mengepel – itu tanggung jawab tiap-tiap anggota keluarga, termasuk ayah saya (yg notabene sebetulnya, anak tunggal).
Ada pembantu? Ada. Biasanya mencuci pakaian dan menyetrika. Atau juga menyiapkan sayur yang akan dimasak (nanti yang masak ayah atau ibu). Ya.., pembantu juga mengerjakan pekerjaan lain.., tapi tidak membuat kami invalid dan tidak mampu mengerjakan pekerjaan lain-lain itu kalau pembantu tidak ada.
Apakah Ibu saya ”ibu rumah tangga” yang tidak bekerja? Engga tuh. Ibu sibuk luar biasa. Kalau tidak membantu jaga kios, beliau akan keliling menjajakan dagangan (sampai keluar kota), membayar pajak, membuat kue untuk jualan, MENGAJAR, pokoknya, sibuk dah. Ayah? Ya, sama sibuknya lah. Karena itu, pembagian tugas di dalam rumah jadi bagian kehidupan.
Now, back to our present time. Sudah lama saya mengamati bagaimana anak-anak didik kita menjadi robot pintar sekaligus invalid. Mereka “pintar” matematika. Sibuk les macam-macam. Jauh lebih sehat dan bergizi (ya…, jangan bandingkan dengan kasus kurang gizi yang menyeruak ya), tapi kok ya INVALID dalam hal-hal sederhana seperti: menyimpan tas/sepatu mereka sendiri pada tempatnya, makan sendiri dengan bersih dan menyimpan perkakas makan ke tempat mencuci piring, dsb.
Sering saya menanyakan hal ini pada teman2 baik guru, kepala sekolah maupun pemilik/pengelola sekolah. Saya juga bertanya bagaimana agar metode mengajar kita mampu menyiapkan anak-anak kita untuk mandiri.
Saya sangat sedih mendapat jawaban yang sangat pesimis: TIDAK MUNGKIN. Sudah dicoba dan GAGAL. Percuma mengajar juga kalau ORANG TUANYA TIDAK SADAR. Kalau saya mengejar lagi dengan pertanyaan, “ah, masa sih?”, jawaban yang saya terima: “kamu kan tidak berkeluarga, tidak punya anak, kamu tidak tahu pusingnya berkeluarga, bekerja dan punya anak”. Dalam hati saya, lha…, kalo emang pusing, kenapa berkeluarga, bekerja dan punya anak doongg….he…he.. But, that’s not the point.
Atau, jawaban lainnya (yg kalo buat saya tuh lebih sebagai "excuse" dibandingkan reason) adalah:
• Itu kan keluarga elo. Jangan samakan keluarga elo yg aneh dengan keluarga pada umumnya dong.
• Buat apa ada pembantu? kita kan udah bayar mrk. Mending mengerjakan pekerjaan lain yg jauh lebih berguna dan efektif. Ngabis2in waktu aja.
Apakah betul tidak ada pengharapan? Kalau kita hidup tidak berpengharapan, untuk apa kita hidup ya? Saya hanya merasa justru dari hal-hal kecil yang sederhana itulah kita menanamkan nilai yang RUAARRR BIASA besar manfaatnya, untuk anak kita sendiri. Kita memberikan kemampuan hidup kepada mereka.
Dalam kegalauan saya, saya membaca sebuah bacaan sederhana dari sebuah buku bergambar untuk kelas 1 SD (pelajaran bahasa) yang memberi pengharapan. Saya kutip teksnya:
My Best Friend
My best friend is coming to spend the night. I’m glad she’s my best friend.
My best friend knows how to run faster and climb higher and jump farther than anyone.
My best friend can eat spaghetti with a fork and doesn’t drop any on the table.
My best friend knows how to point good pictures and doesn’t get fingermarks on the paper.
My best friend knows how to untie her shoelaces and how to do up the buttons on her pajamas.
(Pat Hutchins, Houghton Mifflin – Reading)
Dari bacaan sederhana itu saja para guru bisa mengajak berdiskusi dan mendidik anak-anaknya untuk makan sendiri dengan rapih, menghargai kebersihan, memasang tali sepatu sendiri, dan memasang kancing baju sendiri. Tapi…., anak2 itu juga tidak “nerdy”. Bahkan sebaliknya sangat sporty (satu hal yang juga tidak banyak dilakukan anak2 kita yang tinggal di kota).
Kemudian, saya melihat ke standard kompetensi PAUD. Ternyata, ada tuh masalah kemandirian di sekolah (bahkan di TK A):
Hasil Belajar Indikator
Dapat menjaga kebersihan
diri dan mengurus dirinya
sendiri
1. Membersihkan diri sendiri dengan bantuan. Misalnya: menggosok gigi, mandi, buang air, dll
2. Mengurus dirinya sendiri dengan sedikit bantuan. Misalnya: berpakaian sendiri, makan sendiri, dll
Dapat menjaga lingkungan
1. Mengembalikan mainan pada tempatnya setelah digunakan
2. Membuang sampah pada tempatnya
3. Membantu membersihkan llingkungan
Jadi, sebetulnya, either kegelisahanku seharusnya tidak valid, atau, program pemerintah yang salah .
Tolong jeng, mas, koh, cie, pak, bu…, Bantu saya untuk tetap melihat dan berpegang pada pengharapan dengan memberikan contoh nyata, bahwa:
1. anak-anak anda, atau anak-anak di sekeliling anda, tidak invalid kok…..
2. guru-guru anda tetap bersemangat dan menjalankan penanaman kebiasaan baik ini dengan penuh percaya diri.
Salam dari yang gelisah tapi berpengharapan,
Weilin
Saya memang tumbuh di keluarga yang percaya melakukan pekerjaan rumah tangga itu merupakan hal yang biasa dilakukan sendiri, tanpa harus ada perbedaan gender ataupun hirarki (misalnya, anak beres2, bapak leha2). Jadi misalnya, mencuci piring, menyapu, mengepel – itu tanggung jawab tiap-tiap anggota keluarga, termasuk ayah saya (yg notabene sebetulnya, anak tunggal).
Ada pembantu? Ada. Biasanya mencuci pakaian dan menyetrika. Atau juga menyiapkan sayur yang akan dimasak (nanti yang masak ayah atau ibu). Ya.., pembantu juga mengerjakan pekerjaan lain.., tapi tidak membuat kami invalid dan tidak mampu mengerjakan pekerjaan lain-lain itu kalau pembantu tidak ada.
Apakah Ibu saya ”ibu rumah tangga” yang tidak bekerja? Engga tuh. Ibu sibuk luar biasa. Kalau tidak membantu jaga kios, beliau akan keliling menjajakan dagangan (sampai keluar kota), membayar pajak, membuat kue untuk jualan, MENGAJAR, pokoknya, sibuk dah. Ayah? Ya, sama sibuknya lah. Karena itu, pembagian tugas di dalam rumah jadi bagian kehidupan.
Now, back to our present time. Sudah lama saya mengamati bagaimana anak-anak didik kita menjadi robot pintar sekaligus invalid. Mereka “pintar” matematika. Sibuk les macam-macam. Jauh lebih sehat dan bergizi (ya…, jangan bandingkan dengan kasus kurang gizi yang menyeruak ya), tapi kok ya INVALID dalam hal-hal sederhana seperti: menyimpan tas/sepatu mereka sendiri pada tempatnya, makan sendiri dengan bersih dan menyimpan perkakas makan ke tempat mencuci piring, dsb.
Sering saya menanyakan hal ini pada teman2 baik guru, kepala sekolah maupun pemilik/pengelola sekolah. Saya juga bertanya bagaimana agar metode mengajar kita mampu menyiapkan anak-anak kita untuk mandiri.
Saya sangat sedih mendapat jawaban yang sangat pesimis: TIDAK MUNGKIN. Sudah dicoba dan GAGAL. Percuma mengajar juga kalau ORANG TUANYA TIDAK SADAR. Kalau saya mengejar lagi dengan pertanyaan, “ah, masa sih?”, jawaban yang saya terima: “kamu kan tidak berkeluarga, tidak punya anak, kamu tidak tahu pusingnya berkeluarga, bekerja dan punya anak”. Dalam hati saya, lha…, kalo emang pusing, kenapa berkeluarga, bekerja dan punya anak doongg….he…he.. But, that’s not the point.
Atau, jawaban lainnya (yg kalo buat saya tuh lebih sebagai "excuse" dibandingkan reason) adalah:
• Itu kan keluarga elo. Jangan samakan keluarga elo yg aneh dengan keluarga pada umumnya dong.
• Buat apa ada pembantu? kita kan udah bayar mrk. Mending mengerjakan pekerjaan lain yg jauh lebih berguna dan efektif. Ngabis2in waktu aja.
Apakah betul tidak ada pengharapan? Kalau kita hidup tidak berpengharapan, untuk apa kita hidup ya? Saya hanya merasa justru dari hal-hal kecil yang sederhana itulah kita menanamkan nilai yang RUAARRR BIASA besar manfaatnya, untuk anak kita sendiri. Kita memberikan kemampuan hidup kepada mereka.
Dalam kegalauan saya, saya membaca sebuah bacaan sederhana dari sebuah buku bergambar untuk kelas 1 SD (pelajaran bahasa) yang memberi pengharapan. Saya kutip teksnya:
My Best Friend
My best friend is coming to spend the night. I’m glad she’s my best friend.
My best friend knows how to run faster and climb higher and jump farther than anyone.
My best friend can eat spaghetti with a fork and doesn’t drop any on the table.
My best friend knows how to point good pictures and doesn’t get fingermarks on the paper.
My best friend knows how to untie her shoelaces and how to do up the buttons on her pajamas.
(Pat Hutchins, Houghton Mifflin – Reading)
Dari bacaan sederhana itu saja para guru bisa mengajak berdiskusi dan mendidik anak-anaknya untuk makan sendiri dengan rapih, menghargai kebersihan, memasang tali sepatu sendiri, dan memasang kancing baju sendiri. Tapi…., anak2 itu juga tidak “nerdy”. Bahkan sebaliknya sangat sporty (satu hal yang juga tidak banyak dilakukan anak2 kita yang tinggal di kota).
Kemudian, saya melihat ke standard kompetensi PAUD. Ternyata, ada tuh masalah kemandirian di sekolah (bahkan di TK A):
Hasil Belajar Indikator
Dapat menjaga kebersihan
diri dan mengurus dirinya
sendiri
1. Membersihkan diri sendiri dengan bantuan. Misalnya: menggosok gigi, mandi, buang air, dll
2. Mengurus dirinya sendiri dengan sedikit bantuan. Misalnya: berpakaian sendiri, makan sendiri, dll
Dapat menjaga lingkungan
1. Mengembalikan mainan pada tempatnya setelah digunakan
2. Membuang sampah pada tempatnya
3. Membantu membersihkan llingkungan
Jadi, sebetulnya, either kegelisahanku seharusnya tidak valid, atau, program pemerintah yang salah .
Tolong jeng, mas, koh, cie, pak, bu…, Bantu saya untuk tetap melihat dan berpegang pada pengharapan dengan memberikan contoh nyata, bahwa:
1. anak-anak anda, atau anak-anak di sekeliling anda, tidak invalid kok…..
2. guru-guru anda tetap bersemangat dan menjalankan penanaman kebiasaan baik ini dengan penuh percaya diri.
Salam dari yang gelisah tapi berpengharapan,
Weilin
No Bakat - No Love?
Pekerjaan dan aktivitas saya memberikan kesempatan yang sangat luas untuk berkeliling dan bertemu dengan anak-anak sekolah dasar maupun para remaja. Baik mereka yang di kota besar ataupun di pelosok Indonesia. Kaya, ataupun pas-pasan.
Dan selama pertemuan-pertemuan itu, saya sangat mensyukuri masa kecil dan remaja saya. Kami memang bukan dari keluarga yang secara ekonomi berkelimpahan, tapi orang tua saya RUUAAARR biasa dalam mencintai anak-anaknya. Salah satu pengalaman yang paling membekas sampai di usia saya yang melebihi kepala 4 ini adalah ketika suatu hari, pada saat hujan lebat di usia saya yang baru saja 4 tahun, saya dan papa naik becak. Saya duduk di pangkuannya, dan papa memeluk saya dengan hangat. Perasaan aman, dicintai, dan bahwa ada seorang dewasa yang berada bersama-sama saya pada hari yang tidak menyenangkan, menjadikan hari itu begitu indah.
Sementara itu, seorang kepala sekolah TK mengeluh karena ada seorang anak, yang didampingi secara khusus oleh seorang suster dan seorang supir, lengkap dengan mobil tersendiri, tapi tidak pernah bertemu dengan orang tuanya yang sangat sibuk. Para baby sitters lebih mengenal sifat dan kesukaan anak dibandingkan para orang tuanya sendiri. Tidak jarang pula merekalah yang mengambilkan raport ”anak-anak” karena orang tua tidak ingin rugi kehilangan bisnis.
Sebuah soal ulangan kelas 1 SD menggambarkan seorang ibu yang sedang memangku seorang anak. Pertanyaan di soal itu adalah: kasih sayang siapakah yang ditunjukkan dalam gambar itu? a) Mbak, b) Ibu, c) Ayah. Sang anak memilih jawaban /a/, yang tentu saja disalahkan oleh gurunya. Tapi, apakah jawaban anak itu tidak menunjukkan kebenaran yang sesungguhnya? Bukankah mungkin bahwa dia memang mendapatkan kasih sayang dari ”mbak” dibandingkan dari sang Ibu?
Apakah kenangan Anda akan orangtua Anda? Sebaliknya, apakah kenangan yang ingin Anda berikan pada anak Anda ketika mereka beranjak dewasa dan kemudian juga menjadi orangtua?
I-Disease Syndrome
”Randy rangking berapa?”, ”Kamu ikut olimpiade apa saja?”, ”Eh, anakku ikutan Worship Idol, lho, tolong SMS ya ke no...”
Seorang anak perempuan sangat marah kepada temannya karena sang teman tidak menganggapnya sebagai sesuatu yang hebat ketika ia bercerita bahwa ia baru saja ikut konser piano. Dalam usia dininya, anak ini sudah bertumbuh dengan ”I-disease syndrome”. Saya tidak menyarankan Anda mencari arti istilah itu di Google, karena itu bukan terminologi resmi. ”I-disease syndrome” merupakan gejala dimana anak bertumbuh dan menjadi percaya diri hanya karena dia dianggap hebat. Ketika dia tidak dipuji, atau menjadi pusat perhatian, anak ini akan kehilangan motivasinya untuk belajar apapun, termasuk yang sebetulnya dia sukai.
Pernahkan Anda bertanya pada diri sendiri, seandainya anak Anda tidak berbakat apapun, prestasi di sekolahnya pun tidak menonjol bahkan cenderung lemah, bahkan secara penampilan pun tidak cantik, tidak menarik, tidak lucu, apakah Anda tetap akan mencintai anak Anda dan memenuhinya dengan segala kasih sayang, tanpa membanding-bandingkan dengan anak-anak lain? Tanpa terlintas kata, ”seandainya saja....”?
”Cacat” Sosial
Pada umumnya keluarga muda sekarang banyak yang hanya mempunyai satu orang anak. Karena tuntutan ekonomi, suami istri harus bekerja dua-duanya. Akibatnya waktu bertemu dengan anak menjadi terbatas. Tapi ironisnya, waktu efektif untuk anak bertemu dengan orangtua tidak berkorelasi positif dengan fakta bahwa kedua orangtua bekerja.
Di sebuah tempat hiburan untuk anak-anak, misalnya, tidak jarang ditemui anak-anak yang ”ditinggal” oleh orangtuanya, karena sang mama sibuk ke mall, arisan, atau berleha-leha di spa. Di sekolah-sekolah, tidak jarang para guru mengeluh karena para orangtua terlambat menjemput anak. Bukan karena kesibukan pekerjaan orangtua, tapi karena.., duh..., tanggung, rambut lagi di blow nih!
Karena itu pula, para orangtua merasa lebih aman dan nyaman memberikan setumpuk kesibukan les A sampai dengan Z kepada para anaknya, sehingga mereka juga sama sibuknya dengan sang orangtua. Alasan lainnya, ”daripada keluyuran di mall, lebih baik les.” Atau, ”saya kan tidak mengerti pelajaran yang diberikan, daripada ulangannya jeblok, sebaiknya dileskan saja.”
Para anak bertumbuh bukan hanya tidak mempunyai kesempatan bersosialisasi dengan teman-teman sebaya, tetapi juga tidak bersosialisasi dengan orang-orang lainnya. Mari perhatikan, hubungan teman dan guru di sekolah terfokus pada pelajaran dan nilai ulangan. Hubungan dengan kakak les sebatas materi pelajaran. Hubungan dengan orangtua sebatas pemenuhan kebutuhan fisik (pakaian, makanan, mainan, buku, dll). Bukan hal aneh bila banyak anak SD yang tidak mengetahui nama orangtuanya, atau nama kakaknya.
Hikikomori
Ada sebuah gejala sosial yang sangat mengkhawatirkan yang sedang terjadi di Jepang. Namanya Hikikomori. Misalnya saja seorang anak direbut pinsilnya di sekolah. Anak ini tidak berani melapor pada guru (karena murid di kelas banyak, dan tuntutan prestasi sekolah harus tinggi), dan tidak bisa bercerita pada orangtua (karena sibuk). Akhirnya, anak ini mengurung diri di kamar dan memutus komunikasi dengan dunia luar. Bukan sehari dua hari, tapi sampai dengan empat tahun!! Anak-anak bertumbuh sebagai ”manusia” yang cacat secara sosial. Mereka tidak mampu berkomunikasi, menghadapi dan memecahkan masalah bersama, bertumbuh bersama secara hangat dan kekeluargaan.
Bakat? Pintar? Rasanya, ada yang jauh lebih penting: menjadikan mereka ”manusia” dengan kebutuhan akan kasih sayang dari manusia lainnya, dari para orang tua, saudara dan teman-temannya. **(WH)
(box)Tonton Film-film ini
Film-film yang patut ditonton: “Simon Birch”, “Life is Beautiful”, “I not Stupid” (1 dan 2), “The Incredibles” (cartoon).
(box)
Weilin Han, M.Sc. adalah Konsultan Sekolah dan Pelatih Guru I-Teach Education Training Center. Dapat dihubungi di weilinhan@yahoo.com
Dan selama pertemuan-pertemuan itu, saya sangat mensyukuri masa kecil dan remaja saya. Kami memang bukan dari keluarga yang secara ekonomi berkelimpahan, tapi orang tua saya RUUAAARR biasa dalam mencintai anak-anaknya. Salah satu pengalaman yang paling membekas sampai di usia saya yang melebihi kepala 4 ini adalah ketika suatu hari, pada saat hujan lebat di usia saya yang baru saja 4 tahun, saya dan papa naik becak. Saya duduk di pangkuannya, dan papa memeluk saya dengan hangat. Perasaan aman, dicintai, dan bahwa ada seorang dewasa yang berada bersama-sama saya pada hari yang tidak menyenangkan, menjadikan hari itu begitu indah.
Sementara itu, seorang kepala sekolah TK mengeluh karena ada seorang anak, yang didampingi secara khusus oleh seorang suster dan seorang supir, lengkap dengan mobil tersendiri, tapi tidak pernah bertemu dengan orang tuanya yang sangat sibuk. Para baby sitters lebih mengenal sifat dan kesukaan anak dibandingkan para orang tuanya sendiri. Tidak jarang pula merekalah yang mengambilkan raport ”anak-anak” karena orang tua tidak ingin rugi kehilangan bisnis.
Sebuah soal ulangan kelas 1 SD menggambarkan seorang ibu yang sedang memangku seorang anak. Pertanyaan di soal itu adalah: kasih sayang siapakah yang ditunjukkan dalam gambar itu? a) Mbak, b) Ibu, c) Ayah. Sang anak memilih jawaban /a/, yang tentu saja disalahkan oleh gurunya. Tapi, apakah jawaban anak itu tidak menunjukkan kebenaran yang sesungguhnya? Bukankah mungkin bahwa dia memang mendapatkan kasih sayang dari ”mbak” dibandingkan dari sang Ibu?
Apakah kenangan Anda akan orangtua Anda? Sebaliknya, apakah kenangan yang ingin Anda berikan pada anak Anda ketika mereka beranjak dewasa dan kemudian juga menjadi orangtua?
I-Disease Syndrome
”Randy rangking berapa?”, ”Kamu ikut olimpiade apa saja?”, ”Eh, anakku ikutan Worship Idol, lho, tolong SMS ya ke no...”
Seorang anak perempuan sangat marah kepada temannya karena sang teman tidak menganggapnya sebagai sesuatu yang hebat ketika ia bercerita bahwa ia baru saja ikut konser piano. Dalam usia dininya, anak ini sudah bertumbuh dengan ”I-disease syndrome”. Saya tidak menyarankan Anda mencari arti istilah itu di Google, karena itu bukan terminologi resmi. ”I-disease syndrome” merupakan gejala dimana anak bertumbuh dan menjadi percaya diri hanya karena dia dianggap hebat. Ketika dia tidak dipuji, atau menjadi pusat perhatian, anak ini akan kehilangan motivasinya untuk belajar apapun, termasuk yang sebetulnya dia sukai.
Pernahkan Anda bertanya pada diri sendiri, seandainya anak Anda tidak berbakat apapun, prestasi di sekolahnya pun tidak menonjol bahkan cenderung lemah, bahkan secara penampilan pun tidak cantik, tidak menarik, tidak lucu, apakah Anda tetap akan mencintai anak Anda dan memenuhinya dengan segala kasih sayang, tanpa membanding-bandingkan dengan anak-anak lain? Tanpa terlintas kata, ”seandainya saja....”?
”Cacat” Sosial
Pada umumnya keluarga muda sekarang banyak yang hanya mempunyai satu orang anak. Karena tuntutan ekonomi, suami istri harus bekerja dua-duanya. Akibatnya waktu bertemu dengan anak menjadi terbatas. Tapi ironisnya, waktu efektif untuk anak bertemu dengan orangtua tidak berkorelasi positif dengan fakta bahwa kedua orangtua bekerja.
Di sebuah tempat hiburan untuk anak-anak, misalnya, tidak jarang ditemui anak-anak yang ”ditinggal” oleh orangtuanya, karena sang mama sibuk ke mall, arisan, atau berleha-leha di spa. Di sekolah-sekolah, tidak jarang para guru mengeluh karena para orangtua terlambat menjemput anak. Bukan karena kesibukan pekerjaan orangtua, tapi karena.., duh..., tanggung, rambut lagi di blow nih!
Karena itu pula, para orangtua merasa lebih aman dan nyaman memberikan setumpuk kesibukan les A sampai dengan Z kepada para anaknya, sehingga mereka juga sama sibuknya dengan sang orangtua. Alasan lainnya, ”daripada keluyuran di mall, lebih baik les.” Atau, ”saya kan tidak mengerti pelajaran yang diberikan, daripada ulangannya jeblok, sebaiknya dileskan saja.”
Para anak bertumbuh bukan hanya tidak mempunyai kesempatan bersosialisasi dengan teman-teman sebaya, tetapi juga tidak bersosialisasi dengan orang-orang lainnya. Mari perhatikan, hubungan teman dan guru di sekolah terfokus pada pelajaran dan nilai ulangan. Hubungan dengan kakak les sebatas materi pelajaran. Hubungan dengan orangtua sebatas pemenuhan kebutuhan fisik (pakaian, makanan, mainan, buku, dll). Bukan hal aneh bila banyak anak SD yang tidak mengetahui nama orangtuanya, atau nama kakaknya.
Hikikomori
Ada sebuah gejala sosial yang sangat mengkhawatirkan yang sedang terjadi di Jepang. Namanya Hikikomori. Misalnya saja seorang anak direbut pinsilnya di sekolah. Anak ini tidak berani melapor pada guru (karena murid di kelas banyak, dan tuntutan prestasi sekolah harus tinggi), dan tidak bisa bercerita pada orangtua (karena sibuk). Akhirnya, anak ini mengurung diri di kamar dan memutus komunikasi dengan dunia luar. Bukan sehari dua hari, tapi sampai dengan empat tahun!! Anak-anak bertumbuh sebagai ”manusia” yang cacat secara sosial. Mereka tidak mampu berkomunikasi, menghadapi dan memecahkan masalah bersama, bertumbuh bersama secara hangat dan kekeluargaan.
Bakat? Pintar? Rasanya, ada yang jauh lebih penting: menjadikan mereka ”manusia” dengan kebutuhan akan kasih sayang dari manusia lainnya, dari para orang tua, saudara dan teman-temannya. **(WH)
(box)Tonton Film-film ini
Film-film yang patut ditonton: “Simon Birch”, “Life is Beautiful”, “I not Stupid” (1 dan 2), “The Incredibles” (cartoon).
(box)
Weilin Han, M.Sc. adalah Konsultan Sekolah dan Pelatih Guru I-Teach Education Training Center. Dapat dihubungi di weilinhan@yahoo.com
Education That Is Christian
There are two comments from two different teachers which I will always remember not only in my education career but also in my Christian faith. The first comment was made by a Christian principal during a meeting held by the government. Our group, which consisted of 8 people from various educational teaching fields, believed in constructing students holistically. Our group was working on how we could help the government with the new curriculum. A Christian principal, who led a leading Christian school, came to us, inquiring the reasons of putting so much effort in changing our curriculum and emphasizing on developing students holistically. To him and his well-known school, he saw nothing wrong in exercising drilling, rote learning and giving lots of pressure to the students so they could excel. Additionally, since the school has been producing excellent and smart students, it is always in high demand.
Our group members tried in vain to convince him that a man would not become a fully developed human being by a mere cognitive development. The principal’s belief and position was very disturbing. Sad but true, he led a Christian school which aims to produce smart robots. This is indeed the exact opposite of the Christian principles.
The second comment was made by a public elementary school teacher in Central Jakarta. He has been teaching for more than 15 years. He told me persistently that my efforts to teach a critical and creative thinking would fail, because he strongly believed that students could be categorized into three groups: the smart ones, the diligent ones and the “left-over”. “Why should you put so much energy while you cannot expect any change?” he added. I was staggered by his comments. Whenever I looked at each and every student in my class, I dared not determine their future. How if God endows a Michelangelo’s talent, or a Yohanes Surya’s brilliance, or a Vanessa Mae’s musical gift among these “left-overs”? Finally, I told the teacher that I had no ambitions to expect an instant change from these students. However, if I can motivate the challenged students to be more hopeful in improving their grades from 3 to 5, or even to 4, I would already be happy.
On a different occasion, God gave me a chance to meet a curriculum director of a small yet progressive Moslem school. He told me that there was no religion subject in his school because he believed in constructing and building Moslem values in the students through integrated curriculum and critical thinking. Furthermore grades and ranks were not considered as essential in his school. The most important goal was to build a child holistically. I was so thrilled by his mindset. I wish I could meet more people, especially Christian educators, having similar mindset.
Many of us would ask what is wrong with rote learning approach, especially if the approach produces excellent students. Isn’t it our educational aim? Don’t we want to have excellent students who can become excellent human resources for the country? Aren’t they good assets for the future? Doesn’t God also want us to be Daniels for our country?
However, my question to those who raise such questions would be:
• Do the students get good grades because of their teachers’ teaching skills or because of long tutorial hours after school?
• Can an “excellent” Christian school which produces International Olympiad participants assure us that there are no students from that school who take tutorials after school hours? Because, in that case, at least, the school can show us that it is their teachers, and not the tutorial teachers, who have excellent teaching skills.
• What kind of assessments does the school use to determine students’ grades? Is it merely a cognitive test in limited “favorite” subjects such as science and math? How about their social skills? How do Christian schools and teachers develop social awareness and responsibility to the nations’ problems? In short, how do we define excellent?
• As for the students themselves, are they excellent in grades because they have to take a rigorous entrance test during enrollment to the school? Isn’t it an automatic elimination process that the school only takes students with high academic (cognitive) skills?
• If they are neither smart nor having excellent grades, will Christian schools take and educate them? If not, why? Please note that I am referring to normal students not students with special needs.
As a fact, Indonesia ranks 4th largest population in the world. Unfortunately, more than 60% of our population or more than 100,000,000 Indonesians are illiterate. Large numbers of students drop out before finishing elementary school. If we visit Ministry of Indonesian Education website , we will find that the total completion rate for primary schools in 2003-2004 is 3,616,414 students, where less than 10% (249,371 students) comes from private schools. Those who continue to middle schools are only 2,532,185 students (or only 70%). The main reason of high drop out rate is due to the high educational cost. Further survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Soffres (TNS) in early 2006 mentioned that 71% of students between 15 to 17 years old who dropped out are jobless .
If we pay attention to our nation constitution, there are four mandates mentioned in our preamble of our government, i.e., it must:
1. protect all her citizens and territorial integrity
2. promote public welfare
3. enhance the intellectual life of the whole nation
4. take part in world peace keeping
It is true that Christian institutions have supported the government to enhance the intellectual life for certain numbers of students. It is also true by enhancing the intellectual life of those students the institutions have prepared them for a better public welfare. However, to what extent have we educated our students about their national identities and responsibilities to create peace and order in their societies, not as mere passive agents but as proactive agents? For example, students, whose future occupations in commerce/business, should not only focused on earning profits but also should care enough to sustain the natural resources and healthy environment. All these qualities could never be obtained by merely teaching cognitive skills.
Furthermore, the Act on Education System in Article 1 verse 1 state:
Education means conscious and well-planned effort in creating a learning environment and process so that learners will be able to develop their full potential…. that one needs for him/herself, for the community, for the nation, and for the state (italics and bold added)
The goal of our education institution is to create a learning environment and process for learners’ full potential. We as educators are not supposed to create a feeding environment. We are expected to provide space for our students to process their knowledge and skill. We are hoped to develop them holistically, to their full potential – not partially.
Nowadays, schools promoting their institutions in ways that are no different than any commercial industries promoting their values. They put big banners such as: “Discount 15% for early bird registration” or “Pay now and you will get a laptop”. Don’t we feel something odd here? Isn’t it absurd to use marketing strategy to get students, at the expense of the core value of education?
Mr. Darmaningtyas, one of Indonesian leading educators, says that there is a misleading terminology when we replace “human beings” (manusia) with “human resources” (sumber daya manusia). He emphasized that we are more than just resource products (sumber daya) which are measured by our effectiveness; we are more than machine. We are human beings created in the image of God. If we narrow our perspective of human beings to merely human resources, there will be no space for senior citizens, the handicapped, and people with special abilities. They are just defect human resources, who (or even, which) are not effective for our purpose.
It is not a surprise then, that our education puts stress on things which are technical and pragmatic – how to get something done, e.g., how to produce a bottled water, because we focus our effort more on accumulating things – on being “efficient and effective” or on being “productive”. Our standard of success is measured by output. We rarely educate our children to think for others or to sustain what God has given us. In the case of water, we rarely put modules and create school projects on how to sustain and protect the forest so that we will maintain water resources. The terminology “we owe the nature to the next generation” does not ring a bell.
He mentions further that our current education system stresses on individual achievement which I heartily agree on. What I notice is that schools (and mostly Christian schools) put advertisement in strategic places saying that they support student “A” in joining International Olympiad Competition. It is as if a student’s education goal was to merely be an Olympiad part-taker or winner. Should a student win the Olympiad competition, he or she brings pride to the school. And that is the way a student becomes a useful human being. It is sad that the value of a student is reduced to mere achievement.
Howard Gardner , a strong pro-evolutionist, promotes “multiple intelligence” that is widely used by Christians. If we revert to the Bible, multiple intelligence is not something new. It may be put aside, forgotten, or discarded in our education. God never intends to create us as His “tools” to man the Eden Garden. He wants to develop an intimate relationship with Him – to know Him as God who is love. He gives space for our feeling. He creates the universe beautifully and provides us with sensitivity and ability to portray His grandeur - whether through music, painting, or poems. As He Himself is God of Trinity, He wants us to develop relationship with others. He creates us as social beings. No wonder He creates us with multiple intelligence.
In Phil 4: 8, the Apostle Paul said, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”.
When Paul use the term “think” in the verse above, he didn’t mean merely cognitive and hard-fact thinking. He refers to a kind of thinking that is beyond rote-learning. Virtue, honesty, lovely – are qualities that are developed through life process, which cannot be measured, standardized, and framed in a certificate. Unfortunately, there is no International Olympiad of Virtue.
Weilin Han, M.Sc
Our group members tried in vain to convince him that a man would not become a fully developed human being by a mere cognitive development. The principal’s belief and position was very disturbing. Sad but true, he led a Christian school which aims to produce smart robots. This is indeed the exact opposite of the Christian principles.
The second comment was made by a public elementary school teacher in Central Jakarta. He has been teaching for more than 15 years. He told me persistently that my efforts to teach a critical and creative thinking would fail, because he strongly believed that students could be categorized into three groups: the smart ones, the diligent ones and the “left-over”. “Why should you put so much energy while you cannot expect any change?” he added. I was staggered by his comments. Whenever I looked at each and every student in my class, I dared not determine their future. How if God endows a Michelangelo’s talent, or a Yohanes Surya’s brilliance, or a Vanessa Mae’s musical gift among these “left-overs”? Finally, I told the teacher that I had no ambitions to expect an instant change from these students. However, if I can motivate the challenged students to be more hopeful in improving their grades from 3 to 5, or even to 4, I would already be happy.
On a different occasion, God gave me a chance to meet a curriculum director of a small yet progressive Moslem school. He told me that there was no religion subject in his school because he believed in constructing and building Moslem values in the students through integrated curriculum and critical thinking. Furthermore grades and ranks were not considered as essential in his school. The most important goal was to build a child holistically. I was so thrilled by his mindset. I wish I could meet more people, especially Christian educators, having similar mindset.
Many of us would ask what is wrong with rote learning approach, especially if the approach produces excellent students. Isn’t it our educational aim? Don’t we want to have excellent students who can become excellent human resources for the country? Aren’t they good assets for the future? Doesn’t God also want us to be Daniels for our country?
However, my question to those who raise such questions would be:
• Do the students get good grades because of their teachers’ teaching skills or because of long tutorial hours after school?
• Can an “excellent” Christian school which produces International Olympiad participants assure us that there are no students from that school who take tutorials after school hours? Because, in that case, at least, the school can show us that it is their teachers, and not the tutorial teachers, who have excellent teaching skills.
• What kind of assessments does the school use to determine students’ grades? Is it merely a cognitive test in limited “favorite” subjects such as science and math? How about their social skills? How do Christian schools and teachers develop social awareness and responsibility to the nations’ problems? In short, how do we define excellent?
• As for the students themselves, are they excellent in grades because they have to take a rigorous entrance test during enrollment to the school? Isn’t it an automatic elimination process that the school only takes students with high academic (cognitive) skills?
• If they are neither smart nor having excellent grades, will Christian schools take and educate them? If not, why? Please note that I am referring to normal students not students with special needs.
As a fact, Indonesia ranks 4th largest population in the world. Unfortunately, more than 60% of our population or more than 100,000,000 Indonesians are illiterate. Large numbers of students drop out before finishing elementary school. If we visit Ministry of Indonesian Education website , we will find that the total completion rate for primary schools in 2003-2004 is 3,616,414 students, where less than 10% (249,371 students) comes from private schools. Those who continue to middle schools are only 2,532,185 students (or only 70%). The main reason of high drop out rate is due to the high educational cost. Further survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Soffres (TNS) in early 2006 mentioned that 71% of students between 15 to 17 years old who dropped out are jobless .
If we pay attention to our nation constitution, there are four mandates mentioned in our preamble of our government, i.e., it must:
1. protect all her citizens and territorial integrity
2. promote public welfare
3. enhance the intellectual life of the whole nation
4. take part in world peace keeping
It is true that Christian institutions have supported the government to enhance the intellectual life for certain numbers of students. It is also true by enhancing the intellectual life of those students the institutions have prepared them for a better public welfare. However, to what extent have we educated our students about their national identities and responsibilities to create peace and order in their societies, not as mere passive agents but as proactive agents? For example, students, whose future occupations in commerce/business, should not only focused on earning profits but also should care enough to sustain the natural resources and healthy environment. All these qualities could never be obtained by merely teaching cognitive skills.
Furthermore, the Act on Education System in Article 1 verse 1 state:
Education means conscious and well-planned effort in creating a learning environment and process so that learners will be able to develop their full potential…. that one needs for him/herself, for the community, for the nation, and for the state (italics and bold added)
The goal of our education institution is to create a learning environment and process for learners’ full potential. We as educators are not supposed to create a feeding environment. We are expected to provide space for our students to process their knowledge and skill. We are hoped to develop them holistically, to their full potential – not partially.
Nowadays, schools promoting their institutions in ways that are no different than any commercial industries promoting their values. They put big banners such as: “Discount 15% for early bird registration” or “Pay now and you will get a laptop”. Don’t we feel something odd here? Isn’t it absurd to use marketing strategy to get students, at the expense of the core value of education?
Mr. Darmaningtyas, one of Indonesian leading educators, says that there is a misleading terminology when we replace “human beings” (manusia) with “human resources” (sumber daya manusia). He emphasized that we are more than just resource products (sumber daya) which are measured by our effectiveness; we are more than machine. We are human beings created in the image of God. If we narrow our perspective of human beings to merely human resources, there will be no space for senior citizens, the handicapped, and people with special abilities. They are just defect human resources, who (or even, which) are not effective for our purpose.
It is not a surprise then, that our education puts stress on things which are technical and pragmatic – how to get something done, e.g., how to produce a bottled water, because we focus our effort more on accumulating things – on being “efficient and effective” or on being “productive”. Our standard of success is measured by output. We rarely educate our children to think for others or to sustain what God has given us. In the case of water, we rarely put modules and create school projects on how to sustain and protect the forest so that we will maintain water resources. The terminology “we owe the nature to the next generation” does not ring a bell.
He mentions further that our current education system stresses on individual achievement which I heartily agree on. What I notice is that schools (and mostly Christian schools) put advertisement in strategic places saying that they support student “A” in joining International Olympiad Competition. It is as if a student’s education goal was to merely be an Olympiad part-taker or winner. Should a student win the Olympiad competition, he or she brings pride to the school. And that is the way a student becomes a useful human being. It is sad that the value of a student is reduced to mere achievement.
Howard Gardner , a strong pro-evolutionist, promotes “multiple intelligence” that is widely used by Christians. If we revert to the Bible, multiple intelligence is not something new. It may be put aside, forgotten, or discarded in our education. God never intends to create us as His “tools” to man the Eden Garden. He wants to develop an intimate relationship with Him – to know Him as God who is love. He gives space for our feeling. He creates the universe beautifully and provides us with sensitivity and ability to portray His grandeur - whether through music, painting, or poems. As He Himself is God of Trinity, He wants us to develop relationship with others. He creates us as social beings. No wonder He creates us with multiple intelligence.
In Phil 4: 8, the Apostle Paul said, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”.
When Paul use the term “think” in the verse above, he didn’t mean merely cognitive and hard-fact thinking. He refers to a kind of thinking that is beyond rote-learning. Virtue, honesty, lovely – are qualities that are developed through life process, which cannot be measured, standardized, and framed in a certificate. Unfortunately, there is no International Olympiad of Virtue.
Weilin Han, M.Sc
Quo Vadis – Christian Schools in Indonesia (a personal anguish)
INTRODUCTION
It has been ages that the church believes education institutions are means to spread out the Good News. Many churches and Christian organizations open schools, hoping that they can evangelize the students. Later on the students can join the Sunday school, and hopefully, they will be faithful and become the church members. There is nothing wrong with the vision. On the contrary, it is a very noble one. Of course, besides spreading out the Gospel, the church also realizes that the “package” of the calling is to educate the people, to make people realize who they are and come to their utmost potentiality. We cannot deny that Christian schools have taken a great part, for example, in fighting illiteracy.
Along the way we can notice that Christian schools in Indonesia (especially in big cities) will be considered as either good and expensive, or cheap but with poor quality (many will also become places for juvenile delinquents). It is such a contrast when at the same time we can still find excellent and affordable Catholic schools or cheap simple Moslem boarding schools, which still provide character buildings and basic education. I should admit that my finding is not tested academically yet, however, the empiric data triggers my thought lately to go into a deeper study.
It is a disturbed discovery that apparently there are several essential things the Indonesian church forgets. It forgets that a school without in-depth philosophy is like a school without a goal. It overlooks that to run a school, it needs human resources that understand education otherwise, it will just like a hospital without proper doctors. It disregards that Christian education is everybody’s responsibility - it takes a village to change a man.
My writing below is an outcry to my Christian fellows, especially the Indonesians to be alert with the present Christian education situation in Indonesia. We have to admit that our vision has slumbered down and it is high time to blow the wake-up call trumpet.
“Christian teaching operates at the level of life. Anything less is sub-Christian.”
Lois E. Lebar
THE NEED TO GO TO PHILOSOPHY AS THE BASIC
We can’t ignore the fact that Christian schools in Indonesia have produced not only many bright students but also literate generations. There are leading Christian schools in some cities where the waiting lists are quite long. There are schools in remote areas where even the government will not go.
But, again, there is one fundamental thing that the school, or, I should say, the Christian leaders, neglect. Many (I can say most) Pastors and members of the school foundation do not understand the Philosophy of Man and Education. Few recognize that education goes deeper into ideology and philosophy of everybody’s life. Most schools just do the “cut and paste” of the national curriculum and put the Christian value merely at the religion subject or Christian activities (morning devotion, school retreat, fellowship, etc.). They jump into “means” instead of thinking more on “ends”, they ponder more on “how” but not on “why” and its progress.
Since the prestige of a school is determined by the school’s result on the national test (percentage and high mark in the national assessment), many Christian schools forget that their main responsibility is to mold the children’s life and not to create competitive “robots”. It is a common knowledge that the school’s curriculum is overloaded, the teaching methodology is still teacher-centered and there is no space for teacher’s professional development. There is no time to integrate subjects and faith. And finally Christianity is only a symbol of a school’s logo.
Nevertheless, we should not concentrate on what is the phenomenon, or what people have talked about as the means (e.g., we should upgrade the teachers’ skills and salary, build a better facility, etc). We are encouraged to go into the essence, to ponder more not on “how” but on “why” and its progress - “why can our education slumber down”, “what’s wrong with the philosophy?”, “where are the people who know the foundation of education? “what can we do, then?”, “what will be the core issue (s) if we want to make our education back on track?”. It means we have to ask and answer all the philosophical inquiries - focusing on “thought about purpose” and “to think about what they are doing and why they are doing it”. . Back to square one (that we may have lost or forgotten).
During the Philosophy classes, educators are expected to find the rationale behind all questions above. The philosophic perspectives are the major determinants of the practical teaching application such as methodology, focus, role of teacher and function of the school itself in the community. For example, when we say we want to make a red glass, we fully understand why we want to have it red, why we should have a red glass instead of a red plate, what kind of red we want to produce, and so on. Then, we can go into means to achieve the redness that we want and the shape of a glass that we have in our mind. Our perception of a child will mold our curriculum and instruction. Again, the core value will be the ends, and not the means.
When we want to talk about education, we deal with human beings instead of merely technical instrument. We have the children as the major stakeholder, the parents, the teachers, the community as the “future recipient” and the nation in the wider sense. We need to seek for people or educators who are equipped with Philosophy of Education and Man. Or, places to prepare them in this issue. It is again, a big disappointment that there is no Christian Seminaries that answer the need. All of them concentrate on theology. Well, they do have Philosophy class, but it is a very general and shallow one. It is a sad thing that even though the Christians always say or believe that schools are the strategic place to win the souls, they don’t see the need to prepare the human resources well. It is a different story with the Catholic. They prepare even the priests-to-be with strong philosophical background before they go into theological subjects. No wonder we have very few competent Christian leaders who are serious in thinking about education in Indonesia in a long-term base.
And when we try to mirror our belief above with the education system in Indonesia, we find the contradiction. Our curriculum (and even our community at large) does not allow us to have dialog. We still use Banking Education instead of Problem Posing Education. We put stress on teacher-centered curriculum instead of student-centered curriculum. We (read Christians) are phobic when it comes to critical thinking where we are bombarded with the students’ questions. A friend of mine told me that when she was small she often received corporal punishment in her Sunday school because she asked too many “dangerous questions and comment”. She did not see Jonah swallowed by a gigantic fish was not a miraculous thing. It happened to Pinnochio. What happened in Noah’s ark? Why didn’t the animal kill each other? How did they get the food? God asked them to fast? Since she got punishment instead of satisfying answers, she did not want to become a Christian. Critical Thinking is an alien in our education system. No wonder we are so far behind in having “quality human resources”.
If only we give ourselves chance to peep to some prominent philosophers, we will find that since thousand years ago Socrates has already mentioned the importance of dialog. He gave an example in his story of a “cave man” who find the ‘reality” versus his fellow who think they live a real “reality”. Then, decades ago Paulo Freire mentioned that to have “an educated nation” we should change our teaching system from teacher centered/ “banking education” to student centered. He stressed out in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” how the consciousness is gained. “Conscientização” that will bring “enlightenment”, self-realization and critical thinking. And a hundred year ago, John Dewey says “to have a strong nation, we need democracy in education”. Many Christians are against Dewey’s pragmatism belief. And many can’t remember either that it is him who said “…in this way the teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer of the true kingdom of God”. Of course, on top of that we all believe that Jesus is the Master of Mind (de) Construction. His philosophy covers all angles of man’s life. He challenges our belief on gender and class status. His arena was not limited in a four-wall classroom.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Seminaries
Seminaries blossom but almost all of them concentrate on theological subjects. Very few will have “education” as a faculty. Even if there is, it will concentrate only to prepare some people to become teachers in Christian Religion. The faculty is called PAK/Pengajaran Agama Kristen (Teaching Christian Religion). The irony is, top seminary students are encouraged to take major in theological subjects, and the “less smart” are asked to go to PAK. No wonder, we have people who, first of all, may not see teaching (Christian religion), as a dignified calling (well, it is just because there is no other place. They don’t really want to become teachers (if they can). And second, since teaching is considered does not need special skill, we have mediocre graduates. And on these people, we lay down our holy mission to save the world thru education.
Church
When we make conversation among fellows and ask about our vocation, we give lots of “Ah…!!” when we hear someone is a Director of a bank, or a manager of an MNC, or marketing executive for a company. But we very seldom give the same complement and respect when our fellows are in the teaching field. We even feel pity why our brothers/sisters do not have brighter career. We seldom hear the Indonesian churches speak on the importance of education from the pulpit. Of encouraging the youth to become teachers, of encouraging parents to get involve actively in the education. The Christian schools are longing to have Christian teachers in any subject, but it is extremely difficult to have teachers who are both able to deliver the subject and have commitment to teach. Most of them will just consider teaching as a stepping-stone or a transit place. They will leave the school once they have a better “career” whether in a bank or in other professional institution but education.
We cannot really blame the teachers, though. One’s income in Indonesian schooling is very low. People, even the church (read = us, Christian, congregation) do not consider teaching as something valued as any other professional job. There is no career in being a teacher. The top one, if one manages, is only a Principal. It is not something worth to consider.
So, we have a complete chain that is difficult to break. We do not have human resources, the seminaries do not prepare the students to see the school as the mission field (compared to the Catholic who prepare the nuns and priests to run schools), we do not have churches that consider schooling as vital (even though many of them have schools) and we have the society who sees teaching as a low level job. And because of the above problems, we do not see it as a serious call to study philosophy. Why bother with tough and impractical subject which will not be used anyway. It is already difficult to get human resources, it is impossible to have “ideal” persons. Let’s be practical. Go to means. We figure out the ends later on.
PURPOSE – Evangelization vs Commodity
While Christian schools put the “outreach and character building” in each vision and mission, they also find the reality that schools cannot run without sound financial resource. Still, they have to get “customers” to buy the product. Another dilemma arises. It is so obvious that many Christian schools find the solution in building a better facility than other schools. Most (if not all) Christian schools in Jakarta will have classes with air-conditioned and better buildings. The consequence then, the operational expenses will be higher. From the first purpose of evangelization, we slowly shift into commodity. We see students (and parents) as our source of income. To entice them, we put all the “make up” as mentioned previously. Christian schools will have a better outlook that can also draw better “quality” people – people that can pay. Survival the fittest will be the keyword. The church endorses the idea as it proclaims the school should run independently and can’t burden the church. It is the church’s pray the school is able to fund the church and missionaries. Christian schools have become Church Inc.
We should “envy” the Catholic schools a lot. We should put on par our commitment and theirs. It is not taboo to learn from their capability, energy and effort spent to think seriously on education. In Indonesia we should also see how Moslems now follow the Catholic path. They do not hesitate to spend their money and encourage their youth to go into education. For the non-religion schools, we also have “national plus schools” flourishing in the country. They combine the national curriculum with creative methodology, multiple intelligence and critical thinking. They are able to entice parents with the new “packaging” and marketing promises.
NEED
It is my humble plea to Christian leaders, theologians, churches and pastors, to open the eyes to education, to see the need not only as a serious but emergency one. Seminaries should put top priority on philosophy of education. Christian institutions must go deeper than “instant noodle campaign”*. Pastors are to speak and encourage the congregations to go into creating a “community that learns”. I am sure that my cry will not be like “Waiting for Godot”.
*”Instant Noodle Campaign” = campaign to raise help for areas in trouble (e.g. earthquake, flood, fire, etc.). The easiest way to help is to donate instant noodle. Actually the church can and should go deeper than the “hit and run” type of ministry. The church should build the community instead.
Weilin Han
Alumni Forum Discussion/Indonesia
It has been ages that the church believes education institutions are means to spread out the Good News. Many churches and Christian organizations open schools, hoping that they can evangelize the students. Later on the students can join the Sunday school, and hopefully, they will be faithful and become the church members. There is nothing wrong with the vision. On the contrary, it is a very noble one. Of course, besides spreading out the Gospel, the church also realizes that the “package” of the calling is to educate the people, to make people realize who they are and come to their utmost potentiality. We cannot deny that Christian schools have taken a great part, for example, in fighting illiteracy.
Along the way we can notice that Christian schools in Indonesia (especially in big cities) will be considered as either good and expensive, or cheap but with poor quality (many will also become places for juvenile delinquents). It is such a contrast when at the same time we can still find excellent and affordable Catholic schools or cheap simple Moslem boarding schools, which still provide character buildings and basic education. I should admit that my finding is not tested academically yet, however, the empiric data triggers my thought lately to go into a deeper study.
It is a disturbed discovery that apparently there are several essential things the Indonesian church forgets. It forgets that a school without in-depth philosophy is like a school without a goal. It overlooks that to run a school, it needs human resources that understand education otherwise, it will just like a hospital without proper doctors. It disregards that Christian education is everybody’s responsibility - it takes a village to change a man.
My writing below is an outcry to my Christian fellows, especially the Indonesians to be alert with the present Christian education situation in Indonesia. We have to admit that our vision has slumbered down and it is high time to blow the wake-up call trumpet.
“Christian teaching operates at the level of life. Anything less is sub-Christian.”
Lois E. Lebar
THE NEED TO GO TO PHILOSOPHY AS THE BASIC
We can’t ignore the fact that Christian schools in Indonesia have produced not only many bright students but also literate generations. There are leading Christian schools in some cities where the waiting lists are quite long. There are schools in remote areas where even the government will not go.
But, again, there is one fundamental thing that the school, or, I should say, the Christian leaders, neglect. Many (I can say most) Pastors and members of the school foundation do not understand the Philosophy of Man and Education. Few recognize that education goes deeper into ideology and philosophy of everybody’s life. Most schools just do the “cut and paste” of the national curriculum and put the Christian value merely at the religion subject or Christian activities (morning devotion, school retreat, fellowship, etc.). They jump into “means” instead of thinking more on “ends”, they ponder more on “how” but not on “why” and its progress.
Since the prestige of a school is determined by the school’s result on the national test (percentage and high mark in the national assessment), many Christian schools forget that their main responsibility is to mold the children’s life and not to create competitive “robots”. It is a common knowledge that the school’s curriculum is overloaded, the teaching methodology is still teacher-centered and there is no space for teacher’s professional development. There is no time to integrate subjects and faith. And finally Christianity is only a symbol of a school’s logo.
Nevertheless, we should not concentrate on what is the phenomenon, or what people have talked about as the means (e.g., we should upgrade the teachers’ skills and salary, build a better facility, etc). We are encouraged to go into the essence, to ponder more not on “how” but on “why” and its progress - “why can our education slumber down”, “what’s wrong with the philosophy?”, “where are the people who know the foundation of education? “what can we do, then?”, “what will be the core issue (s) if we want to make our education back on track?”. It means we have to ask and answer all the philosophical inquiries - focusing on “thought about purpose” and “to think about what they are doing and why they are doing it”. . Back to square one (that we may have lost or forgotten).
During the Philosophy classes, educators are expected to find the rationale behind all questions above. The philosophic perspectives are the major determinants of the practical teaching application such as methodology, focus, role of teacher and function of the school itself in the community. For example, when we say we want to make a red glass, we fully understand why we want to have it red, why we should have a red glass instead of a red plate, what kind of red we want to produce, and so on. Then, we can go into means to achieve the redness that we want and the shape of a glass that we have in our mind. Our perception of a child will mold our curriculum and instruction. Again, the core value will be the ends, and not the means.
When we want to talk about education, we deal with human beings instead of merely technical instrument. We have the children as the major stakeholder, the parents, the teachers, the community as the “future recipient” and the nation in the wider sense. We need to seek for people or educators who are equipped with Philosophy of Education and Man. Or, places to prepare them in this issue. It is again, a big disappointment that there is no Christian Seminaries that answer the need. All of them concentrate on theology. Well, they do have Philosophy class, but it is a very general and shallow one. It is a sad thing that even though the Christians always say or believe that schools are the strategic place to win the souls, they don’t see the need to prepare the human resources well. It is a different story with the Catholic. They prepare even the priests-to-be with strong philosophical background before they go into theological subjects. No wonder we have very few competent Christian leaders who are serious in thinking about education in Indonesia in a long-term base.
And when we try to mirror our belief above with the education system in Indonesia, we find the contradiction. Our curriculum (and even our community at large) does not allow us to have dialog. We still use Banking Education instead of Problem Posing Education. We put stress on teacher-centered curriculum instead of student-centered curriculum. We (read Christians) are phobic when it comes to critical thinking where we are bombarded with the students’ questions. A friend of mine told me that when she was small she often received corporal punishment in her Sunday school because she asked too many “dangerous questions and comment”. She did not see Jonah swallowed by a gigantic fish was not a miraculous thing. It happened to Pinnochio. What happened in Noah’s ark? Why didn’t the animal kill each other? How did they get the food? God asked them to fast? Since she got punishment instead of satisfying answers, she did not want to become a Christian. Critical Thinking is an alien in our education system. No wonder we are so far behind in having “quality human resources”.
If only we give ourselves chance to peep to some prominent philosophers, we will find that since thousand years ago Socrates has already mentioned the importance of dialog. He gave an example in his story of a “cave man” who find the ‘reality” versus his fellow who think they live a real “reality”. Then, decades ago Paulo Freire mentioned that to have “an educated nation” we should change our teaching system from teacher centered/ “banking education” to student centered. He stressed out in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” how the consciousness is gained. “Conscientização” that will bring “enlightenment”, self-realization and critical thinking. And a hundred year ago, John Dewey says “to have a strong nation, we need democracy in education”. Many Christians are against Dewey’s pragmatism belief. And many can’t remember either that it is him who said “…in this way the teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer of the true kingdom of God”. Of course, on top of that we all believe that Jesus is the Master of Mind (de) Construction. His philosophy covers all angles of man’s life. He challenges our belief on gender and class status. His arena was not limited in a four-wall classroom.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Seminaries
Seminaries blossom but almost all of them concentrate on theological subjects. Very few will have “education” as a faculty. Even if there is, it will concentrate only to prepare some people to become teachers in Christian Religion. The faculty is called PAK/Pengajaran Agama Kristen (Teaching Christian Religion). The irony is, top seminary students are encouraged to take major in theological subjects, and the “less smart” are asked to go to PAK. No wonder, we have people who, first of all, may not see teaching (Christian religion), as a dignified calling (well, it is just because there is no other place. They don’t really want to become teachers (if they can). And second, since teaching is considered does not need special skill, we have mediocre graduates. And on these people, we lay down our holy mission to save the world thru education.
Church
When we make conversation among fellows and ask about our vocation, we give lots of “Ah…!!” when we hear someone is a Director of a bank, or a manager of an MNC, or marketing executive for a company. But we very seldom give the same complement and respect when our fellows are in the teaching field. We even feel pity why our brothers/sisters do not have brighter career. We seldom hear the Indonesian churches speak on the importance of education from the pulpit. Of encouraging the youth to become teachers, of encouraging parents to get involve actively in the education. The Christian schools are longing to have Christian teachers in any subject, but it is extremely difficult to have teachers who are both able to deliver the subject and have commitment to teach. Most of them will just consider teaching as a stepping-stone or a transit place. They will leave the school once they have a better “career” whether in a bank or in other professional institution but education.
We cannot really blame the teachers, though. One’s income in Indonesian schooling is very low. People, even the church (read = us, Christian, congregation) do not consider teaching as something valued as any other professional job. There is no career in being a teacher. The top one, if one manages, is only a Principal. It is not something worth to consider.
So, we have a complete chain that is difficult to break. We do not have human resources, the seminaries do not prepare the students to see the school as the mission field (compared to the Catholic who prepare the nuns and priests to run schools), we do not have churches that consider schooling as vital (even though many of them have schools) and we have the society who sees teaching as a low level job. And because of the above problems, we do not see it as a serious call to study philosophy. Why bother with tough and impractical subject which will not be used anyway. It is already difficult to get human resources, it is impossible to have “ideal” persons. Let’s be practical. Go to means. We figure out the ends later on.
PURPOSE – Evangelization vs Commodity
While Christian schools put the “outreach and character building” in each vision and mission, they also find the reality that schools cannot run without sound financial resource. Still, they have to get “customers” to buy the product. Another dilemma arises. It is so obvious that many Christian schools find the solution in building a better facility than other schools. Most (if not all) Christian schools in Jakarta will have classes with air-conditioned and better buildings. The consequence then, the operational expenses will be higher. From the first purpose of evangelization, we slowly shift into commodity. We see students (and parents) as our source of income. To entice them, we put all the “make up” as mentioned previously. Christian schools will have a better outlook that can also draw better “quality” people – people that can pay. Survival the fittest will be the keyword. The church endorses the idea as it proclaims the school should run independently and can’t burden the church. It is the church’s pray the school is able to fund the church and missionaries. Christian schools have become Church Inc.
We should “envy” the Catholic schools a lot. We should put on par our commitment and theirs. It is not taboo to learn from their capability, energy and effort spent to think seriously on education. In Indonesia we should also see how Moslems now follow the Catholic path. They do not hesitate to spend their money and encourage their youth to go into education. For the non-religion schools, we also have “national plus schools” flourishing in the country. They combine the national curriculum with creative methodology, multiple intelligence and critical thinking. They are able to entice parents with the new “packaging” and marketing promises.
NEED
It is my humble plea to Christian leaders, theologians, churches and pastors, to open the eyes to education, to see the need not only as a serious but emergency one. Seminaries should put top priority on philosophy of education. Christian institutions must go deeper than “instant noodle campaign”*. Pastors are to speak and encourage the congregations to go into creating a “community that learns”. I am sure that my cry will not be like “Waiting for Godot”.
*”Instant Noodle Campaign” = campaign to raise help for areas in trouble (e.g. earthquake, flood, fire, etc.). The easiest way to help is to donate instant noodle. Actually the church can and should go deeper than the “hit and run” type of ministry. The church should build the community instead.
Weilin Han
Alumni Forum Discussion/Indonesia
Friday, January 30, 2009
Intan Kehilangan Kehidupan
“In, yang ini masih agak bagus. Mau kau simpan?” tanyaku kedua kalinya. Intan masih termenung. Dia terus memandangi foto yang dia pegang – fotonya di patung Liberty, perjalanan dia pertama kali ke luar negeri. Dia tidak mendengar pertanyaanku. Mukanya begitu lusuh. Capek, bingung, dan sedih bercampur satu. Bukan muka yang biasanya aku kenal – muka yang ceria dan penuh semangat, muka seorang yang sangat mandiri, muka pemimpin yang biasa mengarahkan anak-anak buahnya dengan tegas, termasuk kepadaku – seorang teman yang sekaligus menjadi anak buahnya beberapa waktu yang lalu.
Aku bisa mengerti perasaannya. Dia baru saja terkena musibah banjir. Kamar kostnya tergenang sampai selutut sementara dia sendiri sedang tertidur lelap. Banjir itu sendiri berlangsung begitu cepat. Hanya beberapa jam saja. Bukan karena hujan yang lebat, tetapi karena luapan air sungai yang mendadak. Dia tidak sempat lagi menyelamatkan harta bendanya.
Memang dia tidak kehilangan benda-benda “wah” seperti harta benda kebanyakan orang lain, tetapi benda-benda itu identik dengan dirinya: album foto. Dan bagi Intan, membereskan album foto itu sekarang jauh lebih menyedihkan daripada banjir itu sendiri. Melihat foto—foto yang rusak dan buram rasanya lebih menyakitkan dibandingkan kegelapan yang terjadi pada malam banjir itu. Kepedihan yang tidak terbayar dengan uang.
Aku memang mengenal Intan sebagai seorang yang sangat telaten di dalam mengatur album fotonya. Aku tidak pernah bosan-bosan melihat hasil karyanya. Ada cerita yang hidup di balik foto-foto itu. Dia memang menyusunnya dengan menarik. Dia membagi album-albumnya perjalananya menjadi dua bagian, luar dan dalam negeri. Dia juga memiliki album khusus untuk mengenang acara-acara bersama keluarganya. Ada satu album tebal yang dia sediakan untuk close up foto sahabat-sahabatnya sejak duduk di bangku SD dulu.
“Puput, sorry ya.., aku jadi menyusahkanmu,” tiba-tiba saja kudengar suaranya. Aku mengangguk menatapnya. Aku tidak punya kata-kata penghiburan yang cukup. Aku hanya dapat menemaninya membereskan barang-barang yang masih dapat diselamatkan. Dan malam ini, aku menemaninya menyortir foto-foto. Aaah…tapi tetap saja berbeda. Tumpukan foto-foto itu tiba-tiba menjadi bisu dan biasa. Tidak ada lagi rangkaian kata yang membuatnya menarik untuk disimak.
Intan memang punya cara istimewa di dalam menyusun fotonya. Misalnya saja, foto perjalanannya. Dia pasti menyertakan hal-hal yang unik. Ada peta perjalanan, ada keterangan mengenai tempat-tempat yang dia kunjungi yang dia ambil dari buku panduan wisata, ada kekhasan tiap-tiap tempat yang dia temukan seperti lubang telinga seorang nenek Dayak yang sangat panjang. Atau juga model rambut punk dan pakaian warna-warni yang dikenakan oleh anak-anak muda Jepang.
Dia juga tidak lupa untuk menyertakan potongan karcis kereta ataupun tiket pertunjukan yang istimewa baginya. Misalnya saja, ada karcis Eurorail yang melewati selat yang menghubungkan Inggris dan Perancis. Lalu ada tiket pertunjukkan “Miss Saigon” yang dia lihat di Broadway – pertunjukan drama pertama kali yang dia nikmati seumur hidupnya. Juga ada tiket “Schlinder’s List” di salah satu bioskop di Paris. Maklum, waktu itu, film tersebut dilarang diputar di Indonesia.
Selain itu, ada juga koleksi foto “kenakalan-kenakalannya” yang khas. Contohnya saja sebuah fotonya yang diambil di tengah jalan di Champ Ellese, sebuah jalan besar yang luar biasa ramai di Paris. Aku tidak tahu bagaimana caranya dia difoto. Mungkin saja dia meminta pertolongan seorang polisi di sana. Fotonya yang lain, yakni ketika sedang berbaring santai dengan muka jenaka, sementara di belakangnya terdapat sebuah patung Budha yang juga sedang berbaring dengan arah berlawanan. Kalau dilihat, seakan-akan mereka berdua sedang bercengkrama mesra. Menurutku, yang paling “gila” adalah ketika dia difoto bersama seorang tentara penjaga pintu Istana Buckingham. Dia terlihat sedang menggoda tentara yang terkenal dengan gaya patungnya itu. Gayanya? “Mooning”!*
Dengan melihat albumnya, orang pasti akan mengenal dirinya dan juga karakternya. Dia seorang yang sangat detail. Salah satu kekhasannya adalah mengambil foto yang mungkin tidak terpikir oleh orang lain, tetapi menjadi begitu menarik dan vocal pada waktu dia merekamnya. Ada grendelan pintu dari gerbang The Forbidden City di Beijing, ada ujung genting berbentuk ayam yang dia ambil di Bali, ada tanaman liar yang tumbuh di antara lumut yang dia ambil di sebuah tembok tua di Toraja. Oh ya.., dia juga memiliki puluhan foto yang isinya cuma pintu-pintu rumah. Semua warna cat pintu itu berbeda, dan di dalam keterangannya, dia menulis: “Foto-foto ini aku ambil hanya di sebuah ruas jalan di kota Dublin. Bentuk rumah-rumahnya seragam, tapi setiap rumah pasti punya warna cat pintu yang berbeda. Apakah ini menunjukkan ciri khas kota itu, atau ciri khas pemiliknya yang tidak mau disaingi?”
Shhhh…., dia mengambil nafas panjang. “Puput, aku tidak sanggup lagi,” katanya. “Betapa lama waktu yang kuhabiskan untuk menyusun foto-foto itu. Bagaimana aku bisa mengulangnya lagi? Foto-foto itu gambaran hidupku, Puput,” sambungnya. Aku diam. Aku tidak sanggup memberikan komentar. Aku sadar nasihatku pun akan terdengar klise dan hambar. Aku juga tidak sampai hati untuk memintanya membuang beberapa lembar foto yang menurutku sudah buram termakan air. Bagi Intan, foto-foto itu adalah “roh”nya, cerita hidupnya, dan sekarang semua itu telah hilang. Malam itu Intan berusaha untuk mengambil sisa-sisa serpihan kehidupannya. Malam itu aku kehilangan. Kehilangan Intan yang aku kenal.
*Mooning: Menungging sambil memperlihatkan pantat telanjang.
Dimuat di Tabloid Spice - 2006
Aku bisa mengerti perasaannya. Dia baru saja terkena musibah banjir. Kamar kostnya tergenang sampai selutut sementara dia sendiri sedang tertidur lelap. Banjir itu sendiri berlangsung begitu cepat. Hanya beberapa jam saja. Bukan karena hujan yang lebat, tetapi karena luapan air sungai yang mendadak. Dia tidak sempat lagi menyelamatkan harta bendanya.
Memang dia tidak kehilangan benda-benda “wah” seperti harta benda kebanyakan orang lain, tetapi benda-benda itu identik dengan dirinya: album foto. Dan bagi Intan, membereskan album foto itu sekarang jauh lebih menyedihkan daripada banjir itu sendiri. Melihat foto—foto yang rusak dan buram rasanya lebih menyakitkan dibandingkan kegelapan yang terjadi pada malam banjir itu. Kepedihan yang tidak terbayar dengan uang.
Aku memang mengenal Intan sebagai seorang yang sangat telaten di dalam mengatur album fotonya. Aku tidak pernah bosan-bosan melihat hasil karyanya. Ada cerita yang hidup di balik foto-foto itu. Dia memang menyusunnya dengan menarik. Dia membagi album-albumnya perjalananya menjadi dua bagian, luar dan dalam negeri. Dia juga memiliki album khusus untuk mengenang acara-acara bersama keluarganya. Ada satu album tebal yang dia sediakan untuk close up foto sahabat-sahabatnya sejak duduk di bangku SD dulu.
“Puput, sorry ya.., aku jadi menyusahkanmu,” tiba-tiba saja kudengar suaranya. Aku mengangguk menatapnya. Aku tidak punya kata-kata penghiburan yang cukup. Aku hanya dapat menemaninya membereskan barang-barang yang masih dapat diselamatkan. Dan malam ini, aku menemaninya menyortir foto-foto. Aaah…tapi tetap saja berbeda. Tumpukan foto-foto itu tiba-tiba menjadi bisu dan biasa. Tidak ada lagi rangkaian kata yang membuatnya menarik untuk disimak.
Intan memang punya cara istimewa di dalam menyusun fotonya. Misalnya saja, foto perjalanannya. Dia pasti menyertakan hal-hal yang unik. Ada peta perjalanan, ada keterangan mengenai tempat-tempat yang dia kunjungi yang dia ambil dari buku panduan wisata, ada kekhasan tiap-tiap tempat yang dia temukan seperti lubang telinga seorang nenek Dayak yang sangat panjang. Atau juga model rambut punk dan pakaian warna-warni yang dikenakan oleh anak-anak muda Jepang.
Dia juga tidak lupa untuk menyertakan potongan karcis kereta ataupun tiket pertunjukan yang istimewa baginya. Misalnya saja, ada karcis Eurorail yang melewati selat yang menghubungkan Inggris dan Perancis. Lalu ada tiket pertunjukkan “Miss Saigon” yang dia lihat di Broadway – pertunjukan drama pertama kali yang dia nikmati seumur hidupnya. Juga ada tiket “Schlinder’s List” di salah satu bioskop di Paris. Maklum, waktu itu, film tersebut dilarang diputar di Indonesia.
Selain itu, ada juga koleksi foto “kenakalan-kenakalannya” yang khas. Contohnya saja sebuah fotonya yang diambil di tengah jalan di Champ Ellese, sebuah jalan besar yang luar biasa ramai di Paris. Aku tidak tahu bagaimana caranya dia difoto. Mungkin saja dia meminta pertolongan seorang polisi di sana. Fotonya yang lain, yakni ketika sedang berbaring santai dengan muka jenaka, sementara di belakangnya terdapat sebuah patung Budha yang juga sedang berbaring dengan arah berlawanan. Kalau dilihat, seakan-akan mereka berdua sedang bercengkrama mesra. Menurutku, yang paling “gila” adalah ketika dia difoto bersama seorang tentara penjaga pintu Istana Buckingham. Dia terlihat sedang menggoda tentara yang terkenal dengan gaya patungnya itu. Gayanya? “Mooning”!*
Dengan melihat albumnya, orang pasti akan mengenal dirinya dan juga karakternya. Dia seorang yang sangat detail. Salah satu kekhasannya adalah mengambil foto yang mungkin tidak terpikir oleh orang lain, tetapi menjadi begitu menarik dan vocal pada waktu dia merekamnya. Ada grendelan pintu dari gerbang The Forbidden City di Beijing, ada ujung genting berbentuk ayam yang dia ambil di Bali, ada tanaman liar yang tumbuh di antara lumut yang dia ambil di sebuah tembok tua di Toraja. Oh ya.., dia juga memiliki puluhan foto yang isinya cuma pintu-pintu rumah. Semua warna cat pintu itu berbeda, dan di dalam keterangannya, dia menulis: “Foto-foto ini aku ambil hanya di sebuah ruas jalan di kota Dublin. Bentuk rumah-rumahnya seragam, tapi setiap rumah pasti punya warna cat pintu yang berbeda. Apakah ini menunjukkan ciri khas kota itu, atau ciri khas pemiliknya yang tidak mau disaingi?”
Shhhh…., dia mengambil nafas panjang. “Puput, aku tidak sanggup lagi,” katanya. “Betapa lama waktu yang kuhabiskan untuk menyusun foto-foto itu. Bagaimana aku bisa mengulangnya lagi? Foto-foto itu gambaran hidupku, Puput,” sambungnya. Aku diam. Aku tidak sanggup memberikan komentar. Aku sadar nasihatku pun akan terdengar klise dan hambar. Aku juga tidak sampai hati untuk memintanya membuang beberapa lembar foto yang menurutku sudah buram termakan air. Bagi Intan, foto-foto itu adalah “roh”nya, cerita hidupnya, dan sekarang semua itu telah hilang. Malam itu Intan berusaha untuk mengambil sisa-sisa serpihan kehidupannya. Malam itu aku kehilangan. Kehilangan Intan yang aku kenal.
*Mooning: Menungging sambil memperlihatkan pantat telanjang.
Dimuat di Tabloid Spice - 2006
Preach at All Times, Use Words When Necessary
Look ahead twenty or thirty years. Does anyone expect the next twenty years to be less tumultuous than the last twenty years? Given the changes expected in technology, biology, medicine, social values, demography, the environment and international relations, what kind of world might humanity face? No one can say for sure, but one thing is reasonably certain: continuing challenge will tax our collective abilities to deal with them. Failure to rethink our enterprises will leave us little relief from our current predicament.
Not long ago I had a chance to teach English at a seminary of 150 students in a very remote area in North Sulawesi. The seminary does not have TV or telephone line. And if we want to buy a newspaper, we have to travel for two hours to the nearest town to get a one-day late newspaper. On top of that, the seminary library has limited and outdated books. It means the students have no opportunity to know what’s going on with the “real world”, no sense of connection with the meaning of globalization, no latest information on “the market demand”, and the surrounding problems. And no sufficient resources. The students are alienated from the “world”. Even though they will be the first fore-bearers for the churches, but they simply can’t meet the demand. Well, yes, they can, in their own limited area – but not more than that.
Of course, there are leading seminaries in big cities in Indonesia where the students have all the facilities they can dream on – library with plenty good books, internet connection and various newspapers and magazines. Yet, surprisingly, the outcome is still the same. The seminary students and alumni are awkward when they have to talk about globalization or urban poor. Pair them with businessmen and they are lost. They have no exposure and encounter with the congregation’s struggle. Ask them about corruption, they can quote verses from the Bible well, but it will be too much if we ask them to understand the real entangled society problems.
The situation is totally different with a corporate world. To be able to survive, and become a leading company, one must strive to meet the changing market demand. There is no word for being stagnant. No space for being complacent. Otherwise, one will be out of the business (or, out of a job).
Again, speaking based on my previous job in a conference organizer, our company has to compete with both other local and international organizers. Not only have we to make sure that our destination is worth hosting an event but also our company excels more than the others. We select our staff carefully, train and trim them constantly, put them in a “field” as often as possible to make sure they learn to cope with different situations and cases. Since we are in a service industry, people as well as technology matter most to us.
The industry requirement affects the curriculum and instruction of a tourism school a lot. The school puts balance among theory, case studies and hands-on activities. Working experiences during school period will be a valuable asset for a student’s portfolio. Practice makes perfect is still the golden rule. When the students graduate, they find it easier to adapt with the real work as they have experienced it first hand. Obviously, on-going individual learning will be required to compete with the market demand.
When we talk about Indonesian Theological Education, then we can see it by comparing the demand from corporate market. We, as laities, can see the seminary students from our angles as ‘end users” and “co-workers”. We can ask the same question: do the seminary students meet the need? Are they fit in the marketplace?
”As “end users” – and let’s say their product is their theological point of view and Christian worldview. It is extremely hard for us to buy their products. Their advice sounds alien for our open market competition. The pulpit never touches any subject on the government law on national education, or on environment, or on gender issue. There is a huge gap between the real world and the real Word.
As “co-workers”, we find it difficult to work together with them. We don’t only ask their theological view as their product but also their living examples when they enter the mud pool. Oftentime, they just do not have the hands-on experience. Their survival for the fastest is rare. On top of that, they are not equipped with basic skill such as simple financial or project management so when they work at church as a “manager”, they can’t perform what is requested. Finally, instead of transforming the world, they conform to the world.
EXAMPLES
There is a long tradition in the Indonesian Jesuit Order. When a noviciat (a seminary student) is in his second year, he has to pass several tests before he can continue to his third year:
He has to work in his boarding house for a month, and do menial job (construction, plumbing, etc). Not as part of student’s rotating schedule, but as a real worker.
Afterwards, his supervisor will send him to work in a grass root level for three months. Neither his friends nor supervisor at work will know that he is a seminary student. The deal is strictly between his spiritual supervisor and the company owner. He can be a garbage collector, parking attendant, construction builder – anything that is of no rank.
Then the tough task will be to walk for 300 km in seven days. A student will walk in pair to a certain destination. They can only bring one shirt and a pair of trousers. Nothing more. They will not only develop relationship between the two of them but also their dependence on God. They literally have to beg for other people’s mercy. They will learn how it feels to be despised and be of low class society. The goal is that before they have the final test, which is the 30-day solitary retreat, they will understand what poverty and disgraced is, They will develop sensitivity of what suffering really means.
The tests are not in their final semester but on their second year. Then, only when they know, only after they taste “poverty”, their head is challenged how to connect the Word and the world in their next classes. They have the hands-on experience before they enter the market. When they say something, they know it not only from the theory or a case study, but really from day-to-day experience. They are not awkward to talk about interfaith openly because most of the time during their 300 km walk they have to depend on their Moslem fellows as their good Samaritans.
In West Java, there is a unique seminary called SAPPI (Sekolah Alkitab Program Pertanian Indonesia, or Indonesian Bible and Agriculture College). The college is set up by two foundations: the graduates fellowship of Bogor Agriculture Institute and one local church. The curriculum is 50% theology and 50% agriculture. The goal is to have farmers and fishermen who can evangelize instead of evangelists who are sent to farmers and don’t know what to do when the stock price is low while the pesticide price is rocketing. The lecturers come from both sides – agriculture and theology. The SAPPI alumni are in high demand because they walk the talk. They understand the substance. They know what it means when the harvest fails. On top of that, because they are equipped with agriculture knowledge, they can survive on their own and even set up as a model for other farmers. Hopefully they can reduce the problem of urbanization and help to revitalize the Indonesian agriculture.
SUGGESTIONS
If there are plenty books for the laities to connect the Word and the vocation, such as “the Monday Connection” or “Your Work Matters to God”, then it is high time to have books on clergy vocation and the Monday Connection. If there are books on empowering the laities, there should be books on empowering the clergy. Indonesian theologians should read and write on current issues in developing countries and encounter it with both theologically and socially. Indonesian theologians should be able to produce their local and contextualized books instead of reading books from the Western writers. Not that the Western books or writers are bad, but Indonesia is their own country that they have to shepherd. It has its own uniqueness both in problems and locality (with its multi crisis dimension, no law enforcement, problems of capitalization and consumerism which lead to poverty and third world dependence, race and religious conflicts, etc),
So far, we as laities, often invite the clergy to speak to us and give us insight. We believe it will be very useful if the Indonesian seminaries include and even put balance in having laities as lecturers in seminary. We can have classes on politics, professional ethics and economics. We can set up regular discussions on what is happening in the world. Laities can provide them with practical management skill and ask them to work in a project. We can also change the class structure to having more workshops and discussions. Ask them to “work” in a legal case and scrutinize why a business group can win a government’s favor to abolish a slum but packed area and change it into a fancy mall. Challenge them to find out why a notorious but powerful corruptor can be free while a petty theft gets imprisonment and physical abuse without any legal assistance.
During the internship, do not only send the seminary students to a church or Christian organization, but to a regular corporate. Put them in the finance department where making double accounting in Indonesia is normal. Open their perspective that the problem does not only lies with being dishonest, but also with corruption, competition with the global market, staff demand for higher salary and increasing resources price. When there are workers on strike, send them to the factory. Ask them to assist the human resources and security. Take them to the lobbying between the Labor Union and the company. Challenge them with their theoretical understanding on Marxism and Weber.
Hopefully when they graduate and work as our co-workers, we can all be fishers of men.
Weilin Han
Not long ago I had a chance to teach English at a seminary of 150 students in a very remote area in North Sulawesi. The seminary does not have TV or telephone line. And if we want to buy a newspaper, we have to travel for two hours to the nearest town to get a one-day late newspaper. On top of that, the seminary library has limited and outdated books. It means the students have no opportunity to know what’s going on with the “real world”, no sense of connection with the meaning of globalization, no latest information on “the market demand”, and the surrounding problems. And no sufficient resources. The students are alienated from the “world”. Even though they will be the first fore-bearers for the churches, but they simply can’t meet the demand. Well, yes, they can, in their own limited area – but not more than that.
Of course, there are leading seminaries in big cities in Indonesia where the students have all the facilities they can dream on – library with plenty good books, internet connection and various newspapers and magazines. Yet, surprisingly, the outcome is still the same. The seminary students and alumni are awkward when they have to talk about globalization or urban poor. Pair them with businessmen and they are lost. They have no exposure and encounter with the congregation’s struggle. Ask them about corruption, they can quote verses from the Bible well, but it will be too much if we ask them to understand the real entangled society problems.
The situation is totally different with a corporate world. To be able to survive, and become a leading company, one must strive to meet the changing market demand. There is no word for being stagnant. No space for being complacent. Otherwise, one will be out of the business (or, out of a job).
Again, speaking based on my previous job in a conference organizer, our company has to compete with both other local and international organizers. Not only have we to make sure that our destination is worth hosting an event but also our company excels more than the others. We select our staff carefully, train and trim them constantly, put them in a “field” as often as possible to make sure they learn to cope with different situations and cases. Since we are in a service industry, people as well as technology matter most to us.
The industry requirement affects the curriculum and instruction of a tourism school a lot. The school puts balance among theory, case studies and hands-on activities. Working experiences during school period will be a valuable asset for a student’s portfolio. Practice makes perfect is still the golden rule. When the students graduate, they find it easier to adapt with the real work as they have experienced it first hand. Obviously, on-going individual learning will be required to compete with the market demand.
When we talk about Indonesian Theological Education, then we can see it by comparing the demand from corporate market. We, as laities, can see the seminary students from our angles as ‘end users” and “co-workers”. We can ask the same question: do the seminary students meet the need? Are they fit in the marketplace?
”As “end users” – and let’s say their product is their theological point of view and Christian worldview. It is extremely hard for us to buy their products. Their advice sounds alien for our open market competition. The pulpit never touches any subject on the government law on national education, or on environment, or on gender issue. There is a huge gap between the real world and the real Word.
As “co-workers”, we find it difficult to work together with them. We don’t only ask their theological view as their product but also their living examples when they enter the mud pool. Oftentime, they just do not have the hands-on experience. Their survival for the fastest is rare. On top of that, they are not equipped with basic skill such as simple financial or project management so when they work at church as a “manager”, they can’t perform what is requested. Finally, instead of transforming the world, they conform to the world.
EXAMPLES
There is a long tradition in the Indonesian Jesuit Order. When a noviciat (a seminary student) is in his second year, he has to pass several tests before he can continue to his third year:
He has to work in his boarding house for a month, and do menial job (construction, plumbing, etc). Not as part of student’s rotating schedule, but as a real worker.
Afterwards, his supervisor will send him to work in a grass root level for three months. Neither his friends nor supervisor at work will know that he is a seminary student. The deal is strictly between his spiritual supervisor and the company owner. He can be a garbage collector, parking attendant, construction builder – anything that is of no rank.
Then the tough task will be to walk for 300 km in seven days. A student will walk in pair to a certain destination. They can only bring one shirt and a pair of trousers. Nothing more. They will not only develop relationship between the two of them but also their dependence on God. They literally have to beg for other people’s mercy. They will learn how it feels to be despised and be of low class society. The goal is that before they have the final test, which is the 30-day solitary retreat, they will understand what poverty and disgraced is, They will develop sensitivity of what suffering really means.
The tests are not in their final semester but on their second year. Then, only when they know, only after they taste “poverty”, their head is challenged how to connect the Word and the world in their next classes. They have the hands-on experience before they enter the market. When they say something, they know it not only from the theory or a case study, but really from day-to-day experience. They are not awkward to talk about interfaith openly because most of the time during their 300 km walk they have to depend on their Moslem fellows as their good Samaritans.
In West Java, there is a unique seminary called SAPPI (Sekolah Alkitab Program Pertanian Indonesia, or Indonesian Bible and Agriculture College). The college is set up by two foundations: the graduates fellowship of Bogor Agriculture Institute and one local church. The curriculum is 50% theology and 50% agriculture. The goal is to have farmers and fishermen who can evangelize instead of evangelists who are sent to farmers and don’t know what to do when the stock price is low while the pesticide price is rocketing. The lecturers come from both sides – agriculture and theology. The SAPPI alumni are in high demand because they walk the talk. They understand the substance. They know what it means when the harvest fails. On top of that, because they are equipped with agriculture knowledge, they can survive on their own and even set up as a model for other farmers. Hopefully they can reduce the problem of urbanization and help to revitalize the Indonesian agriculture.
SUGGESTIONS
If there are plenty books for the laities to connect the Word and the vocation, such as “the Monday Connection” or “Your Work Matters to God”, then it is high time to have books on clergy vocation and the Monday Connection. If there are books on empowering the laities, there should be books on empowering the clergy. Indonesian theologians should read and write on current issues in developing countries and encounter it with both theologically and socially. Indonesian theologians should be able to produce their local and contextualized books instead of reading books from the Western writers. Not that the Western books or writers are bad, but Indonesia is their own country that they have to shepherd. It has its own uniqueness both in problems and locality (with its multi crisis dimension, no law enforcement, problems of capitalization and consumerism which lead to poverty and third world dependence, race and religious conflicts, etc),
So far, we as laities, often invite the clergy to speak to us and give us insight. We believe it will be very useful if the Indonesian seminaries include and even put balance in having laities as lecturers in seminary. We can have classes on politics, professional ethics and economics. We can set up regular discussions on what is happening in the world. Laities can provide them with practical management skill and ask them to work in a project. We can also change the class structure to having more workshops and discussions. Ask them to “work” in a legal case and scrutinize why a business group can win a government’s favor to abolish a slum but packed area and change it into a fancy mall. Challenge them to find out why a notorious but powerful corruptor can be free while a petty theft gets imprisonment and physical abuse without any legal assistance.
During the internship, do not only send the seminary students to a church or Christian organization, but to a regular corporate. Put them in the finance department where making double accounting in Indonesia is normal. Open their perspective that the problem does not only lies with being dishonest, but also with corruption, competition with the global market, staff demand for higher salary and increasing resources price. When there are workers on strike, send them to the factory. Ask them to assist the human resources and security. Take them to the lobbying between the Labor Union and the company. Challenge them with their theoretical understanding on Marxism and Weber.
Hopefully when they graduate and work as our co-workers, we can all be fishers of men.
Weilin Han
Dichotomy – a Church’s Obsolete Word
There are two vessels in a beautiful sea in Indonesia. One is a cruise ship filled in by tourists. They come to enjoy the ride. The program is totally provided by the cruise director. The guide on board talks via the speaker on what to see and benefit during the trip. The tourists participate in what are available. They have the freedom of expressing both compliments and complaints but there will be no deviation in the agenda. On the other hand, since they have paid the trip, it will never be their intention to take any cruise responsibility – it is all fully the crew’s.
Another vessel is a dragon boat. All people along for the ride have their total responsibility of taking the boat to the destination together. The commander will give the direction. The drummer will make sure that everybody will be in full spirit to row – and row together, same pace, same time. The rest will pay full attention to the instruction. None of them will either feel complacent or work harder. Everybody has equal responsibility in each special function. All must sweat to reach the one destination they believe in one accord.
The first vessel – the cruise ship, is the common picture of an Indonesian church. The pastors are the cruise directors. They create and provide the itinerary for the congregations. And the elders, being the crew ship – will follow the order of the cruise director and put forward the ready-made package. Believing that it is not their responsibility to correct or even give input to the program, the congregation will take part passively. If they are not satisfied, well, too bad, they can just move to another vessel if they are onshore. Otherwise, they have to succumb to the one in command.
The second vessel – the dragon boat, is the ideal church that we believe the Apostles set up in the first place. Being the Body of Christ, there is no different in either level of importance or sense of responsibility. No part can claim it is more vital than the other. The pastor (s), as the chief in command will help the rest to direct the boat to reach the destination. The elders, being the drummers, will make sure that all the congregations will understand the boat can move effectively and everybody has to be in charge. The congregations themselves realize that they can’t leave the boat to the pastors and the drummer. They are the engine as well as the fuel to reach the goal.
The fundamental difference between the two vessels lies in the “Belief”. When we believe that a church is not a static and bureaucratic institution but a dynamic body where everybody is as important as the others, then, dichotomy is an obsolete word.
Challenges
In Indonesia, our Christian church belief is strongly influenced by “patron-client” culture. “Patron-client” {A mutually obligatory arrangement between an individual who has authority, social status, wealth, or some other persons as resource (the patron) and another person, who benefits from his/her support or influence (the client)}, is a perfect picture to portray the condition. That includes our perspective when we read the Bible. When the pastors believe that they are the cruise directors, they will not ask the laities to participate actively. The church decision can also be made by a group of people who have the “power” (being the elders, founders of the church, or rich people, etc). On the other hand, being the tourists, the congregation will leave everything up to the leaders. We can say most Indonesian Christian churches do not recognize equal responsibility in carrying Jesus’ calling to be in and for the world.
Why do I mention Indonesian Christian church specifically? It is the fact that the patrons we have do not empower or equip the congregations that we are the One Body of Christ. They themselves are not the role models in eliminating the dichotomy issue. In Western Evangelical churches we have John Stott that writes e.g. on “Decisive Issues” or “One People”, Paul Stevens and Richard Banks on empowering the laities, Paul Marshalls on Social Politics, and so on. When we read leading Indonesian media, we will find many who hold “spiritual” positions give impact to the society in their different and unique ways. Herry Priyono as a distinct economist, Sindhunata as a football commentator or art critique, and William Chang as a prolific writer on Social ethics. Few of us will recognize them as Catholic priests. We also have Darmaningtyas and Ki Supriyoko as two persons who always speak on the need of Indonesian education transformation, or Syaiful Mudjani on politics. We rarely label them as Moslems. Or, we also have Parwati Soepangat who is a leading person on gender equality, but we do not see her as a Buddhist leader. Those people see and realize that their calling and belief go beyond the religion peripheral. They have the ability to talk on social subjects than merely theology. When they say something, their voice goes further than their pulpit. Their impact is nationwide.
Unfortunately we don’t have the same story in our Christianity. Or, when we do, almost all the time we instantly label the people who dare to go the extra miles as liberals and not evangelicals. We are so afraid of being called “humanists” or “secular”. Touch wood if we are classified together with our liberal fellows.
Methods
Issue on dichotomy is a never-ending one in the church history. We have to eliminate it not because it has become an outdated phenomenon, but simply because of the message in the Word itself. Having a single paradigm of the Body of Christ who is in the world is a must. Jesus never calls us to be hermits but salt of the world. Of course, having a paradigm shift is never easy. Even the Jews found Jesus’ words blasphemy. Having said that, we can’t rely solely on the cruise directors to change. We find two ways to implement the transformation.
First, a “top-down” method. In many mainstream churches where the pastors are the leading figures, it is their responsibility to empower the congregation and change them to row the boat together. To make them realize that they are not taking a cruise ride but a dragon boat. Church program, Sunday school’s curriculum, pulpit’s message, and even the church budget should gear towards the belief. The pastors should become the equipping pastors – those who prepare the congregations to sweat together.
Of course, the pastors themselves need to realize their call to restructure the society. They should become the role models who talk and write on a wider issue than exclusive “Christianity” message. They should be aware that when they talk about corruption or fighting poverty, they are passing Christ’s message as well. We should be able to find their writings not only on Systematic Theology, and only in Christian bookstores but also on wider issues and varied “secular” media. The pastors should not find themselves awkward if they write on gender equality, environment, education and so on in public media. May be they should be reminded that C.S Lewis is a novelist as well as a theologian.
Church programs should create lay leaders through classes. It is also the church responsibility to provide the “practicum field” for the leaders to be. The church should be the motor for the social engineered environment. When all means are provided towards the same goal, the church will, at the same time, build the laities’ characters through the discipleship. It is interesting when the church leaders realize that the basic principle in the Body of Christ is “labor intensive and field extensive”. Congregation’s participatory is a serious matter.
The church should also tap the seminaries and look into their curriculum. To what extent do they prepare the pastors-to-be with the need of paradigm shift? Will everybody find equality in the seminaries? Or, do the institutions become the birth laboratory to “patron-client” models instead? What kind of alumni can we expect? Cruise directors of a tourist yacht or chief commanders of a dragon boat?
Inter-denomination dialog should also become a habit. Dialogues, which is not merely on cosmetic issues, but on different ways of reaching the goal. The evangelical or charismatic may learn how the liberals work together with other fellows (whatever their religions are) in creating public pressure on certain policies. While the liberals, can extend their hands and coach their fellows in Christ to think outside the box of “salvation” (note: I dream that one day we don’t even have to label ourselves as Presbyterian, Charismatic, Evangelical, or Liberal. We can just call ourselves – Christians).
The second method is “bottom-up”. We do have limited pastors and church elders as resources but we can never say we lack of human resources. Many cases happen in a country where a social movement starts from the grass-root level. If a church has lost its saltiness, then it is the call of the para-churches to salt its “home”.
Instead of becoming church’s hardliner opposition, congregations or para-churches should start the internal movement to make the change. Small but many discussions on paradigm shift discourse can be held within the congregation. Our koinonia must produce not only diakonia in terms of raising fund for those in need but also nation building as the fruit of marturia. Those who are the real players in the field – politicians, NGO activists, lawyers, economists, doctors, educators – should see the church as part of their “outreach”. We should equip the pastors with current topics on professional ethics or national issues. It is our task to spend time with the theologians and open their mind to the real situation. Won’t we find it fruitful when they preach from the pulpit, they can talk on contextualized message instead of a message from the La la Land?
As believers, we should realize that being a Christian is not merely accepting Christ (cheap grace) but following Him (costly grace) . Many of us hold the grace but don’t want to think about the price it takes. We don’t even want to sacrifice believing that heaven is secured for us. We have become the tourists instead of the rowing team. Often time, we leave everything (including reading books on social issues) to our pastors. We ask them to chew things for us. Unconsciously, we have become invalid believers ourselves. We feel complacent just becoming robots or spectators in our church. It is our task to build interest on social issues and see it as an integrated part of our faith. We should be sensible to the Word that we have heard and connect it to the world surround us. If our house is burnt, then it is our call to put it off. If we have crisis of identity as Christians in Indonesia, then, it is our responsibility to be awake and start to build our militancy. All of us (and not only the clergy) are the salt of the world. If we lose our flavor, we are good of nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Weilin Han
Another vessel is a dragon boat. All people along for the ride have their total responsibility of taking the boat to the destination together. The commander will give the direction. The drummer will make sure that everybody will be in full spirit to row – and row together, same pace, same time. The rest will pay full attention to the instruction. None of them will either feel complacent or work harder. Everybody has equal responsibility in each special function. All must sweat to reach the one destination they believe in one accord.
The first vessel – the cruise ship, is the common picture of an Indonesian church. The pastors are the cruise directors. They create and provide the itinerary for the congregations. And the elders, being the crew ship – will follow the order of the cruise director and put forward the ready-made package. Believing that it is not their responsibility to correct or even give input to the program, the congregation will take part passively. If they are not satisfied, well, too bad, they can just move to another vessel if they are onshore. Otherwise, they have to succumb to the one in command.
The second vessel – the dragon boat, is the ideal church that we believe the Apostles set up in the first place. Being the Body of Christ, there is no different in either level of importance or sense of responsibility. No part can claim it is more vital than the other. The pastor (s), as the chief in command will help the rest to direct the boat to reach the destination. The elders, being the drummers, will make sure that all the congregations will understand the boat can move effectively and everybody has to be in charge. The congregations themselves realize that they can’t leave the boat to the pastors and the drummer. They are the engine as well as the fuel to reach the goal.
The fundamental difference between the two vessels lies in the “Belief”. When we believe that a church is not a static and bureaucratic institution but a dynamic body where everybody is as important as the others, then, dichotomy is an obsolete word.
Challenges
In Indonesia, our Christian church belief is strongly influenced by “patron-client” culture. “Patron-client” {A mutually obligatory arrangement between an individual who has authority, social status, wealth, or some other persons as resource (the patron) and another person, who benefits from his/her support or influence (the client)}, is a perfect picture to portray the condition. That includes our perspective when we read the Bible. When the pastors believe that they are the cruise directors, they will not ask the laities to participate actively. The church decision can also be made by a group of people who have the “power” (being the elders, founders of the church, or rich people, etc). On the other hand, being the tourists, the congregation will leave everything up to the leaders. We can say most Indonesian Christian churches do not recognize equal responsibility in carrying Jesus’ calling to be in and for the world.
Why do I mention Indonesian Christian church specifically? It is the fact that the patrons we have do not empower or equip the congregations that we are the One Body of Christ. They themselves are not the role models in eliminating the dichotomy issue. In Western Evangelical churches we have John Stott that writes e.g. on “Decisive Issues” or “One People”, Paul Stevens and Richard Banks on empowering the laities, Paul Marshalls on Social Politics, and so on. When we read leading Indonesian media, we will find many who hold “spiritual” positions give impact to the society in their different and unique ways. Herry Priyono as a distinct economist, Sindhunata as a football commentator or art critique, and William Chang as a prolific writer on Social ethics. Few of us will recognize them as Catholic priests. We also have Darmaningtyas and Ki Supriyoko as two persons who always speak on the need of Indonesian education transformation, or Syaiful Mudjani on politics. We rarely label them as Moslems. Or, we also have Parwati Soepangat who is a leading person on gender equality, but we do not see her as a Buddhist leader. Those people see and realize that their calling and belief go beyond the religion peripheral. They have the ability to talk on social subjects than merely theology. When they say something, their voice goes further than their pulpit. Their impact is nationwide.
Unfortunately we don’t have the same story in our Christianity. Or, when we do, almost all the time we instantly label the people who dare to go the extra miles as liberals and not evangelicals. We are so afraid of being called “humanists” or “secular”. Touch wood if we are classified together with our liberal fellows.
Methods
Issue on dichotomy is a never-ending one in the church history. We have to eliminate it not because it has become an outdated phenomenon, but simply because of the message in the Word itself. Having a single paradigm of the Body of Christ who is in the world is a must. Jesus never calls us to be hermits but salt of the world. Of course, having a paradigm shift is never easy. Even the Jews found Jesus’ words blasphemy. Having said that, we can’t rely solely on the cruise directors to change. We find two ways to implement the transformation.
First, a “top-down” method. In many mainstream churches where the pastors are the leading figures, it is their responsibility to empower the congregation and change them to row the boat together. To make them realize that they are not taking a cruise ride but a dragon boat. Church program, Sunday school’s curriculum, pulpit’s message, and even the church budget should gear towards the belief. The pastors should become the equipping pastors – those who prepare the congregations to sweat together.
Of course, the pastors themselves need to realize their call to restructure the society. They should become the role models who talk and write on a wider issue than exclusive “Christianity” message. They should be aware that when they talk about corruption or fighting poverty, they are passing Christ’s message as well. We should be able to find their writings not only on Systematic Theology, and only in Christian bookstores but also on wider issues and varied “secular” media. The pastors should not find themselves awkward if they write on gender equality, environment, education and so on in public media. May be they should be reminded that C.S Lewis is a novelist as well as a theologian.
Church programs should create lay leaders through classes. It is also the church responsibility to provide the “practicum field” for the leaders to be. The church should be the motor for the social engineered environment. When all means are provided towards the same goal, the church will, at the same time, build the laities’ characters through the discipleship. It is interesting when the church leaders realize that the basic principle in the Body of Christ is “labor intensive and field extensive”. Congregation’s participatory is a serious matter.
The church should also tap the seminaries and look into their curriculum. To what extent do they prepare the pastors-to-be with the need of paradigm shift? Will everybody find equality in the seminaries? Or, do the institutions become the birth laboratory to “patron-client” models instead? What kind of alumni can we expect? Cruise directors of a tourist yacht or chief commanders of a dragon boat?
Inter-denomination dialog should also become a habit. Dialogues, which is not merely on cosmetic issues, but on different ways of reaching the goal. The evangelical or charismatic may learn how the liberals work together with other fellows (whatever their religions are) in creating public pressure on certain policies. While the liberals, can extend their hands and coach their fellows in Christ to think outside the box of “salvation” (note: I dream that one day we don’t even have to label ourselves as Presbyterian, Charismatic, Evangelical, or Liberal. We can just call ourselves – Christians).
The second method is “bottom-up”. We do have limited pastors and church elders as resources but we can never say we lack of human resources. Many cases happen in a country where a social movement starts from the grass-root level. If a church has lost its saltiness, then it is the call of the para-churches to salt its “home”.
Instead of becoming church’s hardliner opposition, congregations or para-churches should start the internal movement to make the change. Small but many discussions on paradigm shift discourse can be held within the congregation. Our koinonia must produce not only diakonia in terms of raising fund for those in need but also nation building as the fruit of marturia. Those who are the real players in the field – politicians, NGO activists, lawyers, economists, doctors, educators – should see the church as part of their “outreach”. We should equip the pastors with current topics on professional ethics or national issues. It is our task to spend time with the theologians and open their mind to the real situation. Won’t we find it fruitful when they preach from the pulpit, they can talk on contextualized message instead of a message from the La la Land?
As believers, we should realize that being a Christian is not merely accepting Christ (cheap grace) but following Him (costly grace) . Many of us hold the grace but don’t want to think about the price it takes. We don’t even want to sacrifice believing that heaven is secured for us. We have become the tourists instead of the rowing team. Often time, we leave everything (including reading books on social issues) to our pastors. We ask them to chew things for us. Unconsciously, we have become invalid believers ourselves. We feel complacent just becoming robots or spectators in our church. It is our task to build interest on social issues and see it as an integrated part of our faith. We should be sensible to the Word that we have heard and connect it to the world surround us. If our house is burnt, then it is our call to put it off. If we have crisis of identity as Christians in Indonesia, then, it is our responsibility to be awake and start to build our militancy. All of us (and not only the clergy) are the salt of the world. If we lose our flavor, we are good of nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Weilin Han
Disiplin? Papa Mama dulu donggg.....!
Dalam tulisan yang lalu saya membahas mengenai kreativitas. Banyak yang berpendapat bahwa disiplin dan kreativitas itu saling bertolak-belakang. Kalau mau kreatif, jangan terlalu disiplin. Sebaliknya, kalau mau disiplin, ya ikuti saja aturan-aturan yang ada. Tidak perlu tampil beda! Sementara itu, kita mengakui sulit sekali mendidik anak-anak kita untuk disiplin saat ini.
Ada iklan menarik di TV yang menggambarkan Indonesia bebas sampah karena setiap satu orang Indonesia membiasakan diri memungut satu sampah dan membuangnya pada tempatnya. Lucu ya? Buang sampah saja sampai harus diiklankan. Memangnya, seberapa susah sih disiplin untuk tidak membuang bungkus permen/bekas minum di dalam angkot atau melalui jendela mobil?
Disiplin yang berhubungan dengan kegiatan sekolah anak-anak biasanya berkisar seputar anak lupa bawa buku, tidak membuat PR, atau menghilangkan alat-alat tulis dengan mudah. Banyak pasangan orang tua yang sibuk bekerja memilih mengalihkan tanggung jawab membimbing anak dengan membayar guru les untuk menemani anak belajar atau ”mbak” yang membereskan segala sesuatu untuk ”pangeran/putri” kecil kita.
Bagi si anak sendiri, masalah disiplin ini menjadi beban yang berat sekali: mesti bangun pagi untuk ke sekolah, di kelas tidak bisa menjadi diri sendiri dan harus taat pada guru, pulang sekolah harus les sampai malam, pulang ke rumah sudah capek, dan tidak punya teman. Akhirnya nonton atau main play station saja. Sudah begitu, masih diomeli lagi!
Jadi, bagaimana cara menerapkan disiplin dengan benar?
”Nanny 911” merupakan salah satu acara di sebuah stasiun TV yang menjadi favorit saya. Dalam reality show itu, sang “Nanny” membuat dan menerangkan peraturan-peraturan yang harus dijalankan oleh semua anggota keluarga dan alasan-alasannya – untuk membuat sebuah keluarga menjadi baik. Bila peraturan itu dilanggar, masing-masing anggota keluarga tahu apa yang menjadi konsekuensinya.
Inilah yang sangat jarang ada baik di keluarga maupun di sekolah. Ada peraturan, tapi tidak ada alasan dan konsekuensi logis. Yang biasanya ada hanyalah, ”pokoknya...!” Ketika kita ingin menerapkan disiplin pada anak, kita perlu menerangkan (dalam bahasa yang sederhana, tentunya), mengapa anak perlu disiplin dan apa yang menjadi akibat bila dia melanggarnya.
Sepasang orang tua menerangkan konsep disiplin dengan cara bila mereka tidak menyetujui permintaan anaknya, si anak boleh berargumentasi tanpa meledak-ledak. Bila sang anak tetap bersikeras sekalipun orang tua sudah mengatakan ”tidak” sebanyak tiga kali, anak diberi kebebasan untuk mengambil keputusannya sendiri dengan segala resikonya. Orangtua pun konsekuen dengan keputusan itu (misalnya, bila mengatakan ”pintu tidak akan dibukakan bila kamu pulang main lebih dari jam 7 malam”, maka bila anak terlambat pulang karena keenakan bermain, pintu betul-betul dikunci sampai beberapa jam). Hasilnya, anak itu bertumbuh menjadi seseorang yang tahu apa arti tanggung jawab dalam hidupnya.
Sedini apa disiplin bisa diajarkan kepada anak-anak?
Sedini mungkin. Sebuah playgroup meminta anak-anaknya membawa seprei, sarung guling dan bantal ke sekolah. Rupanya, anak-anak diajak belajar membereskan tempat tidurnya. Di usia playgroup mereka bisa belajar untuk menghabiskan makanannya sendiri tanpa disuapi orang dewasa. Mereka juga belajar untuk berbagi mainan dengan teman, dan membereskan mainan ke tempatnya masing-masing.
Disiplin yang dimulai dari hal-hal kecil justru berdampak bagi pembentukan anak ketika dewasa. Ketika anak-anak terbiasa bergantung pada pembantu, babysitter atau guru les, maka secara langsung para orang tua sedang menjadikan anak-anak mereka invalid.
Apakah mungkin mengajak anak kecil berdiskusi?
Sangat mungkin! Kitalah yang sering kali tidak sabar dan punya cukup waktu untuk mengajak anak berpikir dan berdiskusi. Padahal, pola berdiskusi ini juga akan membentuk anak untuk tidak egois dan memaksakan kehendak (kalau orang tua dan guru boleh memaksakan kehendak tanpa alasan yang saya ketahui, kenapa saya tidak boleh memaksakan kehendak saya?)
Apakah disiplin seperti ini mungkin dilakukan tanpa kekerasan?
Sangat mungkin! Disiplin tidak semata-mata masalah galak, kaku dan keteraturan tanpa warna. Pakailah kata-kata yang sederhana, tidak otoriter, dan pola diskusi dengan anak-anak kita. Dengan demikian, disiplin menjadi pembiasaan yang jauh dari kata-kata keras dan kasar, ataupun hukuman fisik. Yang diperlukan adalah konsistensi dan kegigihan dari orang tua, guru, dan sekolah. Biasanya kita gagal karena kita tidak mau tekun dan ingin melihat hasil yang instan.
Hal apa yang harus dilakukan oleh orangtua secara khusus?
Menjadi contoh. Misalnya, anak kita susah makan sayur. Maunya makanan instan atau burger dan ayam goreng penuh dengan lemak jenuh di luar. Sebelum kita mengeluh, perhatikan pola makan kita sendiri. Dan apakah kita rajin mengajak anak-anak mengkonsumsi makanan sehat bersama-sama baik di dalam rumah, atau ketika sedang jalan-jalan? Seorang anak protes mengapa dia harus membereskan piring kotor dengan mengatakan, ”Mama sendiri minta pembantu yang beresin!”
Ingin anak Anda sukses? Mulailah dengan disiplin yang sehat dari rumah Anda sendiri.**(WH)
Buku apa yang bisa membantu saya lebih mengerti mengenai disiplin secara positif?
Coba baca ”Educating for Character – How Our Schools can Teach Respect and Responsibility” dan “Raising Good Children” karangan Thomas Lickona.
Weilin Han, M.Sc. adalah Konsultan Sekolah dan Pelatih Guru I-Teach Education Training Center. Dapat dihubungi di weilinhan@yahoo.com
Ada iklan menarik di TV yang menggambarkan Indonesia bebas sampah karena setiap satu orang Indonesia membiasakan diri memungut satu sampah dan membuangnya pada tempatnya. Lucu ya? Buang sampah saja sampai harus diiklankan. Memangnya, seberapa susah sih disiplin untuk tidak membuang bungkus permen/bekas minum di dalam angkot atau melalui jendela mobil?
Disiplin yang berhubungan dengan kegiatan sekolah anak-anak biasanya berkisar seputar anak lupa bawa buku, tidak membuat PR, atau menghilangkan alat-alat tulis dengan mudah. Banyak pasangan orang tua yang sibuk bekerja memilih mengalihkan tanggung jawab membimbing anak dengan membayar guru les untuk menemani anak belajar atau ”mbak” yang membereskan segala sesuatu untuk ”pangeran/putri” kecil kita.
Bagi si anak sendiri, masalah disiplin ini menjadi beban yang berat sekali: mesti bangun pagi untuk ke sekolah, di kelas tidak bisa menjadi diri sendiri dan harus taat pada guru, pulang sekolah harus les sampai malam, pulang ke rumah sudah capek, dan tidak punya teman. Akhirnya nonton atau main play station saja. Sudah begitu, masih diomeli lagi!
Jadi, bagaimana cara menerapkan disiplin dengan benar?
”Nanny 911” merupakan salah satu acara di sebuah stasiun TV yang menjadi favorit saya. Dalam reality show itu, sang “Nanny” membuat dan menerangkan peraturan-peraturan yang harus dijalankan oleh semua anggota keluarga dan alasan-alasannya – untuk membuat sebuah keluarga menjadi baik. Bila peraturan itu dilanggar, masing-masing anggota keluarga tahu apa yang menjadi konsekuensinya.
Inilah yang sangat jarang ada baik di keluarga maupun di sekolah. Ada peraturan, tapi tidak ada alasan dan konsekuensi logis. Yang biasanya ada hanyalah, ”pokoknya...!” Ketika kita ingin menerapkan disiplin pada anak, kita perlu menerangkan (dalam bahasa yang sederhana, tentunya), mengapa anak perlu disiplin dan apa yang menjadi akibat bila dia melanggarnya.
Sepasang orang tua menerangkan konsep disiplin dengan cara bila mereka tidak menyetujui permintaan anaknya, si anak boleh berargumentasi tanpa meledak-ledak. Bila sang anak tetap bersikeras sekalipun orang tua sudah mengatakan ”tidak” sebanyak tiga kali, anak diberi kebebasan untuk mengambil keputusannya sendiri dengan segala resikonya. Orangtua pun konsekuen dengan keputusan itu (misalnya, bila mengatakan ”pintu tidak akan dibukakan bila kamu pulang main lebih dari jam 7 malam”, maka bila anak terlambat pulang karena keenakan bermain, pintu betul-betul dikunci sampai beberapa jam). Hasilnya, anak itu bertumbuh menjadi seseorang yang tahu apa arti tanggung jawab dalam hidupnya.
Sedini apa disiplin bisa diajarkan kepada anak-anak?
Sedini mungkin. Sebuah playgroup meminta anak-anaknya membawa seprei, sarung guling dan bantal ke sekolah. Rupanya, anak-anak diajak belajar membereskan tempat tidurnya. Di usia playgroup mereka bisa belajar untuk menghabiskan makanannya sendiri tanpa disuapi orang dewasa. Mereka juga belajar untuk berbagi mainan dengan teman, dan membereskan mainan ke tempatnya masing-masing.
Disiplin yang dimulai dari hal-hal kecil justru berdampak bagi pembentukan anak ketika dewasa. Ketika anak-anak terbiasa bergantung pada pembantu, babysitter atau guru les, maka secara langsung para orang tua sedang menjadikan anak-anak mereka invalid.
Apakah mungkin mengajak anak kecil berdiskusi?
Sangat mungkin! Kitalah yang sering kali tidak sabar dan punya cukup waktu untuk mengajak anak berpikir dan berdiskusi. Padahal, pola berdiskusi ini juga akan membentuk anak untuk tidak egois dan memaksakan kehendak (kalau orang tua dan guru boleh memaksakan kehendak tanpa alasan yang saya ketahui, kenapa saya tidak boleh memaksakan kehendak saya?)
Apakah disiplin seperti ini mungkin dilakukan tanpa kekerasan?
Sangat mungkin! Disiplin tidak semata-mata masalah galak, kaku dan keteraturan tanpa warna. Pakailah kata-kata yang sederhana, tidak otoriter, dan pola diskusi dengan anak-anak kita. Dengan demikian, disiplin menjadi pembiasaan yang jauh dari kata-kata keras dan kasar, ataupun hukuman fisik. Yang diperlukan adalah konsistensi dan kegigihan dari orang tua, guru, dan sekolah. Biasanya kita gagal karena kita tidak mau tekun dan ingin melihat hasil yang instan.
Hal apa yang harus dilakukan oleh orangtua secara khusus?
Menjadi contoh. Misalnya, anak kita susah makan sayur. Maunya makanan instan atau burger dan ayam goreng penuh dengan lemak jenuh di luar. Sebelum kita mengeluh, perhatikan pola makan kita sendiri. Dan apakah kita rajin mengajak anak-anak mengkonsumsi makanan sehat bersama-sama baik di dalam rumah, atau ketika sedang jalan-jalan? Seorang anak protes mengapa dia harus membereskan piring kotor dengan mengatakan, ”Mama sendiri minta pembantu yang beresin!”
Ingin anak Anda sukses? Mulailah dengan disiplin yang sehat dari rumah Anda sendiri.**(WH)
Buku apa yang bisa membantu saya lebih mengerti mengenai disiplin secara positif?
Coba baca ”Educating for Character – How Our Schools can Teach Respect and Responsibility” dan “Raising Good Children” karangan Thomas Lickona.
Weilin Han, M.Sc. adalah Konsultan Sekolah dan Pelatih Guru I-Teach Education Training Center. Dapat dihubungi di weilinhan@yahoo.com
Ayo Belajar dong, Nak.....!
Pernah mendengar istilah PAKEM (Pembelajaran Aktif, Kreatif, Efektif & Menyenangkan)? Kita sangat ingin anak kita belajar dengan metode pakem, tapi di lain pihak, kita juga cenderung setuju kalau anak-anak kita 4 D di kelas (Datang, Duduk, Diam, Dengar).
Bagaimana memulai belajar kreatif secara sederhana?
Ada banyak pertanyaan ”mengapa” yang muncul di benak anak maupun orang dewasa. Kita cenderung memadamkannya karena takut dianggap aneh atau terlalu banyak bertanya. Untuk amannya, lebih baik menghapal saja. Jangan salahkan anak-anak bila mereka bosan dan malas belajar karena pelajaran menjadi sesuatu yang ’jauh’. Padahal rasa ingin tahu yang dikembangkan dan disalurkan dengan tepat akan membuat anak menjadi pribadi yang matang.
Kita bisa membantu menumbuhkan rasa ingin tahu anak melalui pertanyaan-pertanyaan memancing, ”Kenapa busa akan keluar dari air sabun yang dikocok? Kenapa bintang berkelap-kelip? Kenapa ½ lebih besar dari ¼ padahal 2 lebih kecil dari 4?
Ganti kalimat I wonder why dengan ”bagaimana ya...” dan kita bisa meminta anak-anak melanjutkan dengan berbagai potongan yang menarik, misalnya:
Bagaimana ya....agar kupu-kupu banyak beterbangan di sekitar rumahku?
Bagaimana ya...mengurangi sampah di rumah dan di sekolah?
Bagaimana ya....menjadi ketua dan anggota kelas yang adil?
Dengan cara-cara seperti ini, kita dapat mengembangkan pola belajar yang mengajak anak untuk berpikir ”out of the box”, tetapi tetap dalam konteks pelajaran yang ingin kita capai.
Tidak semua anak bisa kreatif. Anak yang pendiam dan pasif itu kan tidak kreatif?
Cari tahu minat anak tersebut. Bisa saja dia pasif dan pendiam, tapi sebetulnya dia seorang pelukis atau penulis yang hebat. Bukankah sekarang kita sering mendengar multiple intelligence? Beri kesempatan menjawab atau berpikir yang lebih lama pada anak-anak seperti ini. Yang sering terjadi baik di kelas maupun di rumah, karena kita sudah menganggap anak ini pendiam dan pasif, mereka kita lewatkan dalam banyak aktivitas. Hati-hati, karena diam-diam, kita telah ”membunuh” mereka dengan ”meniadakan” keberadaan mereka.
Kreatif kan cuma bisa di Sains. Bagaimana dengan pelajaran Sosial?
Cobalah dengan pelajaran yang dianggap hapalan dan paling membosankan – PPKn. Topik ”musyawarah” diajarkan di kelas 2 SD. Ajak mereka memilih sebuah topik yang relevan, misalnya, makanan kesukaan yang akan dipilih sebagai menu untuk piknik. Ajak mereka berdiskusi mengenai syarat-syarat yang harus dipenuhi oleh makanan tersebut, misalnya, harga maksimal, gampang dibawa, sehat (ajar anak-anak memikirkan makanan sehat sejak dini!). Sesudah syarat-syarat disepakati, minta mereka menuliskan plihan mereka di sepotong kertas. Minta dua orang anak menjadi sukarelawan. Satu orang membaca hasil, satu orang lagi menulis di papan. Tentukan hasil ”pemilihan”. Dari sana, barulah membahas mengenai arti musyawarah itu sendiri dan tentang pentingnya menghargai pendapat orang lain.
Apakah ada buku atau film rujukan yang bisa dibaca?
Banyak! Tontonlah film ”Pippi the Long Stock” dan baca buku ”Toto Chan” (buku yang wajib dibaca guru dan siswa di banyak negara). Dalam film Pippi, dia sangat ingin menggambar kuda kesayangannya, tapi kertas gambarnya terlalu kecil. Papan tulispun tetap belum cukup besar. Sementara itu, guru Toto Chan mengajak semua siswa-siswinya berenang tanpa pakaian sama sekali, idih...., apa-apaan ini? Kok porno? Temukan jawabannya. Film dan buku itu menjadi contoh bagaimana belajar itu bisa kreatif, menyenangkan, sekaligus membentuk karakter tanpa harus kotbah berbusa-busa.
Allah tidak menciptakan kita dan anak-anak kita menjadi robot yang pintar. Dia ingin kita, yang serupa dan segambar dengan Sang Pencipta, menjadi ”innovators” dan bukan ”imitators”.
Selamat mendidik dengan kreatif. ** (WH)
(box)
yang KELIRU tentang BELAJAR KREATIF
(LANY: lihat tanda ”bullet kali” di bwh ini, bisa saja bentuk ’kali’ yg lain, tp idenya untuk menunjukkan maksud ”keliru”
Kreatif = anak tidak belajar
KELIRU karena: guru yang menyiapkan setiap pembelajaran kreatif yang benar justru harus berpikir jauh lebih matang karena metode itu harus (baca= wajib) bermakna dan memberikan pemahaman yang tidak akan terlupakan oleh si anak. Ketika anak diajak bermain ”Tebak Saya”, misalnya, sebetulnya anak tersebut sedang belajar merangkai pertanyaan dengan benar, mengeliminasi kemungkinan-kemungkinan berdasarkan jawaban yang salah dan dengan demikian, belajar mendengar dan menyimak sehingga menghasilkan pola pikir yang kritis.
Kreatif = tidak tertib
KELIRU karena: tertib sangat mungkin dilakukan lewat cara-cara kreatif. Jika Anda guru, cobalah dengan beberapa peraturan sederhana yang bisa diikuti tanpa harus ”galak”. Di kelas, misalnya, kalau anak mau menjawab, ia harus mengangkat tangan lebih dahulu - tidak mengangkat tangan sambil menjawab. Dan guru pun tidak menunjuk anak yang langsung mengangkat tangan. Hanya yang kemudian ditunjuk yang dipersilakan menjawab.
Jika Anda orangtua, ijinkan anak bermain kotor-kotoran atau membongkar mainan yang ada. Tapi sesudahnya, jangan minta pembantu membereskan mainannya. Anak-anak sendirilah yang harus dibiasakan bertanggung jawab membereskan dan mengembalikan mainannya ke tempatnya. Masalahnya, sering kali kita yang tidak sabar, tidak mau, atau ”tidak punya waktu” untuk menjalankan pembiasaan ini dengan konsisten.
Kreatif = mahal
KELIRU karena: kertas-kertas koran dan dus-dus bekas bisa dipakai untuk banyak sekali mata pelajaran. Sinar matahari bisa dipakai untuk menerangkan konsep cahaya. Sepotong tali kasur bisa dipakai anak-anak untuk menemukan sendiri konsep π (pi) dalam lingkaran
Weilin Han, M.Sc. adalah Konsultan Sekolah dan Pelatih Guru I-Teach Education Training Center. Dapat dihubungi di weilinhan@yahoo.com
Bagaimana memulai belajar kreatif secara sederhana?
Ada banyak pertanyaan ”mengapa” yang muncul di benak anak maupun orang dewasa. Kita cenderung memadamkannya karena takut dianggap aneh atau terlalu banyak bertanya. Untuk amannya, lebih baik menghapal saja. Jangan salahkan anak-anak bila mereka bosan dan malas belajar karena pelajaran menjadi sesuatu yang ’jauh’. Padahal rasa ingin tahu yang dikembangkan dan disalurkan dengan tepat akan membuat anak menjadi pribadi yang matang.
Kita bisa membantu menumbuhkan rasa ingin tahu anak melalui pertanyaan-pertanyaan memancing, ”Kenapa busa akan keluar dari air sabun yang dikocok? Kenapa bintang berkelap-kelip? Kenapa ½ lebih besar dari ¼ padahal 2 lebih kecil dari 4?
Ganti kalimat I wonder why dengan ”bagaimana ya...” dan kita bisa meminta anak-anak melanjutkan dengan berbagai potongan yang menarik, misalnya:
Bagaimana ya....agar kupu-kupu banyak beterbangan di sekitar rumahku?
Bagaimana ya...mengurangi sampah di rumah dan di sekolah?
Bagaimana ya....menjadi ketua dan anggota kelas yang adil?
Dengan cara-cara seperti ini, kita dapat mengembangkan pola belajar yang mengajak anak untuk berpikir ”out of the box”, tetapi tetap dalam konteks pelajaran yang ingin kita capai.
Tidak semua anak bisa kreatif. Anak yang pendiam dan pasif itu kan tidak kreatif?
Cari tahu minat anak tersebut. Bisa saja dia pasif dan pendiam, tapi sebetulnya dia seorang pelukis atau penulis yang hebat. Bukankah sekarang kita sering mendengar multiple intelligence? Beri kesempatan menjawab atau berpikir yang lebih lama pada anak-anak seperti ini. Yang sering terjadi baik di kelas maupun di rumah, karena kita sudah menganggap anak ini pendiam dan pasif, mereka kita lewatkan dalam banyak aktivitas. Hati-hati, karena diam-diam, kita telah ”membunuh” mereka dengan ”meniadakan” keberadaan mereka.
Kreatif kan cuma bisa di Sains. Bagaimana dengan pelajaran Sosial?
Cobalah dengan pelajaran yang dianggap hapalan dan paling membosankan – PPKn. Topik ”musyawarah” diajarkan di kelas 2 SD. Ajak mereka memilih sebuah topik yang relevan, misalnya, makanan kesukaan yang akan dipilih sebagai menu untuk piknik. Ajak mereka berdiskusi mengenai syarat-syarat yang harus dipenuhi oleh makanan tersebut, misalnya, harga maksimal, gampang dibawa, sehat (ajar anak-anak memikirkan makanan sehat sejak dini!). Sesudah syarat-syarat disepakati, minta mereka menuliskan plihan mereka di sepotong kertas. Minta dua orang anak menjadi sukarelawan. Satu orang membaca hasil, satu orang lagi menulis di papan. Tentukan hasil ”pemilihan”. Dari sana, barulah membahas mengenai arti musyawarah itu sendiri dan tentang pentingnya menghargai pendapat orang lain.
Apakah ada buku atau film rujukan yang bisa dibaca?
Banyak! Tontonlah film ”Pippi the Long Stock” dan baca buku ”Toto Chan” (buku yang wajib dibaca guru dan siswa di banyak negara). Dalam film Pippi, dia sangat ingin menggambar kuda kesayangannya, tapi kertas gambarnya terlalu kecil. Papan tulispun tetap belum cukup besar. Sementara itu, guru Toto Chan mengajak semua siswa-siswinya berenang tanpa pakaian sama sekali, idih...., apa-apaan ini? Kok porno? Temukan jawabannya. Film dan buku itu menjadi contoh bagaimana belajar itu bisa kreatif, menyenangkan, sekaligus membentuk karakter tanpa harus kotbah berbusa-busa.
Allah tidak menciptakan kita dan anak-anak kita menjadi robot yang pintar. Dia ingin kita, yang serupa dan segambar dengan Sang Pencipta, menjadi ”innovators” dan bukan ”imitators”.
Selamat mendidik dengan kreatif. ** (WH)
(box)
yang KELIRU tentang BELAJAR KREATIF
(LANY: lihat tanda ”bullet kali” di bwh ini, bisa saja bentuk ’kali’ yg lain, tp idenya untuk menunjukkan maksud ”keliru”
Kreatif = anak tidak belajar
KELIRU karena: guru yang menyiapkan setiap pembelajaran kreatif yang benar justru harus berpikir jauh lebih matang karena metode itu harus (baca= wajib) bermakna dan memberikan pemahaman yang tidak akan terlupakan oleh si anak. Ketika anak diajak bermain ”Tebak Saya”, misalnya, sebetulnya anak tersebut sedang belajar merangkai pertanyaan dengan benar, mengeliminasi kemungkinan-kemungkinan berdasarkan jawaban yang salah dan dengan demikian, belajar mendengar dan menyimak sehingga menghasilkan pola pikir yang kritis.
Kreatif = tidak tertib
KELIRU karena: tertib sangat mungkin dilakukan lewat cara-cara kreatif. Jika Anda guru, cobalah dengan beberapa peraturan sederhana yang bisa diikuti tanpa harus ”galak”. Di kelas, misalnya, kalau anak mau menjawab, ia harus mengangkat tangan lebih dahulu - tidak mengangkat tangan sambil menjawab. Dan guru pun tidak menunjuk anak yang langsung mengangkat tangan. Hanya yang kemudian ditunjuk yang dipersilakan menjawab.
Jika Anda orangtua, ijinkan anak bermain kotor-kotoran atau membongkar mainan yang ada. Tapi sesudahnya, jangan minta pembantu membereskan mainannya. Anak-anak sendirilah yang harus dibiasakan bertanggung jawab membereskan dan mengembalikan mainannya ke tempatnya. Masalahnya, sering kali kita yang tidak sabar, tidak mau, atau ”tidak punya waktu” untuk menjalankan pembiasaan ini dengan konsisten.
Kreatif = mahal
KELIRU karena: kertas-kertas koran dan dus-dus bekas bisa dipakai untuk banyak sekali mata pelajaran. Sinar matahari bisa dipakai untuk menerangkan konsep cahaya. Sepotong tali kasur bisa dipakai anak-anak untuk menemukan sendiri konsep π (pi) dalam lingkaran
Weilin Han, M.Sc. adalah Konsultan Sekolah dan Pelatih Guru I-Teach Education Training Center. Dapat dihubungi di weilinhan@yahoo.com
Anakku Sebaiknya Masuk Sekolah Mana?
- Sekolah X, kurikulumnya dari Negara Y lho!”
- ”Ah, kurikulum itu kan berat sekali..., lebih baik kurikulum Negara Z, selain negara maju, kurikulumnya tidak memberikan anak banyak PR lagi!”
Percakapan seperti itu sering terdengar di antara para orang tua yang sedang memilih sekolah untuk anaknya. Para orang tua membahas mengenai kurikulum bak harga telur atau masalah banjir. Pihak sekolah pun tidak mau ketinggalan. Kurikulum internasional, kurikulum XYZ, kurikulum holistik – dan banyak lagi istilah lainnya yang dipakai menjadi alat marketing untuk menarik orang tua agar menyekolahkan anaknya di sana. Simak pembahasan FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) berikut ini supaya Anda dapat lebih bijaksana ketika memilih sekolah terbaik untuk anak Anda.
Apa yang dimaksud dengan kurikulum?
Menurut UU No 20 tahun 2003 tentang Sistem Pendidikan Nasional, kurikulum adalah seperangkat rencana dan pengaturan mengenai tujuan, isi, dan bahan pelajaran serta cara yang digunakan sebagai pedoman penyelenggaraan kegiatan pembelajaran untuk mencapai tujuan pendidikan tertentu. Dalam analogi sederhana, sama seperti kita ingin membuat sebuah bangunan untuk tempat tinggal, tentunya kita mempunyai bayangan apa tujuan dari tempat tinggal itu. Ada berbagai jenis tempat tinggal: rumah biasa, real estate, susun, asrama, dsb. Tujuan menjadi acuan dari rencana pembangunannya. Isi, fungsi dan pembagian tata ruang akan disesuaikan dengan tujuan.
Pentingkah kurikulum dalam pendidikan anak kita?
Sangat penting! Kurikulum akan menentukan isi, bahan pelajaran serta cara dalam mendidik anak kita. Sebuah sekolah tanpa kurikulum yang jelas sama seperti sebuah perahu yang berlayar tanpa tujuan.
Betulkah kurikulum pemerintah sering berubah-rubah?
Sebelum 2006 (KTSP), kurikulum yang ada adalah 2004 (KBK) dan 1994 (GBPP). Jadi, dari 1994 ke 2004 (10 tahun), kurikulum kita tidak pernah berubah. Perubahan dari 2004 ke 2006 pun merupakan terobosan yang luar biasa karena KBK memberi tempat pada keunikan masing-masing anak dan KTSP berani memberikan keleluasaan pada masing-masing sekolah. Itu artinya, kita tidak memiliki kurikulum nasional! Hah, masak sich? Ya!! Pemerintah menyadari sepenuhnya bahwa tiap-tiap sekolah mempunyai keistimewaan sendiri-sendiri. Karena itu mereka diberikan otonomi mengembangkan kurikulumnya sendiri. Koq bisa? Ya bisa saja. Amerika atau Australia pun tidak punya kurikulum nasional, kok! Jadi, jangan terkecoh dengan sekolah yang melakukan promosi dengan mencantumkan ”kurikulum Amerika” sebagai jargon jualan. Amerika mana, mbak?
Sekolah dengan kurikulum seperti apa yang cocok untuk anak kita?
Tidak ada jawaban yang ”pas”. Tapi, ada beberapa pedoman yang dapat dijadikan kriteria:
- Allah menciptakan manusia secara unik. Karena itu, pilihlah sekolah dengan kurikulum yang memberikan tempat kepada keunikan tiap-tiap anak kita.
- Allah memberikan tempat penting pada ”proses”. Kristus membentuk murid-murid-Nya setiap hari selama 3,5 tahun. Ia tidak menyulap mereka menjadi hebat dalam seketika. Sebaliknya, Ia memberi tempat untuk mereka bereksplorasi, sehingga menimbulkan pertanyaan dan diskusi. Dan Kristus tidak membuang Petrus yang berbuat salah (bahkan fatal) berulang kali. Pilihlah sekolah dengan kurikulum yang memberi tempat pada proses berkelanjutan.
- Pilih pula sekolah dengan kurikulum yang menekankan pembentukan, bukan hanya kemampuan koginitf, tapi terutama pembentukan hati dan karakter. Paulus seorang yang hebat. Tapi dia baru bisa dipakai Tuhan ketika terjadi pertobatan dan perubahan karakter di dalam dirinya.
Apakah semakin mahal sekolah itu semakin bagus kurikulumnya?
Tidak menjamin! Sekolah mahal, bangunan bagus, fasilitas lengkap – tidak serta merta menjamin kualitas kurikulum. Justru program yang berkesinambungan dan kualitas guru lah yang akan sangat mempengaruhi mutu sebuah sekolah. Sekolah yang dibangun almarhum Romo Mangun di Kali Code Yogyakarta merupakan sekolah yang sangat sederhana. Tapi justru di tempat yang seadanya itulah anak-anak diberi keleluasaan untuk mengembangkan dirinya. Sebuah sekolah Islam di Salatiga dengan berani tidak menyertakan muridnya dalam ujian nasional. Sebaliknya, anak-anak SMP di
Bagaimana kalau saya memindahkan anak saya dari satu sekolah ke sekolah lainnya?
Perhatikan apakah ada perbedaan mendasar antara sekolah asal dengan yang baru. Bila ada, perhatikan bagaimana kurikulum di sekolah yang baru bisa membantu anak Anda untuk dapat berkembang seutuhnya dan dengan keistimewaannya. Berilah waktu juga kepada anak Anda untuk beradaptasi dengan kurikulum yang baru (ingat, kurikulum akan mempengaruhi cara mengajar, sarana yang dipakai, termasuk penilaian terhadap anak Anda).
Textbook apa yang paling sesuai dengan kurikulum sekarang ini?
Banyak orang tua yang mempunyai pandangan keliru mengenai penggunaan textbook. Seakan-akan semakin banyak dan semakin tebal textbook yang diwajibkan sekolah, semakin baik kurikulum yang dipakai. Justru karena tiap anak harus dihargai keunikan dan perbedaannya, sekolah tidak perlu terikat pada textbook tertentu. Sebaliknya, kurikulum yang baik menuntut sekolah dan guru untuk bisa memanfaatkan sumber informasi yang tersedia melimpah di sekeliling kita. Alam, guntingan iklan, barang-barang bekas, dsb bisa menjadi sarana pembelajaran yang sangat kaya. Tuhan Yesus tidak meniadakan hukum Taurat, tapi Dia memakai perumpamaan dan contoh dari yang mudah ditemui disekitarnya: burung, rumput, roti, ikan, pasir, jubah, anggur.....
Bagaimana kita bisa melihat apakah sebuah sekolah menjalankan kurikulum sesuai dengan yang ”ditawarkan” atau tidak?
Tanyakan kurikulum yang sekolah miliki dari tingkat dasar sampai dengan lanjutan. Sekolah yang baik HARUS mempunyai kurikulum yang berkesinambungan. Gampangnya, tidak mungkin kita belanja bahan untuk gado-gado kalau tujuan kita membuat rawon, bukan? Kalau sekolah itu mengatakan, ”Ooh..., kita ikut kurikulum nasional!” Tanyakan, ”Bukankah pemerintah memberikan otonomi kepada sekolah untuk membuat kurikulumnya sendiri dan karena itu, disebut sebagai Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP)?” Kalau mereka bingung, sarankan mereka untuk menghubungi saya. Ha ha ha... ** (WH)
Weilin Han, M.Sc. adalah Konsultan Sekolah dan Pelatih Guru I-Teach Education Training Center.
Dapat dihubungi di
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
