Group Learning is Essential for Students

It is highly beneficial for primary and secondary school students to work in groups during their lessons. In groups, students can realise their potential. Through group learning activities, students get many benefits, including greater knowledge and skills because they learn from their peers.

Learning from their peers is more meaningful because students more easily understand the language and signals that are given to them. Through group activities students learn many things which are impossible to learn alone, like respecting others, acceptance of other people, working together and enjoying being with someone else.

From this we can see that PAKEM helps to facilitate better student learning and addresses a number of core issues that affect social development.

Students Learning Resources: Cheap, Easy, Abundant

The traditional learning resources are the teacher and the textbook. But there are lots of learning resources around the school, within the home, and in the community. Unfortunately these diverse learning resources are not being made best use of.

The PAKEM training which was conducted by MBE in Kebumen tried to encourage teachers to recognise and use more of the learning resources which are available in the students' environment. The result was that many of the teachers who say that their schools are short of textbooks can still conduct effective learning activities if their teachers are able to make use of the environment.

When the teachers from the MBE target schools practiced using their community as resource of learning they realized that students learn both knowledge and skills more easily and they enjoy it more.

"We are Pleased the Students visited Our Kiosk"

Says Ibu Darsiah, the kiosk owner.........

One of the characteristics of PAKEM is that it provides the broadest opportunities for students to experience learning using many different resources. This issue was addressed during the teacher training at Kebasen, Banyumas. One of the teachers Ibu Haryati gave a practical social studies lesson at SDN Kalisalak 2 Kebasen, Banyumas. The activities included students going to a nearby kiosk to ask questions about the goods and their buying and selling prices.

Ibu Darsiah and Ibu Homsiti, the kiosk owners, were very happy for the students to come to the kiosk and ask questions about the kiosk business which they manage. 'We were very pleased and it is quite an honor that the students were asked to come to our kiosk'. Even though the students only asked questions and didn't buy anything, it's not a problem. The students enjoyed the experience of learning like this.

Active Questioning, Knowledge Gained

Asking questions is sometimes viewed as indicating that a person is ignorant. And because of this many people don't want to ask questions because they are afraid that people will think they don't know anything. Active learning encourages people to ask questions as though they already have knowledge but are seeking extra information to complete their knowledge.

SD, MI, SMP and MTs teachers in Gombong and Ambal subdistricts in Kebumen are trying to develop the questioning skills of both the teachers and the students so as to to assist them to expand their current knowledge and the skills.

The picture on the top shows students in Gombong collecting information from the owner of mixed goods shop. Asking questions in real situations like this make the students active and creative. Without being aware of it the SD students are gaining competencies in questioning through this practical activity.

School MGMP is Useful for Teachers

The launch of the MBE program in the Pati district schools provided special support for the people managing education especially the teachers and principals of the primary and junior secondary schools.

For example at SMPN 1 Jakenan Bpk Drs. Ali Munfaat M.Pd. stated that the MBE program provides motivation and inspiration for the teachers to achieve the best in teaching and learning. The teachers try to practice PAKEM in their classes in line with their individual subject areas.