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Something Unique in School Management in Madiun
On Tuesday 7 December 2004, the author visited a number of schools in Madiun to observe the teaching practice that was being implemented by primary and junior secondary teachers who were being trained in PAKEM. The author was accompanied by a foreign consultant, Mr. Robert Cannon (from Australia) and the Madiun MBE facilitator Bpk Toni Indriyanto, and we visited 5 (five) schools including SMPN 11, SMPN 1, SD Kartoharjo 04, SD Pandean 01, and MI Islamiyah 3.
At SD Kartoharjo 04 and SD Pandean 01, the author was surprised by the management policy, which simply put was rather "strange". SD Kartoharjo 04 is actually in same complex as SD Kartoharjo 01. There was no border that separated the primary schools. Even their principals shared the same office (photo right), and there is only one school committee for both schools. Both schools share all their facilities.
According to both principals, they are only separate in a few things, like salary payments and other administrative issues. A similar situation also exists at SD Pandean 01 and 02. The site occupied by both of these primary schools is even smaller than that of SD Kartoharjo 04 and 01. The author doesn't understand exactly why this situation has been kept quiet but it seems to have been created by the local government.
In the writer's mind the question emerged "what is the efficiency" of management like this. If both schools can be managed by one principal, why have two? It would be easier and more practical if both the schools were merged to become one school with one principal. One of the principals could become the principal of merged schools and the other could be promoted or enjoy more satisfying duties.
The author believes that only a little bit of courage and willpower is required on the part of local government in order to improve school management. Principals basically have a philosophy of "ready to implement any command" ("Sami'na wa atho'na'"). Each of the principals expressed their belief that they would be able to manage both schools at the same time just as well as they have done one school so far.
Parents Help at Talun School
The training for the schools and communities (including school committees) which was held from 25 - 30 September 2004 had a positive impact on schools. Previously support has generally been limited to providing funding for schools, but gradually communities have taken more responsibility for the improvement and care of schools.
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Left: Parents helping students at SD Kendalrejo in Talun Sub-District,
Right: Parents repairing the school facilities at SD Kendalrejo, Talun.
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At SD Kendalrejo, in Talun, Blitar, the parents are proactive in helping the school and the students, and work together to help manage the classes.
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This is supported by a program from the principal Pak Syahrir to plant mangoes using land at the back of the school. It is hoped that in a few years the school can become truly independent.
Grade 6 Children Good at English
Even though they are on a mountain far from the town of Batu, children at SD Tulungrejo 4 can write well in English. On the below, there is some writing by Ayu Nurami explaining about her and her friend's hobbies.
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Enjoyable Learning
By : Bambang Ari Sugianto, teacher at SMPN 14 Madiun
An MBE English facilitator
Joyful learning can hopefully be implemented in every lesson. In an enjoyable learning environment students can certainly learn better. This is in line with what Holt (1972) stated, as follows:
"that children are by nature smart, energetic, curious, eager to learn, and good at learning; that they do not need to bribed and bulled to learn; that they learn best when they are happy, active, involved and interested in what they are doing; that they learn least, or not all, when they are bored, threatened, humiliated, frightened".
The next question is, what is joyful learning? Does joyful learning mean that the learners have to laugh, be visibly amused, sing, or shout hip-hip-hurray? If that is the case, would all or even most students like it, or would every teacher have the capability to be funny, to sing or create ice-breakers? These questions need to be asked because I see that a number of teachers tend to think joyful learning should be like that. If that is indeed the case, then the classroom will become noisy and the effectiveness of lessons would be questionable.
In my simple opinion joyful learning means that students are joyfully involved in the learning process, as the task given by their teacher is really challenging, it is appropriate, and is related to the real world. Additionally the students feel comfortable because they are not put-down or made fun of when they make mistakes, so they are not afraid to be different, nor of making mistakes.
Put simply, joyful learning is learning which is stress-free, challenging, and meaningful to the students. This is really different to the hip-hip-hurray for laughs paradigm. What's your opinion?
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