The "Super Person" and the Indonesian School

In my last post I provided this link to an article in the New York Times. I don't know how much attention this article got back in the states, but judging from a couple of Facebook posts I saw, it wasn't unpopular. If you haven't read the article, it talks about "the new Super People." James Atlas compares the standards for top tier college students of his day to those of today and finds the gap to be astounding. The level of excellence expected of those students vying for a spot at topped ranked colleges is far greater than what was once required. He notes that "[his] contemporaries love to talk about how they would have been turned down by the schools they attended if they were applying today." Although Atlas continues on to question the validity the resumes' of "super people," what I am most interested in is the "super person" mindset and how it effects my work here.

As I read this I recognized that so much of what I accepted as normal as an adolescent and even as a college student is part of this "super person" mindset. If I were to compare my adolescence to Atlas' description, I would have to proclaimed myself a "super person." In high school my friends and I found ourselves taking as many high level courses as possible. As a three season athlete, a board member of at least two clubs, and a member of an acapella group, I could be found somewhere on the school grounds until at least 5:30 on a daily basis. During my summers I volunteered at an outdoor Shakespeare festival, worked at the local Build-A-Bear while studying for the SATs, and went to China to help with a summer English program. I may not have achieved the grades expected of "super person," but I ran with the crowd and had the mindset to boot. The funny thing is that I never thought twice about it. Sure there were a few times as a high school student that I recognized that it was probably not the best situation for my mental health, but everyone was doing it. It was normal.

 In some ways I loved the mindset and in other ways I despised it. The expectations my parents had of me became the expectations I had of myself by the time I reached high school. Being a "super person" allowed me many life experiences (some which my parents paid for and many which I worked for on my own) that I would not exchange. Please note that the name Atlas has given to people like me is ironic because being a "super person" can have some very adverse effects. I believe that this lifestyle brought me to some very emotional lows more times than I would have liked. As a "super person" you don't lead the most balanced lifestyle. It is "go Go GO" all the time and in the end it is emotionally exhausting.

As a teacher I often find myself thinking back to  my high school experience. Sometimes it is to use my former teachers as mentors (I had a lot of great ones), other times I try an remember what I was thinking as I sat on the receiving end, and a lot of the time I simply reminisce. When you compare my high school experience to that of my Indonesian students it is like the article, but in reverse. Some students study and work hard to be top students, but even with my ban on copied homework, I am fairly certain that a majority of them still get their answers from their friends (I can always tell who worked together). Most students just run home and sit around or hang out with friends without opening a notebook the rest of the day. Some come to sports or band practices afterschool, but as I mentioned in my volleyball post, team practice here is wildly different than what you see in America. In short I am a "super person" in a non-"super person" environment. Recall what I said yesterday, if I use the expectations I grew up with to measure my students, I would get frustrated very quickly.

During August I gave a lot of thought to the question, "Do I want to work to transform this into the high school I knew?" Every single time I thought "no" almost immediately. Why? Well because PCVs aren't sent around the world to turn their countries into little Americas. My goal here isn't to take what I know "works" in the US and try to put it in place here. For centuries people have discovered time and time again that that doesn't work. In addition, who is to say that it is the best situation. Just because people aren't dying doesn't mean that they are thriving on the most basic emotional levels.

It is important to recognize the positives and negatives of both situations. In Indonesia students are more carefree and able to be young. They have a strong sense of community and feel that the success of the class is important. On the other hand the students measure success by whether a test is passed and not by how much the comprehend. Students don't use critical thinking skills and rely on the smart students to get through test situations. Students from my high school experience had a strong background in a variety of subjects and hobbies. Considering their age they had a strong world view, and an appreciation for hard work. On the other hand they were very competitive and stressed out. Their competitive nature did not always nurture the strongest friendships and although no one admitted it, they often felt alone. Both sides have very negative effects.

Although, I don't want the Indonesia I know to turn into a mini America, I do feel that education does need to be taken more seriously. How do we find balance? I am not sure that a perfect equilibrium will every be struck, but there must be a way for Indonesian students to see the value in education without going to the extreme of needing to become a "super person." At the same time, the youth of America should not have to be a "super person" just to have a sense of self worth. Somehow I must merge my past with my present and hope that in the end my students benefit from it.

As usual I do not have the answers, but I can say that I hope living in Indonesia for two years will bring a bit more balance to my life and tame my mindset a bit.

My Head is Out of the Ground - here is the post on Education

So for awhile now I have eluded to the state of the average Indonesia school, but never really talked about it. Knowing that my first post on this grand topic would take some time to write, I have avoided it. However, considering that it is the main reason that I am here, to skirt the topic much longer would leave a gaping hole in your understanding of my work.

I find myself hesitant to write because I want to be careful not to be judgmental about practices here. I recognize that my experiences in the American education system were very extreme, even by America's standards. Education was (and probably still is) third on my list of values only to God and family. I recognized early on in my time in Indonesia that to use my past experiences as the measurement of a "good education system" would not only bring me a lot of stress and frustration, but that it would also not achieve my goals as a volunteer of understanding why things here are the way they are. If (but more realistically "when") I choose to overlook this key factor, it can mean a lot of wasted time, energy, and emotions for  the people involved. And as a logical human being I try to avoid that when possible. I am fairly certain that I have failed at my goal to be nonjudgmental in this post (it is something I am working on), but the account I give here is the reality of my Indonesian school.

I would say that Indonesians have high standards for their system. They want to make sure students obtain an understanding of many subjects by the time they graduate from high school. It isn't uncommon for students to take 18 subjects per semester. This is especially the case for students at madrasahs (Islamic schools), such as the one at which I teach, because Arabic and religious classes are added to the normal curriculum. Students study the general subjects (math, biology, chemistry, history, etc.), but they also study more social subjects like sociology and psychology. Of course those subjects are not unheard of in the average US high school, but they are usually an elective and the average American high school student has about 8 subjects per semester. Where do all the extra subjects come from you ask? Well all the sciences are studied simultaneously. You start to add up those simultaneous subjects and in no time you find students studying 18 subjects at a time. 

Every student studies every subject because they are assigned to a class and do not have individual schedules. This does not allow for flexibility in learning. If a student is smart overall then they are put in the smarter class, even if they are horrible in one or two subjects. This also means that a student must pass or fail overall because there is no opportunity for them to take grade 10 English for a second time.

In order for there to be enough time for all of these subjects, the school week is Mon-Sat, although Fridays are a couple of hours shorter. The schedule is usually set up in a way where subjects are taught in two period blocks. Although many subjects have an average of about four hours a week, some have three and others have five. This means that my classes meet on average twice a week for an hour and a half. With some classes the days are consecutive and with others they are spread a part. Either way the students only have to think about English twice a week. The rest of the time they are welcome to sit back and forget.

Of course with a more sporadic schedule teachers find some days wildly busy (for me Tuesdays and Saturdays) and other days completely empty. This allows teachers to come and go as they please (as long as they are not being paid by the government) and also gives most teachers a second day off in the middle of the week (mine is Friday). I can't pretend that I don't like the leisurely system though. To be honest I think that without it, it would be difficult for women to be teachers here.

For most teachers the time between teaching usually spent socializing with their friends. The school provides workbooks that also contain basic lesson plans. These lesson plans usually consist of "tell the students to do task 3 then go over it." Because most teachers take this approach they find that they have free time in the middle of the day and students usually find English (and if what I am told is correct, all other subjects) difficult. The speed at which most teachers go is usually too fast for students to have adequate time to practice each skill, especially when their classes only meet twice a week.  In the end the students retain hardly anything.

To get by students cheat on homework, quizzes and tests. Indonesian cheating has become so bad and systematic that it even received global attention from NPR and The Economist over the summer. I assume that each student has a strength in at least one subject because of the way the classes are grouped. It seems that by cheating they get themselves (and their classmates) through the rough spots. I have been told that this is because students start to receive pressure from their teachers and the national exam to always be correct. Most students therefore don't realize that there can be more than one answer to a question. If somehow a student still falls behind, in the end there is still a certain amount of pressure from the administration to bump up a student's grade if they are only failing one or two subjects.

In general I find that my students lack critical thinking skills, basic logic, and study skills. When they go to write sentences in English they always write it out in Indonesian first and then use a dictionary to translate. I know that by the time I was in high school I was using the basic words of Chinese and throwing in English when I couldn't remember or didn't know a word. Unfortunately my students have yet to make that transition.

I will say that the students are very energetic. This usually means good things for game based learning, but it is a big a draw back when I am or one of their classmates is speaking. They are all very sweet and although not all may see a purpose for education I would say that the majority do. Their definitions of respect and diligence may not be the same as mine, but I am sure that we will find some common ground.

I think about education a lot here. What goals are realistic? How will my background  mesh with their practices? Which things really need to be worked on and which are ok to let be? How do we find a balance between the American education system that I know and the more laidback one that I work in here? What is the value of education in a society who's local economy is primarily made up of labor intensive jobs? This is what I think about regularly (feel free to give wisdom). These are the questions that don't necessarily need answers but need thought in order for me to work well at my school.

I wrote this today because I in my next post I want to address an article that I one of my PCV friends posted to another. Thanks to Facebook's stalker qualities I read this NYT article today. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/meet-the-new-super-people.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

Because this post is already long enough and because it was necessary to give a background on Indo schools before commenting on the article, I will leave my thoughts on this it for another day.  

One last thing: Do you all like my blog's new look? I mean I didn't work on it for a full day or anything but I think it turned out pretty darn cute! It's a picture of Indonesian batik fabric. I haven't had it made into a shirt yet, but one day you will see it in a picture on me.