Teaching with Heart, Educating with Rattan.

Teaching with heart, educating with rattan is my personal and my institution’s values in educating Papuan children. If we read the title of this article, the second sentence has an unpleasant meaning because it is true that as educators in Papua, we need a big heart to love this job, yet we will not use rattan in educating our students. However, for me rattan needs to be used when educating a Papuan child. What does this title mean? I will explain in more detail in this article and hope that this can be a good teaching value that can be applied in schools not only in Papua but also in other eastern parts of Indonesia.

Teaching with heart, the education field in eastern Indonesia such as Papua is tough for a teacher/educator. Involving in education to serve in difficult areas needs a tough heart. a teacher should recognize and understand the conditions where he/she will teach later before deciding to serve in that place. A teacher/educator should know who the students he/she will teach and educate every day, who are the community the teacher will meet every time. The heart of an educator/teacher must be willing to love them without feeling the need to be loved back. Not all people and students can immediately love us (teachers/educators) let their hearts feel the love of an educator without us having to force it. From my experience, building relationships with students and community is the most important thing. This is a good way for teachers to recognize their students, community and their needs in education.I always believe that “students only learn from teachers they like” and they will like us when they feel our hearts are sincere in helping them to get a better education. When relationships with students are established, there will be a sense of security and trust from students towards teachers so that whatever teaching material we teach, will interest them and whatever advice we give they will listen to. In addition, another point in the principle of teaching with heart, a teacher not only loves students (who he teaches) but a teacher/educator must also love what he teaches (lessons). I often share with my colleagues and teacher fellows that “A teacher should not only love who we teach BUT also what we teach”. When we love a lesson we teach, we will attract our students’ attraction and interest towards the lesson, they will enjoy the lesson.

Don’t make the lesson as routine to complete our unit/course plan, make it a fun knowledge transfer activity instead. Give opportunities for students to explore and experience the lesson themselves, let them create the sense of ownership of the lesson. I always believe that it doesn’t matter how difficult a lesson is, once a student loves it and knowing his/her teacher will help them, they can master the lesson well. By doing so, we foster a thirst for knowledge in our students and they will love to learn anything. A famous quote goes like this: “Teacher who loves teaching will make his/her students love learning”.

Educating with rattan, as I said above, from this sentence the practice of teaching using this principle sounds very violent and should not be carried out in our schools as violence is prohibited in the Indonesian educational environment. National education currently emphasizes character education. Therefore, for me specifically in educating a Papuan child with a strong character requires rattan. Rattan that I mean is a form of action from a teacher/educator. Rattan’ in the form of positive discipline. For example, in my institution SAGU, we discipline our students not physically but academically. For example, if our students follow one of the school rules then the student will be asked to write an essay with a topic and number of words. The essay is graded by the teacher and the student will get feedback. This is what I mean by educating with rattan. There are so many ways to discipline students that do not necessarily require physical violence. If we know who our students are, we will be able to choose the “rattan” that they (students) do not like to do 🙂

From the explanation above, actually the value of teaching with heart, educating with rattan is based on the value of equity and inclusivity in education. If we want to improve education in Papua, we do not need equality first but equity and inclusivity because the needs of students in Papua are different from students in other parts of Indonesia. The context of where students are shaping their needs of education differently. We will reach equality in education if each region is given access and facilities according to the needs of the students. Moreover, talking about equity and inclusivity, we will talk about fairness in educational approaches to students. As an educator/a teacher we should be fair in the teaching and learning process. In my view, Fair does not mean that every student gets the same teaching and learning approach, yet it means that each student gets the specific approach he or she needs to be able to cope with a lesson. For example, if a student’s strength is in practical things then in spending time reading then give him project-based learning activity. They will build their understanding of a lesson based on the project they do.

Building and developing the idea of equity and inclusivity in education is an essential part in developing Papuan human resources because the principle of equity will make those of us who work in education more sensitive to the context, culture and life habits of the communities where our schools are located. It is undeniable that the culture of the community around our school greatly influences the success of the education we design. Therefore, the educational values that I am explaining above are educational principles that are very contextual to education in Papua. If other eastern parts of Indonesia have the same context as Papua, they can use the principle of teaching with heart, educating with rattan.

Thank you

Author:
Diana M Kambuaya, M.Ed.
Program Manager and English Course Coordinator
SAGU Foundation, Papua, Indonesia