History Is Not an Option

The weight of five hours of Advanced History is a pseudo-offer that makes it possible to skip History lessons altogether.

If you sort it from the basics, actually in Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System there is no History subject. In this law, History subjects only appear in the nomenclature of Social Sciences subjects (Article 37).

The idea that History as a school subject is mandatory is also equally not fundamental in terms of legal regulations. This means that the government does not have an obligation to make History a compulsory and binding subject.

However, due to the strong belief that History lessons are very important, History is still considered a mandatory subject in schools. This peaked in the 2013 Curriculum (K13), where the History subject for high school level was expanded in terms of hours.

What is referred to as the History Elective subject (11 hours) carries a weight more than twice that of the mandatory Indonesian History subject (6 hours). Although the subject carries a significant amount of hours, the legal standing of the History subject is easily breakable and can be abolished at any time.

Also read: Struggling for History to Become a Compulsory Subject

Historical degradation

Since serving as Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Mendikbudristek), Nadiem Makarim has started to cut everything related to history. First, issuing Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 45 of 2019 concerning Organization and Work Procedures, the Directorate of History under the Directorate General of Culture was abolished.

Secondly, the Director General of Teachers and Educational Personnel (Dirjen GTK) at the Ministry of Education and Culture has issued Circular Letter Number 1460 regarding Academic Qualifications and Teaching Certificates in the Registration for Government Employees Teaching Personnel with Work Agreement in 2021 (SE No 1460/B.BI/GT. 02.01/2021). The content states that the academic qualifications for History teachers can be non-linear and may be filled by graduates of non-History or related social science programs.

If the first step is the elimination of the historical ministry's organizational structure, in the second stage, History teachers will have their basic knowledge degraded through the notion of "anyone can teach history."

Thirdly, in the experimental 2021-2024 Merdeka Curriculum (School Driving Curriculum/Prototype Curriculum), this curriculum removes the History major subject and prunes History lessons into the Social Science subject group, where it is combined with Economics, Geography, and Sociology for class X.

It doesn't stop there, in Government Regulation Number 4 of 2022 concerning National Education Standards (SNP), History subjects are not included in the mandatory content category for primary and secondary levels. Similar to the National Education System Law (Sisdiknas), in this PP historical content is only considered part of social science (Article 40).

Leaving behind obsolescence

In the experimental version of the Merdeka Curriculum for 2021-2024, History lessons are even considered unfit to occupy the group of elective subjects and can only exist as a General History subject with a very limited time slot (two lesson hours per week).

However, the establishment of the Merdeka Curriculum in the Ministry of Education and Culture's Regulation No. 12 of 2024 on Early Childhood and Elementary Education has reverted History as a subject into two parts, as in the arrangement in K13. At first glance, this is good news for history teachers as it brings back History (continuation) as an option after being absent for 4 years (2021-2024).

The problem is that Continuing History as an option has to compete with 19 other elective subjects. Because out of the 19 elective subjects, only 4-5 can be chosen. When selected, Continuing History has a weight of five hours per week. Isn't this good news?

History teachers must provide new arguments to restore the honor of history lessons.

The problem is, what is the purpose of the five-hour Advanced History lesson? There is no explanation. Moreover, what guarantee is there that the Advanced History subject will be chosen by students, instead of by the school?

Thus, the weight of five hours of Continued History is a false offer that can make the 'History' lesson not chosen at all. Therefore, it can be suspected that, from the beginning, the History subject has consistently been considered unimportant by the drafters of the Merdeka Curriculum.

History teachers must provide new arguments to restore the dignity of History lessons. Firstly, we need to dispel the notion that the struggle to maintain the History subject is solely a matter of preserving its hours without considering the interests of students. Secondly, the essentialist (history as a science) and perennialist (history as the glory of the past) ways of thinking which are outdated and oriented towards narrow romanticism need to be abandoned.

The subject of Advanced History should offer ideas that provide a path for students' experiences towards the future in two stages. First, students' 'involvement' as conscious historical subjects.

Also read: Learning from Indonesian History

According to the historian philosopher, Zinn, history should be viewed as a current human involvement in the flow of history (Ankersmith, 1987). Therefore, history teachers are not preoccupied with romanticism that does not involve students as part of the ongoing process of change. In other words, history is not seen as frozen events that are distant from the students' experiences.

Then, in the second stage, a big history approach (big history) is needed, which according to David Christian in the book Future Stories likens history to the story of the future (2022). Thus, students, instead of studying history, are actually studying forecasting for future management.

This approach will make history lessons more flexible in connecting current issues such as biotechnology, global warming, transhumanism, the fate of galaxies to the future. This big history approach must be stated in learning outcomes (CP) because it is used to answer the challenges of the times.

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

School students observe a collection of artifacts on display at the Jakarta History Museum in the Kota Tua area, Jakarta, Tuesday (20/12/2022).

Pseudo-choice

If advanced History lessons still rely on perennialism without involvement and romanticism that create alienation (feeling strange with the past), the urgency of this additional lesson may indeed be questioned. From the teacher's perspective, the advanced History lesson as an option will have an impact on uneven capacity in teaching history.

Because not all schools will choose Advanced History as a subject, as it is only an option. This disadvantages History teachers who are weak in the politics of 'school curriculum,' while on the other hand, History teachers who have a high bargaining position in the preparation of school curriculum will benefit. This is where the gap between History teachers arises.

What is called 'student choice' is not truly a free choice. Often, in the field of the experimental version of the Merdeka Curriculum (2021-2024), schools have pre-selected certain subject packages for elective courses so students are actually choosing a sequence of elective courses that have already been packaged by the school.

Making history as an elective subject is degrading the field of history itself which is begging to be studied.

This paradox actually harms teachers, doesn't benefit students, and harms the future of History lessons itself. Often, schools will always try to find ways to make subject choices based on the workload of teachers.

So, it is not impossible that students' choices will be directed according to the teacher workforce resources that already exist in the school along with other considerations that we fear will not be in favor of the development of the students themselves. Not to mention the lack of synchronization in meeting the needs of PPPK teachers in each state school which has been problematic since the 2021-2024 selection period.

The question is, does this situation relate to the aspirations and development of students? Does it relate to the aspirations of history teachers who want their students to have historical awareness, love for the country, global perspectives, and a prospective orientation?

Therefore, making History a choice of subject is to belittle the field of history itself, which is actually begging to be studied. Once again: History is an honorable subject.

The history subject does not guarantee that students have the skills competence for a continuously changing work environment. However, it can be ensured that students who successfully internalize a future-oriented historical awareness will make them whole as humans, regardless of the demands of their times.

Also read: Urgency of History Subjects

Therefore, instead of providing five hours per week without clear axiological arguments, it is better to add General History lessons. Then, formulate a comprehensive and integral argumentation of the achievements of history subjects so that it can collaborate Indonesian history and global history as well as the wider historical perspective. This is the real work of curriculum development for history subjects that has never been taken seriously.

Thus, 3-4 hours of General History lessons per week are sufficient for each level (equivalent to High School classes X, XI, XII) without dividing them into general and elective. Through the establishment of the Merdeka Curriculum which created the subject of Advanced History, the teaching of history is at a wrongly negotiated stage.

Accepting the five-hour weighting for optional subjects only confirms that History teachers only care about the hours. History teachers must renegotiate the harmful offer of the Merdeka Curriculum for the future of teaching history by offering the argument that history is not a choice, as it is the fate of humans.

Iman Zanatul Haeri, History Teacher; Head of the Teacher Advocacy Division of the Association of Education and Teachers (P2G)

ARSIP PRIBADI

Iman Zanatul Haeri