Teachers Still Have Difficulty Interpreting the Curriculum

Teachers are not only required to implement the national curriculum. The teacher's ability to interpret also needs to be built.

KOMPAS/ESTER LINCE NAPITUPULU

A number of teachers from various regions shared good practices in implementing the Merdeka Curriculum on Wednesday (March 27, 2024) at an event titled "Merdeka Curriculum to Improve Learning Quality" held by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Changes to the curriculum for the sake of the national curriculum in the education system always leave problems. This includes the teacher's readiness and ability to implement it in classrooms in a meaningful and quality manner. Teachers still face challenges in being able to interpret their own curriculum and develop their own version of the curriculum.

Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, Independent Curriculum is designated as the national curriculum which will gradually replace the 2013 Curriculum. The new National Curriculum is established for responding to the challenges of the ever-evolving times by encouraging improvements in the quality of learning for all students.

The Merdeka Curriculum structure is claimed to be more flexible, allowing schools to develop a unit curriculum suitable for the characteristics of the school and local environment. Thus, the Merdeka Curriculum can be translated by schools with minimal facilities in remote areas into a curriculum that fits their conditions. Therefore, there will be no more standardization of unit education curricula required by the center.

Also read: Complex Curriculum, Obstructed Education

Executive Director of the Education Study Line (Bajik), Dhitta Puti Sarasvati, stated in Jakarta on Tuesday (16/4/2024) that quality education must continue to be fought for. However, what is needed for teachers is not a change in the official curriculum.

"What is urgent is the education of teachers that is more accessible, affordable, and of high quality," said Puti, who is also a lecturer at a private teacher training education institution (LPTK) in Jakarta.

Puti explained that, generally, teachers are not accustomed to reading the official national curriculum. They understand the curriculum based on interpretations from others, such as interpretations from publishers (in the form of textbooks) and interpretations from presenters during curriculum technical guidance or teacher training.

Even for administrative purposes, there have been individuals offering to sell curriculum packages to schools for a long time. Typically, the contents consist of a collection of syllabus or learning implementation plans (RPP).

Until now, such individuals still exist. In teacher groups, there are those who offer independent curriculum packages in the form of various teaching modules, even up to packages of real action videos that can be uploaded on the Merdeka Mengajar (PMM) platform.

Just like students, they also want a meaningful learning process.

“Of course, we do not agree with such individuals. But, these individuals see an opportunity where not all schools or teachers are ready to interpret the curriculum on their own and develop their own versions of the curriculum. It is a real condition that needs to be realized, not ignored," said Puti.

During her experience accompanying teacher training, Puti found that many teachers were struggling to write lesson plans properly. Many teachers are not accustomed to reading their own official curriculum documents, let alone interpreting them.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Students practice harvesting compost together at SD Negeri Sambikerep II, Surabaya, Friday (8/3/2024).

There are also teachers who have limited content understanding, making it difficult for them to plan their lessons. In the end, all they can do is rely on the textbook.

"Despite the less than ideal situation, it doesn't mean that the teacher colleagues don't want to learn. Teachers from all over Indonesia are enthusiastic about learning, but they don't know where to start. Just like students, they also want a meaningful learning process," said Puti.

He emphasized the importance of teacher readiness to develop the curriculum. However, this ability must start from the provision of good teacher education.

Also read: Digital Platform Helps Teachers Implement Independent Curriculum

"Since long ago, not only since the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum, teachers are expected to have excellent skills to develop their own curriculum. However, this ability needs to be supported by good teacher education, including when teachers are still in training at LPTK," said Puti.

KOMPAS/ESTER LINCE NAPITUPULU

The Minister of Education and Culture, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, presented the advantages of the new national curriculum starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, namely the Merdeka Curriculum, in Jakarta on Wednesday (27/3/2024).

Previously, the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim stated that the Independence Curriculum aims to realize meaningful and effective learning in enhancing faith, piety towards the One Almighty God, and noble character. In addition, it also aims to develop the creativity, sense, and perception of learners as lifelong learners with Pancasila-based characters. The Independence Curriculum is a policy that changes the paradigm in realizing quality learning.

Support for teachers and schools

To assist teachers, the Ministry of Education and Culture launched the Merdeka Mengajar Platform (PMM) which provides various teaching aids, including textbooks, reading books, school curriculum examples, module examples, and regularly updated class assessment instruments. PMM also supports schools in forming offline and online learning communities, connecting schools with experts who share best practices from other schools.

In addition, there is the Teacher Activator Program (PGP), School Activator (SP), and Vocational Center of Excellence (PK) that are present to train teachers and principals so they can serve as sources of good practice for the Merdeka Curriculum. The Ministry of Education and Culture and Research also conducts various more specific trainings, including for informatics teachers, English teachers, physical education teachers, sports and health, early childhood education teachers, and inclusive education teachers.

The Merdeka Curriculum enables the transformation of learning, not only in urban areas and in schools with adequate facilities, but also throughout Indonesia, including disadvantaged areas. To support this, the Ministry of Education and Culture launched Cloud Mobilization to make it easier for teachers in areas who do not have a stable internet connection to access teaching tools and training modules at PMM offline (outside the network).

KOMPAS/ADRYAN YOGA PARAMADWYA

The elementary school teachers of SDN Menteng 02 in Central Jakarta; Supri Riyadi (58), Ervin Trisworo (41), and Zuli Setiyaningsih (37) (from left to right), accessing materials on the Merdeka Mengajar Platform at the SDN Menteng 02 library in Central Jakarta on Thursday (23/11/2023).

The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Research and Technology have distributed more than 15 million copies (716 titles) of graded reading books that are attractive and have been compiled and sent to over 5,900 Early Childhood Education centers and over 14,500 elementary schools in remote areas, accompanied by training on how to manage books and use them in learning. In addition, the Professional Teacher Program (PGP) has been implemented from batch 1 to 9 and has reached 502 districts/cities in 38 provinces in Indonesia, including 1,792 teachers in special/intensive/3T areas.

To alleviate the burden on teachers, the mandatory documents to be prepared are only the operational curriculum of the education unit and the Lesson Plan (RPP). "Both of these documents can be made simply. RPP can even be just one page, in accordance with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Regulation No. 16/2022 on Process Standards. There is no obligation to create complex teaching modules in the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum," said Nadiem.

When preparing teaching materials, teachers do not have to start from scratch. Various examples of school curricula, lesson plans, modules, and assessments are available on PMM and can be used directly or adapted by teachers. Teachers can learn how to prepare teaching documents for the Independent Curriculum through the guidance on teaching and assessment on the kurikulum.kemdikbud.go.id website.

"The training module at PMM is provided to help teachers learn according to their needs. There is no obligation to complete all or as many training modules as possible. What is far more important is for teachers to use the material they have learned for reflection and improvement of their teaching practices," said Nadiem.