Preparing high-quality students that are ready to compete is a must amid the intense competition in the 21st century. The right method of learning is a necessity.
To prepare for this, the government has tried to implement an advanced learning system based on reasoning skills, called the higher-order thinking of skills (HOTS). The 2013 Curriculum, which encourages logical, critical and creative thinking, is in line with this system.
Higher-order thinking requires more than relying on memorization, which many of our students are exposed to today. HOTS requires other, more advanced skills like logical, critical, analytical and creative thinking and innovation.
These skills are needed amid the intense competition in various aspects of life in the 21st century. On the other hand, such skills can also boost the quality of our education, which is still deemed poor. For example, the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that 15-year-old Indonesian students ranked below the average among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in basic science, reading and mathematics skills. In fact, Indonesia ranks below Thailand and Vietnam among ASEAN countries.
The Education and Culture Ministry’s 2016 Assessment of Indonesian Student Competencies (AKSI) showed results that were far from satisfactory. The assessment results showed that 77.13 percent of students performed poorly in mathematics, 73.61 percent performed poorly in science, and 46.83 percent performed poorly in reading.
Given this condition, the efforts to implement an advanced learning system based on reasoning skills must certainly be appreciated. However, in practice, it has not been easy for teachers to apply HOTS education, which is relatively new. This requires a paradigm shift in learning strategies from teacher-centered to student-centered, so that students can be more critical, logical and creative.
We should not forego continuous socialization and training for teachers. Constant changes to the curriculum, from the 1984 curriculum to the 1994 curriculum, and from the 2004 curriculum to the 2006 Education Unit Level Curriculum, did not significantly improve education quality because of a lack of teacher training. The way teachers teach – at the front of the classroom – has not changed much. This case must be a valuable lesson.
Therefore, in the future, it is not reasonable to require teachers to apply learning based on higher-order thinking when they are not provided with adequate training. Effective training for teachers is the key to success in developing high-quality students.