Managing change in Indonesian high schools

This article describes the classroom methodology used by high school teachers of English participating in the PKG (Permantapan Kerja Guru: Strengthening of the Work of Teachers) Project in Indonesia. It starts with brief accounts of the objectives and methods of implementation of the Project and describes classroom methodology before the PKG English Programme began. It then outlines the principles and procedures used by PKG teachers of English and reports early impressions of their effectiveness. It also looks at ways in which the changes were effected and touches upon some of the project’s implications. Background to The PKG Project is a teacher development programme which aims to the project help teachers in Indonesian junior and senior high schools to develop their confidence and their personal and professional skills, as well as to devise materials and techniques which promote student-centred, studentactive learning in the classroom. The project began in 1980 with its Science Programme. In 1982 it was extended to Maths, in 1985 to English, and in 1988 to Bahasa Indonesia. It is a Government of Indonesia project, funded by loans from the World Bank and UNDP and administered from the Directorate of Secondary and General Education. My own contribution was as an ODA KELTA, working as English Language Teaching Advisor in the Ministry of Education and Culture from December 1985 to December 1988. The motto The motto of the Project is ‘From the teacher, by the teacher, and for the teacher’ (Suprapto, 1986). Every effort has been made to avoid the typical mistakes of top-down projects which impose innovation on implementers who have not been allowed to make any personal investment in their project. On the PKG Project we agree that ‘the more the responsibility for the project and the decisions to be taken are passed to the implementers the better, as this will encourage ownership’ (Kennedy, 1988). Organization In each of the twenty-seven provinces of the country, three or four teachers in each of the PKG subjects were selected to be trained as Instructors. After participating in courses overseas and workshops in Indonesia, these teachers returned to their schools for one semester to try out the learnercentred methodology they had been introduced to. Then they started to run sixteen-week in/on-service courses in their provinces for thirty to forty teachers of their subject. Each of these courses consists of a two