We started today on a mission. We have been kept so busy teaching that we have had NO opportunity to observe Indonesian teachers in action. As our IREX liaison explained, we were going to need to use our words. We had planned on talking to Yuna about this at last night's dinner, but she did not show as planned.
When we arrived at the school, we were met by Ms. Eva who wanted us to teach again (although we had already taught two of her classes and she had filmed each time). We quickly explained that we were responsible for some assignments for IREX and needed to be able to observe in order to work on these. Eva was confused and politely excused herself. We were very afraid we had offended her, but Yuna reassured us and before long, Eva returned eager for us to watch her teach.
Observing Eva's class proved to be very important. Like Yuna, she was very warm and smiled constantly. She followed our lesson so it was interesting to see what she learned. The lesson started strong with discussion. The students were more comfortable sharing and participating with Eva than they were with us. As the lesson progressed, I felt like I started to watch a student teacher in action. Question strategies were very weak. Only knowledge level inquiry. Several students were disengaged. Two slept, some talked, and some were clearly reading the story on their own. Eva didn't seem to have eyes everywhere as a teacher must and I noticed she focused 90% of her questions and attention on the male students. It was hard to watch and I now have a much better understanding of why we are working with these educators.
For the next period we were able to observe Ms. Emeng. She too had a wonderful relationship with the students. She had them working on a report of information. The students had completed some information on animals. Several of them had chosen animals I had recently seen - monkeys, elephants, Komodo dragons, so I went around and showed them pictures on my iPad, which they thought was about the greatest thing ever. Ms. Emeng explained that they would be presenting their final information at the next class meeting which was met by moans. It is important that they practice as I've noticed a distinct difference in American students' confidence versus Indonesian students', particularly with public speaking (and not just in English). Ms. Emeng also discussed the difference between a report of information and a narrative. She talked about the importance of grammar, diction, content, and organization as this assignment would be good practice for formal writing on the national examination. This was the first time I heard a teacher talk about an assessment.
After our observations, we met our driver to travel to SMAN 2, a nearby public high school which was known to be one of the best in the area. We were welcomed by their Assistant Principal of Public Relations who was very excited to have us. SMAN 2 was physically very different from Cendekia. The campus was quite large. The government public school had grades 10-12 with 1100 students and 32 classes. Their school day normally runs from 7:00 am to 3:15 pm, but they end at 12:45 due to Ramadhan although not all students are Muslim (120 Christian/Hindu/Buddhist). Their 80 teachers focus on character building (which seems to be a national emphasis at all schools), and science and math. It was interesting to learn that they also have remedial and enrichment programs.
We were escorted around campus and observed a 10th grade English class. I immediately noticed that most of the students were not Muslim (so I question some of the statistics we were given). It was a very different atmosphere than Cendekia. Students wore uniforms, but they were short sleeve Hawaiian-type shirts and pants/skirts. The students were not separated by gender in the room and they seemed much more relaxed and social.
The English teacher was quite engaging utilizing a PowerPoint and video clip. She had the students working in small groups and sharing out. It was refreshing to see. Jen and I borrowed a student's English book (the first we had seen) and were impressed by the layout and focus on familiar standards based around reading, writing, speaking, and listening strategies. The students actively answered questions aloud and it did not feel forced.
We had an opportunity to talk with the students. They were full of questions. We are discovering that many of the Indonesian students have similar inquiries: What do Americans think of Muslims? What resulted from 9/11 in America? How can I get in to an American university? How can I get scholarships? What are American teens like? And there are usually a few questions about how America is portrayed in films.
After class, we toured the beautiful school. It, like all the other schools, was spotless. We were pleased to see a greenhouse, a garden, a computer lab, a library, and an amazing health center. The school seemed more like an American school as compared to the Indonesian schools we had visited up to this point.
The school visit was wonderful. It was nice to see a different, less structured Indonesian school with many religions and races represented. The teachers, administration, and students were incredibly welcoming. Jen and I (and even Yuna!) felt grateful for such an opportunity.
We traveled back to our hotel and decided to be adventurous. We wanted to go to a huge store, appropriately called "Giant". When we asked the front desk how to walk there, they laughed at us and told us to take a taxi. We did as instructed, but realized the foolishness once we arrived. It was so close! Perhaps they underestimated what we were capable of. Needless-to-say, we shopped at Giant and decided to take a break from Indonesian food and eat at Domino's, where we especially loved the hand washing station.
After our polluted walk home (perhaps that's why we needed to take a taxi), we rested up a bit and then were picked up by our driver to go to Ms. Emeng's house for breakfast with Yuna and one student. Emeng had a lovely home that was very small but much more modern than the one we went to last night. We were welcomed by Emeng, her husband, and her 11 month old baby boy who made me desperately miss my own boys.
Emeng's husband, who is also an English teacher, was very kind and seemed quite progressive and western. Emeng had a nanny who seemed to do most of the serving, which seemed a little strange. She had some family present, but just as the previous evening, did not formally introduce us and her relatives seemed to stay clear out of respect. We enjoyed a wonderful meal (minus the chicken feet - ugh). It was an amazing spread of food - enough to feed at least a dozen people. It's clear that they see it as an honor to have us over. We left the suburban development feeling as loved as ever... even if it was with the lingering images of chicken feet.
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