A Teacher's Story

My name is Isna, a grade 2 teacher in SDN 3 Karangan, Karangan sub-district in Trenggalek. My school is one of five in Karangan sub-district which are invited to each SBM and PAKEM training organized by MBE. I am the only teacher in our school to receive PAKEM training from MBE. (The school principal takes part in the SBM training). After the training of school principals, Bu Dyah, asked us as teachers to share our experiences and to try to implement SBM and PAKEM in our school.

After being watched by MBE staff from the district and by MBE consultants (Bpk Najid, Bpk As'ari and Bpk Hadi), our school principal was chosen as one of the district facilitators. This in-creased our enthusiasm for implementing SBM and PAKEM in a school.

As teachers we can really feel the impact of the program on the students in the few months that we have been trying to teach using PAKEM. By getting the children used to learning by developing their ideas and solving problems through group discussions, the children have become very confident, not afraid to ask questions, nor of making mistakes and confident in their creativity. The children are also pleased when we use learning resources that are not in the textbook. They very much like observing objects and events outside the classroom.

I was very pleased when Stuart Weston and Lynne Hill from MBE dropped in at our school and came into my classroom. They were very pleased that the children were not at all shy, engaged in discussions and asked questions. Lynn took the opportunity to examine the children's work on the display boards and made a lot of suggestions to me as to how to improve my PAKEM teaching.

It is our hope that plans to disseminate in the MBE program in Trenggalek to Karangan sub-district will soon be implemented. I would like our school to become like SDN Tangkil in Blitar which we visited some time ago together with the Sub-District Education Office and four other primary schools in Karangan.

This story was written by Ibu Isna Indiati, a teacher at SDN 3 Karangan

PURWOREJO: Improvements in Mathematics Teaching

Before we joined the MBE program mathematics teaching was generally conventional, consisting of giving information and lecturing followed by drill. This process was aimed at reaching the curriculum targets.

But doing this doesn't develop the capabilities of the students in a way that we would hope to. Teachers are often disappointed with the results of the tests where only 60% of the material is absorbed by the students and the average mark is less than 5.

After doing PAKEM for seven months the students are developing their potential in a way they previously did not. They are thinking critically, creatively, systematically and with confidence and are able to find appropriate solutions to the problems they face.

The children's understanding of the material and concepts has really increased and mathematics lessons in grade 7 are amongst those which are most enjoyed by the students, who no longer feel nervous about the subject.

The students were able to prove that the area of a parallelogram is the same as the area of a rectangle and that the area of a kite is the same as the area of two rectangles. Working together through cooperative learning makes the students more creative and finding solutions for themselves increases their confidence.

By Nuridayani, Facilitator and Mathematics Teacher

SMPN 3 Pacitan

When MBE came to Pacitan, SMPN 3 became one of the target schools and developed school based management (SBM), including displaying the school development plan and school budget and updating them every year. The school committee has also been increasingly actively involved in the school program.

As an example, this year they have designed and completed a fully equipped computer room to support PAKEM. There are of course the usual impediments, which are quite considerable, including limited school facilities, teachers who are reluctant to change and a poor student intake. As a result of the rounds of training given by the Managing Basic Education (MBE) program, which uses friendly, capable and committed resource people, our school has been able to do many things.

Starting with classroom organization, the seating arrangements for students have been changed and make it easy for students to interact and move around so that the teacher is easily able to help the students in each of the groups. Many practical activities for individuals or groups have been introduced, learning resources are more varied (using the environment, the newspaper and waste materials).

The students' written work is in the form of reports written in their own words, which are then displayed. Evidently the students feel more comfortable and are more enthusiastic about learning.

The results are better too, in 2005 the students became winners of a synopis writing competition, were third in an English speaking competition and were first in a writing competition on 'Cooperative Day' in our district. Our perfor-mance in art and sport has also been something to celebrate.

Let's hope that change can continue at our school and success can go with this.... Amen!

By Edy Winarno, MBE Science Facilitator