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Our Real Education Face

“The teacher is admired and imitated”. It’s old aphorism which always enters people’s discussions. The duty of teacher is very weighty. He must teach, guide, instruct, and also understand child growth during in the school. The teacher’s duty is double burden.

The teacher figure must be a good figure for all students in school. According to students, if the teacher can gives a good example, hence the student will say, that this teacher is very good. Meanwhile, if the teacher is not consistent and a bad example, hence the student will confront him. And then, the teacher will get a new sill.

Therefore, the duty of teacher is not only change a stupid child to clever child, but can change a demure child to a active child, and also give an understanding to all student how know reality intelligently. We must make a school as garden and also as medium to learn to understand how to advocate the truth. The teacher’s duty is a holy duty which still underestimated.

The basic problem is we think about things only for a short time. We work, hence we are paid. According to some us, a teacher only teaches in the classroom and gives some exercises. Afterwards, we leave and go back to home. If the student criticizes to teacher or doesn’t finish some exercises, hence they are get some punishments such as running around a field, washing bathroom, push up, or being expelled from class.

The teacher is teaching and the student is learning. The teacher is knowing every things and the student not know anything. The teacher is thinking and the student is thought. The teacher is speaking and the student is listening. The teacher is arranging and the student is arranged. The teacher is doing and the student is imitate what which the teacher’s doing. The teacher is choosing some lessons which will taught and the student is adapting. The teacher is subject and the student is object.

We often hear ideas like above from Paulo Freire, a Brazil education thinker. He say, that education institute (read: school) gives two different matters, the teacher is king and the student is servant. So, the students is teacher’s slave.

We often also hear many cases about education realities in newspaper and also television. We can see sine cases, such as Oman, a student at elementary school of Karang Asih 04, Cikarang, Bekasi. On Friday (6/4th/2004), he took rat poison, because he didn’t have money to pay the cost of UAN’s expense. The Oman’s case reminds us of Haryanto’s suicide case, a student at elementary school of Negeri Sandiang IV Garut, at 2003. Hariyanto tried to commit suicide because he could not pay the cost of extra-curricular classes, Rp. 2.500.

The our teachers not sensitive with child cases above. They always think, I teach, hence I get money. Therefore, we hope to our teachers can make education as medium to children characters building. Finally, the student will be able to differentiate between right and wrong.

There are three of primacy characteristics of education. First, learning from reality or experience. We learn not only theory, but also reality and experience in our society. Therefore, there are not more authority than other. Someone’s greatness can seen from his experiences in society, not from his good speaking. Second, there are not teacher and students. All party in education process is teacher and also students at the same time. Third, dialogue. We must communicate well using many activity (such as group discussion, role playing, etc) and also media (graphical and audio visual) which can allow effective discussion between participants.

Ridho Al-Hamdi

Chairman for Cadre and Human Resource Development at PP IRM