The idea of Less Teaching More Learning has challenged
teachers to do better in their class. Teachers are not only supposed to explain
and drill the materials, but also to guide students on how to solve problems. Meanwhile,
in reality, it can be seen that teachers only teach materials that later will
be used in examinations. Like the old days, students only listen to the teacher’s
speech in class, and they are rarely included in the discussion. This is actually
the main obstacle of the teaching activity in Indonesia because the teacher is
not the center of the teaching and learning activity, but the students are. Therefore,
it is expected for the students to be active and critical in class. There are
several reasons why teachers should agree with the idea of Less Teaching More
Learning in class.
Firstly, teaching is not merely about the materials or
competences. Teaching is about giving the students something meaningful, so
that they both learn the materials and the values on related subject. If the
students are able to achieve the good values in certain subject, they will
posses a better behavior in their society.
Secondly, teaching is about guiding students to follow their
curiosity. What Indonesian students need the most is the critical thoughts and
creativity. By feeling curious and having a lot of questions on their head, the
student will enhance their creativity and their critical thoughts by their own.
Here, teachers’ role is to become a guide for students to help them find the
answers to the questions.
Finally, the teacher’s role in class is to become the
facilitator for the students. Teachers could provide students some questions
that will lead them to understand certain materials. The questions may relate
to the students’ daily activity or their behavior. Here, students not only
learn how to solve some problems but also how to reflect their daily behavior
related to the problems.
Therefore, Indonesian schools can start implementing the Less
Teaching More Learning by providing two teachers or more in one class. It would
be beneficial because the students will have more facilitators to help them in
class. Moreover, Indonesian students like to be appreciated. Teachers can
appreciate the students’ work by providing students with some rewards or
honors.
A good piece of writing! This is a great start for our blog. I agree with your idea where students have to be active and critical. When I started my study here and my supervisors asked me to write a critique for some journal articles, I never realized that I saw them superficially. I knew it when they read my writing and stated that the writing I had was very descriptive. I should be more critical in a way that I needed to understand the strengths and weakness or the articles. In view of this idea, I will understand how the articles relate to my research or not. I believe our students must have this kind of skills: reading, listening, writing and speaking critically. It is one of our duties as teachers to inspire our students to do all of them.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome Pak Dariss, and I'll be waiting for your positive comments or feedback to your friends' posting to.