Response to Less Teaching More Learning & PjBL (Project Based Learning)

Dear Mrs. AnikWulyani (sorry for being late),

I have just read the articles entitled “Less Teaching, More Learning” and “Project-Based Learning.” In my point of view, these articles tend to give information about the education in other countries. Therefore, we can compare it to Indonesian education which used to apply “More Teaching, Less Learning.” It was just like when I still became a student of Senior High School. I often heard the teachers’ explanation instead of doing presentations, projects, etc. Nothing wrong with the teachers at that time as they just did what the government ordered, just like the recent timeJ That is why, personally I agree with the concept of “Less Teaching, More Learning”. Here I give my reasons why I said so.

                Firstly, I think the concept of “Less Teaching, More Learning” has a close meaning with the words “Learning by Doing”. By doing something by the students themselves means there will be three steps of it, those are planning, doing, and evaluating. The students can feel, hear, see, smell, and remember even every step they have taken. If it succeeds, sometimes the students will feel that they once had the best experience in their life and it will become an unforgettable moment.

                Secondly, there are three kinds of learning styles such as auditory, visual, and kinesthetic styles. Auditory students can grasp easily anything related to sounds or voice. Visual students can grasp easily anything related to objects, pictures, drawing, and so on. Kinesthetic students can grasp easily when they share and discuss anything with others. So, it seems that “More Teaching, Less Learning” concept is only suitable with the students who have auditory styles. On the other hand, the other types of students will feel difficult to grasp the materials. They will feel bored or sleepy listening to the teachers’ explanation.

                However, there are some challenges that Indonesia will have faced if the concept of “Less Teaching, More Learning” and “Project-Based Learning” are implemented, such as minimum facilities and human resources. Just imagine if the students want to conduct some presentations but the school has no LCD or do some projects but they have no money for buying the stuff that they need. Teachers also take an important role here. They should be able to manage the class well when they are teaching because “Less Teaching, More Learning” does not mean the teachers do not do anything in the classroom. They should be a good facilitator for the students to grasp what they need in learning process.

                Fortunately, various innovations and improvements have been conducted by the Indonesia government since long time ago. It means that the government actually wants the education in Indonesia to be better and better. This high motivation becomes a good support to implement the new concepts of “Less Teaching, More Learning” and “Project-Based Learning” as we can see them in the government’s new product this year, Curriculum 2013. Designed by many education experts, Curriculum 2013 has implemented the learning process activities called 5M (Observing=mengamati, Questioning=menanya, Exploring=mengeksplorasi, Associating=mengasosiasi, and Communicating=mengomunikasikan) and it has been developed until next year. It also uses some learning approaches such as Project-Based Learning, Discovery Learning, Problem-Based Learning, etc within the learning process activities. Until next year, there will always be improvements, developments, and evaluations during the implementation of Curriculum 2013. I think there is a new hope that Indonesia education can be better than before.