I thought it might be interesting to report about my average day and some observations as I go through the day.
4:00 a.m. The day begins with a brief moment of wakefulness to hear the Muslim call to prayer. I quickly drift back to sleep – a change from our earliest days here.
6:30 a.m. The alarms sounds as a reminder to awake since the school music at 6:15 has already aroused us. We wake up very late compared to many Indonesians who would already be at work or school by 7:00 a.m. We have to maintain our sabbatical rest! We prepare for the day which includes a breakfast of oatmeal in some form (cooked hot or in granola), toast, fruit and coffee.
8:00 a.m. Our pembantu (house help) arrives. She begins with laundry, then prepares our food for lunch (if we are home) and supper – usually the same food. She sweeps our white tile floors daily, irons clothing that has dried on the line from the day or previous day, and works in the yard as time allows. After breakfast Ross and I read and respond to email and other communications that have arrived overnight. Our daily morning work involves reading, writing, preparing for university classes or workshops.
Between 9:00 and 11:00 I typically walk to the university. The 20-minute walk follows a busy street lined with hexagonal-shaped paving stones, many uprooted by large tree trunks. I enjoy the walk although I usually arrive at the university sweat-drenched. Few rooms are air-conditioned, at least not the areas I frequent. I share a small classroom-size office with two faculty and a dosen (lecturer) from Australia who arrived a week or so before me.
Mondays .…. I participate in the elementary education Micro Teaching class. Each week two students present 30-minute lessons on elementary content to their peers, a class of 29 students. Lessons are taught in English to prepare students for possible teaching in English classrooms but the majority of their coursework is taught in Indonesian. For many (all?) students, English is at least their second language. My role is to provide feedback on content, pedagogy, and English skills, immediately following each lesson. As you might imagine, feedback from an English-speaking professor is intimidating. Last week the professor also gave feedback. I’m not sure if he will attend weekly or if the class will be my responsibility. The professor typically meets with each student to review his/her lesson plan prior to the micro teaching. I receive the lesson just before the student teaches. As I provided feedback this past week, I was very conscious of the rate in which I speak and chose vocabulary that I hoped students understood. I have not been able to ascertain the expectations of teaching at this level of student development so I proceeded the first week with a reflective teaching model. The professor seemed satisfied and indicated that a fresh look is helpful to the students. Interestingly, I found myself giving similar feedback to these students as I give to EMU students, for example:
• When instructing students to complete a task, monitor students to ensure follow-through of the task.
• When asking questions, pause (ie. use wait time), to give students time to think and formulate an answer.
• When soliciting answers from students, monitor who is called upon to ensure that varied students have opportunity to answer questions.
• When forming groups in class, consider the number of students assigned per group so all students can be involved in completing the assigned task.
I had to be careful not to overwhelm students with language and quantity of feedback. As the course progresses, I hope to deepen both of these elements. Lessons taught by beginning teachers to their peers may have similarities across cultures. I make this assertion lightly as I will in no way be an expert on Indonesian education, even at the close of my term. It would certainly be an interesting study to examine the issues faced by beginning teachers in various cultures. So far, I can only muse and continue learning from my experiences here.
Tuesdays ….. last week I visited two classes, Curriculum and Material Development in the Faculty of Language and Literature, and Elementary Science Methods in the Faculty of Education. The science class includes the same students as the Micro Teaching class. I joined a group of students in their discussion assignment and learned about organization of language syllabi, a subject not in my area of expertise although quite interesting for someone with a PhD in curriculum! ☺ (I realize that not all
readers of this blog would be so interested in this topic!) In the science course I observed a group presenting a lesson on magnetic forces. Again, this lesson is taught in English. The professor-in-charge focuses on content knowledge with students, and often reverts to Indonesian, while a teaching assistant focuses on the English content. It is indeed challenging for students to translate Indonesian science concepts to English (repulsion, attraction, etc.).
Starting this next week I will spend a few Tuesdays at Mountainview International Christian School observing and providing feedback to teachers wishing to improve their teaching effectiveness. I look forward to these conversations with teachers as professional development, particularly of beginning teachers, is of great interest to me.
Wednesdays ….. Ross and I have a 100-minute Indonesian lesson. This week we were joined by Sarah, a resident of Goshen, Virginia (near Lexington), believe it or not. From the Presbyterian church, Sarah and her husband, Malcolm, have returned to Indonesia for the same amount of time as us. Malcolm is teaching theology at the university and Sarah assists theology students with English skills. We have only had two language classes so far but are learning some essentials to help us on the streets: greetings for the four time periods of the day, alphabet, counting, days of the week, months, basic shopping questions, etc. Albeit overwhelming, we are able to use words here and there that help us communicate with our pembantu and on the streets. Also on Wednesdays I attend the weekly faculty meetings/workshops of the Language and Literature department. So far, the topics of discussion have included a process for appointing a new faculty dean, thesis procedures, action research, preparing for an upcoming international conference – all topics that could be on the table with the same vigor at EMU! I enjoy participating in cross-cultural parallels of this nature.
Thursdays ….. Ross and I again participate in language class.
Thursday afternoons and Fridays ….. I reserve for workshop preparation, reading, and writing. Last week I interviewed a recipient of MCC’s Global Family Scholarship Program and wrote an article for an MCC publication. I hope to visit more P-12 schools but I need to establish those connections first.
6:00 p.m. We eat supper, wash dishes, and spend the evening in reading, emails, etc.
9:00 p.m. Bedtime! We are typically exhausted and cannot function humanly much longer.
Yesterday Ross and I went on an “excursion” to Solo (also called Surakarta) with 8 other participants from the Indonesian language classes. Much like EMU, UKSW has an intensive language program. Twice yearly they go on cultural trips outside Salatiga. We visited the palaces of the two kings in Solo, kingships divided by a railroad track. The kings have no ruling authority, they are simply figureheads. We also toured a batik museum and factory and were allowed into the work area of women (we saw one man) applying the various techniques of batik production: hand waxing, coloring, dipping to remove wax, printing, etc. We browsed the shops of batik-tailors, an overwhelming experience when confronted with shop owners all promoting their goods.
As I write this blog, we are sitting on our front patio drinking tea and watching the rainfal. We worshipped at the Siloam Mennonite Church at 6:00 a.m. today followed by breakfast of “soto ayam,” a rice and chicken soup, in a local restaurant. We arrived home at 8:30 a.m. to enjoy a relaxing Sunday.
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