Education, English, and Indonesia: A Teacher’s Perspective

It is easy to look at Peace Corps and focus on the volunteers, but every Peace Corps Volunteer’s success depends upon the members of their host-community. No matter how big our dreams and good intentions are, it all comes down to the people around us – their passion, their need, and their support. They are the ones who welcome us, and they are the ones who will carry on long after we volunteers have all gone home. There is one woman here in my community who supports me more than any other: Bu (Mrs.) Isna.

Bu Isna and me at a Peace Corps training.

Nasi Kuning: Rice Never Looked So Good

It’s testing season in Indonesia. The 9^th graders at my school have been practicing and taking tests for the past few weeks, and while most of these exams vary little from the tests dreaded by students around the world, one stood out: Nasi Kuning.

The Human Knot

This past weekend my school hosted an overnight “Scout” event to welcome our new seventh graders into the school scouting community. In Indonesian middle schools, Scouts is a required school activity for 7^th and 8^th graders. Students learn to march, get patches for certain skills, and foster a sense of unified community.

Education, Expos, and Independence

I have been to a handful of Expos in my life. Ski Expos. Art Expos. Marathon Expos. But never have I been to an Education Expo that also happened to celebrate Indonesian Independence (achieved August 17^th, 1945). Nor have I ever been a celebrity at an Expo.

That all changed this past weekend.

MTsN 2 Paron at the Expo – looking pretty good!

My school and many of the schools in Paron, our local district, participate in a yearly Expo to celebrate the nation’s independence, raise some money for the schools, and get in a little good advertising.

Some of the gurus from my school in our stand, ready to sell jamu to the masses!

As my American readers know, U.S. public schools are usually based around school-districts. Here in Indonesia this is not the case. Parents and students have a variety of options to choose from. There are religious schools, regular public schools, and vocational schools to consider. Getting to see teachers and students manning their school’s stand is a great opportunity, I’m sure, for prospective students to get a feel for what kind of vibe the different schools have to offer.

Inside our stand. Happy 69th Birthday, Indonesia!

Stands sold everything from food to “jamu” (traditional drinks said to have many health benefits) to clothing to handicrafts made by the students. There were dancing competitions and rock bands. And it was PACKED. The whole community seemed to have come out. It was like a big festival of schools!

My school’s stand looked great with its rows of “jamu” bottles, piles of purses, colorful calligraphy, and student-made batik. Some of our students even demonstrated the batik designing process and invited visitors to our stand to try it out for themselves.

The jamu and food table.

Felt pins made by our students – super cute.

Students working on batik.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year my school also had something that none of the other schools had: me. It is no exaggeration to say that I was literally the only white person. And I certainly was noticed.

Selling jamu with the students. Honestly, I wasn’t much of a saleswoman, but these lovely young ladies totally picked up my slack!

From a marketing perspective, it is important for my school to advertise that they have a native speaking English teacher. That is a hot commodity in these parts. And I want my school to succeed, so I don’t mind chatting it up with the Mayor and taking a bajillion pictures if it will help them.

Posing for pictures with the mayor of Paron.

Of course, when I was mobbed by a crowd of phone-wielding students in the claustrophobically small space of another school’s stand, I was a little overwhelmed. I’m not really the attention type. But in the end it was pretty amusing, and I certainly have a new appreciation for real celebrities. Dear Paparazzi, please just let Brad, Angie, and all their kids enjoy their trip to the grocery store in peace!

Overall, I thought the Expo was pretty neat. It will come as no shock to you that I think education is important, and it was great to see all these different schools, the energy of the teachers and students, and the creativity of what each stand had to offer.