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When the new DBE3 CoP Stuart Weston visited SMPN 31 Surabaya in early December, he was able to observe a lesson, which he said was truly ‘world class’. Often Civics lessons tend towards indoctrination of the students, but in Grade 9 at SMPN 31 Surabaya, a lesson was conducted with a lively discussion and debate about real current issues.
The grade 9 students were grouped and asked to choose a theme which is currently in the news. They had to summarize the issues and suggest their own solutions to the problems as well as summing up lessons learned.
The themes the students chose included the bombing of the Marriot Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan and eradicating corruption in Indonesia – including the case of Bank Indonesia.
The students’ knowledge of these issues was comprehensive and their solutions were often impressive – but in some cases rather idealistic!
Each group made a presentation in front of the class, then
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The question and comments were very perceptive and the discussions lively!
They invited the other students to ask questions or make comments.
There were two teachers in the grade 9 class, Bpk. Imam Mustakim and Ibu Alima, who were doing ‘team teaching’.
They understood their role as facilitators. The themes chosen, the solutions to the problems and all the comments came from the students!
This lesson gave the students the chance to practice and show off their life skills. After listening to the children’s discussions and the opinions they expressed, Stuart Weston said, “There are a lot of future candidates for East Java Governor in this class!”
A Practical Science Lesson
After visiting the Civics class, Stuart Weston and DBE3 team were also interested to watch a science lesson.
The students were doing an experiment to discover which materials including cotton
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thread, plastic and plant stems are able to suck up liquid through capillary action (see the photo).
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Students of Science class learning about capillary action. They need to be given an opportunity to write report on what they are experimenting
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Unfortunately, after doing the experiment, the students were only asked to fill in a few words about the results of their observations in a table.
It would be better if they were asked to write a report about how they did the experiment, their observations and conclusions.
In order to develop their life skills, students should be given more opportunities to think for themselves and express their thoughts. This issue will be one of the focuses of future training. (Stuart Weston)
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