coriander in pho

Can you share a bit about yourself? Your preferred name to be known by the readers, the city/country you are currently living in, your hobbies, anything!

How did you start your career as an educator? 

I was in my 7th semester studying English Major in Education and Teaching Faculty in Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta when I met a friend I know from (one of) English Speaking Clubs in Solo.

He told me that there is a recruitment for part-time teachers in LBPP-LIA Surakarta. The process was long, and as the only candidate who hadn’t graduated from university yet, I was considered as the dark horse; but from more than 300 applicants, only 6 passed the recruitment process, and I was one of them!

It was September 2003. The salary and the working hours were not great, but I learned how to be a teacher from the experience. They gave us back-breaking training, from 8AM to 5PM, for 5 weeks before we were allowed to meet the students in class. I learned how to teach students as young as 6 years old to the oldest student, 50 years old. 

After 2 years of working and, well, abandoning my main duty as a college student, I took 3-months’ leave and worked on my final paper in college (skripsi) and graduated in December 2005. In January 2006, there was an opening for the Indonesian Civil Servant National Exam, and my mom suggested I apply.

I took the exam in February, received news that I passed the exam in March, filled out all the administration papers in April, and stepped foot in the school I was assigned to in May 2006. It means I have worked in the same school for over 17 years! Time went by so fast.

There is a general perception in the public that teenagers can be tricky and rebellious to deal with (their mood swings, thinking they should be considered as adults/refusing to be seen as underage, etc.) How do you, as a teacher, handle it? How do you work with your students and at the same time give them enough autonomy to them? 

Being a teacher in high school, I always put myself in the perspective of a big sister. I try to help them find the answers to their own questions, giving them a helpful hand when they ask for it, letting them know how society works and what they can do about it. 

Teenagers are tricky to deal with and rebellious; that is correct. They are scary, sometimes. But since I put myself in the position of a big sister, for some reason, they are more willing to open their heart to me than to their parents.

 What was the trickiest concept you ever taught to your students? 

One of the trickiest concept I teach my student is inclusivity. 

I have had students coming out to me. They asked me for advice on how to deal with the mockery and insult from their classmates and peers (sometimes their teachers too, which is sad). I told them that I am an ally, that they can come to me when they face problem that is caused by sexuality, that if they need I can be the ears to listen to them.

I try to make my students understand about inclusivity by using them in the materials that I teach. The easiest way is to use it during grammar lessons. Explaining about pronouns can lead to discussions, sometimes we have arguments (not real, just a friendly banter, but we were quite loud), but no matter what I try to make a safe space for them to say whatever in my class. 

During some lessons, I tell them stories, or they tell me stories that they find in social media. It might start with them telling me, “Miss, have you seen the new meme about this?” to end with a discussion on toxic masculinity, or how public try to demonize feminism concept. 

Many of my students don’t have a chance to travel abroad, so they like to ask me, “Miss, when you were in this country, did you get racist treatment?” then we discuss about why people can be racist and how to deal with it. They will share what they know, I share what I know, and we learn together from it. 

How do you align your values and thoughts with other teachers to ensure the students grow their mindset and become wholesome adults? 

Most of my colleagues were from the older generations when I started to work there. They have the old-time concept of how teachers do their job, so I rebelled quietly. It can be tricky to change old-time thinking, but I found out that they are willing to listen if we are in the right mood for it. I treated them like I treated my students. I tell them stories, and then we have these discussions. I ask them questions, and when they struggle to give me satisfying answers, that is when they realize that their mindset is no longer working for today.

It took 17 years for me to plant the idea that it is okay to have a girl as an OSIS (Student Council) leader. I even had a heated discussion about it with one of my colleagues. But we finally won! We have the first girl as OSIS leader. 

We still have differrent opinions, but I believe that my colleagues only want the best things for our students. We only do what we can, and we pray for the best results. 

If you could teach another class other than English, what would it be?

In the new curriculum, we have a new subject, Pendidikan Ketrampilan dan Kewirausahaan, where we teach craftwork using scientific methods. Sometimes, I join the class, and I find it very interesting. I want to teach craft-making; maybe it will be less stressful than teaching English, hopefully!