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NATIONAL EXAMEMINATION ON AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

The Firdaus’ crew had a chance to make an interview with Mr. Kenneth Scott Moore. We do the exclusive one and we talked about the National Examination and the education in Indonesia especially here. The interview was so exciting and Mr. Ken answer every question enthusiastically. The interview is this following:


Firdaus : What is your opinion about the helding of National Examination in Indonesia?
Mr. Ken :Personally, I do not agree with the National Examination. However, I have talked to some students and they said that National Examination is good because it focuses so much in science and math and that is what a developing country needs in order to progress. But while that is good, I still don’t agree because every school is different. And schools who have a lot of money and a lot of resources have a harder time or have much easier time teaching their students. And poor schools with few resources have a hard time teaching their students. And when the government said one standard some school are not able to meet that standard. No matter how hard they try. Also it make students focus on what someone else think is important. You might have some students who is so talented in music and in art. And may be if they could focus on that they could be a very famous wood carver in Jepara ,maybe, or become a musician and already have the knowledge of music and art and be tested on that. But the National Examination make you focus on only what the government thinks you should learn.

Firdaus : Is there some kind like National Examination with the standardization from the state or nation in USA?
Mr. Ken :They are national standards and state standards. And I do agree with that. But the standards are only for curriculum. The state will say that our students need to learn this and this and this. And the school has the responsibility of teaching all those things. But school also has the responsibility of testing all those things. The school knows what they taught, so therefore they know exactly what to test on. In school with National Examination, the school just has to hope that what they are teaching is on National Examination. So the state does have standards, but they leave it up to the school to make the test. There are standard examinations but they are only to assess the progress of the school. The state give the school National Examination but they are only used to help make the school better. They have nothing to do with whether or not the student passed or failed. So if the students don’t pass the National Examination it doesn’t matter. But the school will get in the trouble.

Firdaus : After you taught here about eight months, according to you, what is the different between the student here and the student in America?
Mr. Ken :I will say that culture and education always mixed. So Indonesian people are more passive than American people. In the classroom Indonesian students are more passive than American students. Sometimes that’s good because the student in Guyangan are very well behaved and there are very few disruption in class. But students are more afraid to participate. Especially witht my subject, English, you have to learn by doing. So sometimes it is more difficult because the students are a little more passive than in US. But students attitude are still very good. And I don’t see any major problem with the students. Sometimes I see that maybe teachers could do more to motivate the students. But I don’t see a big problem with the students.

Firdaus :What is your idea about the possitive side and negative side on the education here?
Mr. Ken :One thing that I see as a negative is that the students will get burn out. Burn out means tired. The students will get tired because they have class everyday. And the examination last for two weeks. And it might seem like the students need to keep learning all of the time. But it is important to give students a rest. And let them remember all the things they learned. You need to learn a lot and then have time to remember those things and have time to apply the things you learned and give the students rest. So the thing that I see is that eventhough you only have class for maybe four or five hours in a day, in US we have class all day long maybe seven or eight hours, but you are more tired. Because you have class everyday. And outside the class there are still activities. So there is very little time for student for rest. And rest is very important when you are in school. But students who are motivated have a chance to learn so much maybe evenmore than in an American school if they wanted.

Firdaus : According to you, how should we study in effective way?
Mr. Ken :You have to find the way that suits yourself. Some people are visual learners, some people are audio learners and some people learn by doing. So what is important is that you think that studying is important. That is the first step is just to realize that studying is important. After that you need to find the way that is best for you. For example me. I am a very visual learner. So when I study I am constantly writing. So I can remember it in my mind and I can also write it down and see it. When I study Bahasa Indonesia, I make cards that said Indonesian word and English word. And then I write sentence that uses that words. So for me I have to always be writing. For some students maybe just reading is enough. Maybe you can just read the textbook, read a chapter maybe once or twice. And that is good for you. But for me I have to write. So the first step is just realizing that studying is important. But the strategy will be different for each person.

Firdaus : The last, what is your advice to Firdaus’ readers about this topic?
Mr. Ken :It is no secret that Indonesia is a developing country. And what that means is that when you are in school you have the responsibility. Because Indonesia is developing and so Indonesia will not develop until the students become adult and can make change. So in the developing countries education is the most important. Because you can be very happy being a farmer or being a sailor but it is more difficult to provide for your family. Especially when many other countries are becoming rich of a lot of technology and you watch TV and you see all these things and you want them. And you have to get them with education. So it is important to take school seriously. And like I said make sure you study. The National Examination are hard and I think they are not fair. But that doesn’t mean that you should not do your best on them. So study for your National Examination.(nafe’ulin_luthfi)