Project News

Written by: Dr. Istamar Syamsuri-FMIPA UM

According to the results of survey on the impact of Lesson Study (LS) implementation in Padang, Banjarbaru and North Minahasa Utara, collegiality among teachers improves significantly. The survey results also show a decrease in the level of understanding of the principals about LS and their involvement in Subject-Wise Teachers Forum (Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran – MGMP), that teachers support to the students has not improved, school culture has not improved (except in MTs), students' understanding and interest towards mathematics and science have not improved, and learning achievements on math and science are relatively still low. However, there are some positive impacts of LS, such as an increase in teachers' participation in MGMP and frequency of MGMP. The increase occurs because teachers believe that MGMP activity is useful to, among others, (1) deepen their understanding on subject matters (2) implement innovative and useful teaching method (3) improve understanding on subject matters and (4) improve teachers' academic capacity. The results of the end-line survey was presented by Mr. Yoshitaka Tanaka in front of the participants of the 8th Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) Meeting, on October 29, 2012 in Mega Anggrek Hotel, Jakarta. The survey was conducted not only to evaluate the schools in the target areas, but also to learn the extent of LS impact on schools, teachers, and students.

In the survey, there were questions addressed to Principals "how much do you know about the content of Math and Science MGMP (MGMP-MIPA) activities, and how often do you participate in the activities?" The principals' answers show a decrease compared to the results of the base-line survey. It means that principals are less involved in MGMP-MIPA activities and, therefore, they do not know much about the content of MGMP-MIPA activities. Why it happened? This issue became a hot debate among the meeting participants. Given the decentralization, Local Leaders have a high authority to decide and to control principals. The function of principals as administrators was perceived to be much stronger than their academic function. The principal's largest concern as an administrator is whether LS can improve academic achievement, or LS can improve passing rate in the National Exam. These are normal questions to be raised given that, to this date, the community still perceives that the students' scores in report books and National Exam represent their learning achievements. Our community still believes that a high score in report book and National Exam reflects the extent of educational success.

The real question remains, however, is can LS, in such a relatively short period, improve teachers' professionalism? Thus, since LS has been implemented for 3 years (2009-2012), have teachers changed their attitudes and behaviors and become true professionals? The survey results show that teachers have just reached a level in which they improve their participation in MGMP, they have better collaboration among them, and they feel the academic benefits of MGMP activities, as mentioned above. Unfortunately, such improvement has not been accompanied with teachers' efforts to provide more care and support towards their students. Mr. Tanaka said that, in Japan, it takes at least 5 years to reach this stage, with total commitment and policy support of the principals.