toward education for peace and development

<C:\My Documents\Jasper\2000\AnitaLie\Paper.doc> (1) 15-Nov-00

The Multicultural Curriculum:Toward Education for Peace and Development*

CHAPTER I

I. THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

The rampant ethnic and religious tension in Indonesia frustrated the efforts of many socialscientists, educators, and community leaders for the past few years. There were indications towardssome gains in the country’s struggle for democracy. But the continuing ethnic and religious violenceand unrest in some parts of the country show how prevailing and intransigent the problem of prejudiceand discrimination has been. At a time when demographic changes and economic pressures areforcing people to come into contact with those from different backgrounds, feelings of distrust andalienation are rising.

While schools and educators cannot change the economic growths and constraints that are theaffecting factors of many of those human problems, they can make a difference in helping shape thestudents’ view of the world, respect for diversity, and a sense of shared humanity. (Jacobs and Kates,1999). During the last few decades, intercultural studies have enabled scholars and practitioners tosee in all areas “the invisible paradigms” of the academic system and the larger cultural context thatmarginalize or trivialize the lives of women, ethnic minorities, and those outside the dominant class orculture. Language educators and EFL administrators need to look both inward and outward alongwith the push to make the curriculum more responsive to multicultural experiences.

Within this perspective, this paper reported on a study of the 1994 English curriculum used insenior high schools in Indonesia and analyzed whether the textbooks used in the EFL classroomsincorporated multicultural aspects of student life and their diverse cultural environments andpresented a balanced view of human experience with attention to gender, local cultures, traditions,styles, and levels of community development.

II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study attempted to investigate:

1) whether the English textbooks used in the 1994 Curriculum incorporated themulticultural perspectives in relation to the students’ diverse ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds;

2) to what extent the English textbooks used in the 1994 Curriculum incorporated thestudents’ diversity in relation to gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, andgeography; and

3) whether the English textbooks used in the 1994 Curriculum met the principles andunderlying concepts set in the Teaching and Learning Guidelines (GBPP) and usedthe meaning-based approach in relation to the multicultural perspectives.

*Part of this paper was presented at the 35th SEAMEO RELC Conference, Singapore, 17-19 April 2000.


III. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

In Indonesia, the heavy pressure towards integration and national unity since its independenceprovided a different setting for the role of multiculturalism. The nation’s collective memory had beentraumatized by the tension and violence resulting from various attempts at secession based onideological, regional, cultural, as well as territorial differences and the efforts to terminate thoseattempts. Yet, by the national motto of Bhineka Tunggal Ika (E Pluribus Unum) in Pancasila, theemphasis on unity should not neglect diversity. Education that stressed only unity above all wouldproduce narrow-mindedness and uproot individuals out of their indigenous heritage. The recenttension and violence in different parts of the country showed that the excessive drive for unity thathad been enforced especially for the past thirty years was not an effective response to the risk and fearof disintegration. While in some other countries, “multiculturalism is a therapy for ethnocentrism, inIndonesia it is a balance for unity” (Budianta, 1996). Now that the nation is at the crossroad as reformmovement has started, ethnic, religious, racial and class differences should be regarded as the nationalrich heritage. Within this perspective, multicultural education is needed to foster peace,understanding and respect among all members of the society.

In light of the need to foster peace and development, educators should recognize theunderlying goals and values of the curriculum designs, materials and activities they deliver to thestudents. All curriculum materials and practices reflect certain social values. As the curriculumprocesses still mainly depend on textbooks, educators should therefore ensure that the books they usein their classroom should be culturally sensitive and respect varied students’ socioculturalbackgrounds, which affect their learning. This study would shed some light on the multiculturalvalues of the textbooks used in the EFL classrooms in Indonesia.

IV. SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

One area of particular interest in the study was how gender and multicultural contextsdetermined the choice of topics presented in the reading passages. In order to provide a sharper focus,the study limited the scope and discussed the 1994 English curriculum primarily related to theperspectives of gender, ethnicity and geography, and socio-economic status as reflected in the readingpassages. This selection does not imply that the other areas are less important.

It took seven months to complete the whole study—four months (October 1999 throughJanuary 2000) to collect titles of the textbooks used through questionnaires sent to senior high schoolteachers in Central Java, East Java, Bali and Lombok and three (February through April 2000) togather and analyze the data found in those textbooks. Central Java, East Java, Bali and Lombok werechosen because they were among the most developed provinces in Indonesia.

This study focused on textbooks because they tended to be the dominant instructional mediain the classroom (Patrick, 1988 and Lockheed & Verspoor, 1990). In Indonesia particularly,textbooks typically delivered the curriculum even though teachers were expected to developinnovative activities and use other authentic materials in the classroom. Especially in a context ofscarce learning resources and a shortage of teachers—in terms of number and quality—textbooksappeared to have a strong positive impact on educational quality. A study by Neyneman, Farrell andSalveda-Stuarto (1981) as quoted in Supriadi (1999) indicated that 83% of 18 correlational studiesshowed significant positive correlations between textbook availability and student achievement. Inbrief, textbooks still dictated the teaching and learning process.

Supriadi (1999) noted that in the last three years there had been a growing concern for theimportance of considering multicultural issues in schoolbook provision programs in Indonesia. Hefurther wrote that “schoolbooks should also be culturally sensitive and recognize varied students’sociocultural backgrounds which affect their learning.” The research reported in this paperspecifically addressed this issue and examined whether this emerging concern especially pertaining to


the perspectives of gender, ethnicity, geography, and socio-economic classes also affected particularlythe content of the English textbooks for senior high schools in Indonesia.

V. DEFINITION OF TERMS

Curriculum

What was meant by curriculum in this paper was the written curriculum (Glatthorn, 1987) asreflected in the Garis-garis Besar Program Pengajaran (GBPP) or Teaching and Learning ProgramGuidelines (Department of Education and Culture, 1995) and translated into the English textbooksused in senior high schools in Indonesia.

The 1994 English Curriculum in Indonesia

The 1994 English curriculum was used in senior high schools throughout Indonesia andaimed at enabling students to acquire the reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills in English .Themes in the English syllabi were chosen based on their cognitive development and interests. Thelevel of vocabulary mastery was 2500 words for Natural Science and Social Studies majors and 3000words for language majors. The scope of the English curriculum in senior high schools includedreading, listening, speaking, and writing taught integratedly. However, a special emphasis was givento reading. Language aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling were taughtto support the enhancement of the four skills rather than mastery of each aspect per se.

The Indonesian government through its then the Department of Education and Culture(presently the Department of National Education) endorsed one set of books only, that is English forthe Senior High School written and published by the IKIP Malang Team. The endorsement wasstated in the Decree by the Director General of Primary and Secondary Education, Department ofEducation and Culture No. 172/C/Kep/R/1995, 5 June 1995. The 1994 English Curriculum was stillused at the time this paper was written.

Themes and Sub-Themes

Specifically, the 1994 Curriculum prescribed basic themes and several suggested sub-themesfor each term and grade. Teachers had to include all those basic themes but had the freedom tochoose, modify, add, and develop sub-themes based on each theme. Please see Appendix 1 for theprescribed themes and sub-themes allocation.

The Teaching and Learning Program Guidelines

The Teaching and Learning Program Guidelines stated that the 1994 English Curriculumapplied a meaning-based approach with the underlying concepts as follows:

1. Language is a means to express meanings through a structure (grammar andvocabulary). Thus, structure serves as a means to express ideas, thoughts, opinions,and feelings.

2. Meaning is determined by a language as well as a situational scope/context. Themeaning-based approach should be based on a cross-cultural understanding.

3. Meaning may be revealed through different sentences. A sentence may conveydifferent meanings depending on the situation when the sentence is used.


4. Learning a foreign language is learning to communicate through the target language.Learning to communicate should be supported by learning the aspects of that targetlanguage.

5. Learners’ motivation is a determining factor in the success of learning the targetlanguage. The level of this motivation heavily depends on the level ofmeaningfulness of learning materials and activities.

6. Learning materials and activities become more meaningful to learners when theymeet the learners’ needs and are relevant to their experiences, interests, values, andfuture. Therefore, learners’ experiences and backgrounds should become animportant consideration in determining the teaching and learning process so as tomake the lessons more meaningful.

7. In the teaching and learning process, learners are the main subjects. Therefore, theirtraits and needs should be considered in all decisions pertaining to the teaching andlearning process.

8. In the teaching and learning process, teachers act as facilitators and help learnersenhance their language skills.

English was taught in senior high schools in Indonesia with the following time allocation:

Grades 1 and 2 : 4 x 45 minutes per week

Grade 3 (Natural Science stream) : 5 x 45 minutes per week

Grade 3 (Social Studies stream) : 5 x 45 minutes per week

Grade 3 (Language Studies stream) : 11 x 45 minutes per week

CHAPTER II

I. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

A. Concepts on Multicultural Education

The perspectives in multicultural education encompass many dimensions of humandifferences: race, ethnicity, occupation, socio-economic status, age, gender, sexual orientation,various physical traits and needs, religion, and culture. As Gates (1992) pointed out:

Ours is a late twentieth century world profoundly fissured by nationality,ethnicity, race, class, and gender. And the only way to transcend thosedivisions—to forge for once, a civic culture that respects both differencesand commonalties—is through education that seeks to comprehend thediversity of human culture. Beyond the hype and the high-flown rhetoric isa pretty homely truth. There is no tolerance without respect—and norespect without knowledge.

“Multicultural education is not a set curriculum but a perspective that is reflected in alldecisions about every phase and aspect of teaching. It is a lens through which teachers can scrutinizetheir choices in order to clarify what social information they are conveying overtly and covertly to


their students” (Ramsey, 1987). In other words, educators should be aware of and responsible for theunderlying goals and values of the curriculum designs, materials and activities they deliver to thestudents. Education occurs in a sociocultural context and all curriculum materials and practicesreflect certain social values.

The broad goals of delivering a multicultural curriculum are as follows:

1. To help students develop positive gender, racial, cultural, class, religious, andindividual identities and to recognize and accept their membership in many differentgroups. The ethnic and religious tension often reflects feelings of social injustice andin-group/out-group conflicts. Education can make a significant difference in helpingstudents define themselves within a context of diversity.

2. To enable students to see themselves as part of the larger society and to emphasiseand relate with individuals from other groups within that society. To cut the viciouscycle of resentment and prejudice, students need to have exposure to the idea thatthey share many common characteristics with people of other groups. In addition,they also need to enhance their ability to see different points of view, to use highlydeveloped communication skills rather than physical exertion, and to be tolerant ofdifferences.

3. To foster respect and appreciation for differences. A sense of distrust and resentmenttowards people of different groups often rest on ignorance or misinformed perceptionof the habits, lifestyles, and viewpoints of unfamiliar people.

4. To promote the development of a sense of shared humanity. Intergroup prejudiceoften leads people to look for scapegoats and even worse to conduct destructiveactions to channel their own sense of inadequacy. If students learn about societyfrom a more objective and realistic perspective and see how people are affected bythe same forces, they may feel more empathy towards others and less constrained bytheir narrow self interest.

5. To support the development of educational and social skills for students to becomefull participants in the larger society in ways that are most appropriate to individualstyles, cultural orientations, and linguistic backgrounds. While knowledge ofunfamiliar people and lifestyles may reduce people’s fears and avoidance ofdifferences, their motivation for reaching beyond cultural, racial, and class barriersrests firstly on their self-esteem and confidence in one’s efficacy.

It is understandable that these goals may have no direct or short-term effect on the largersocietal and economic problems that trigger intergroup tension. However, they can influence theways that new generations interpret and participate in social relationships. These goals are worthpursuing in educating young people and future leaders of the world. All subject areas, includingEnglish as a Second/Foreign Language, can be important media to help students develop positive andpeaceful attitudes towards people of different backgrounds.

B. Research Studies on Sociocultural Issues and TESOL

Culture has always been an important issue in the teaching and learning of a second/foreignlanguage. A number of recent articles examined the role of learners’ social and cultural identities inlearning English and the role of the TESOL profession in reconstructing people’s identities and roles.Pennycook (1994) emphasised that the English language teaching industry was not culturally,politically, socially, or economically neutral; rather, in the international (EFL) sphere it played apowerful role in the construction of roles, relations, and identities among teachers and students. Duff


and Uchida (1997) argued that the cultural underpinnings of language curricula and teaching had to befurther examined, “particularly so in intercultural situations in which participants were negotiatingtheir sociocultural identities as well as the curriculum.” In the EFL curriculum, issues of socioculturalidentity and representation were very crucial. Students learned the social and cultural aspects of otherethnolinguistic groups, particularly those associated with the target language. Hence, the nature of thecultural representations of others in the teaching and learning materials and the way teachers andstudents viewed those representations needed to be examined. Problems emerged when the students’(as well as the teachers’) identities and beliefs related to gender roles, nationality, ethnicity, localcultures and socio-economic status conflicted with those represented in the teaching materials.

Hall (1995) highlighted the role of socialization in the construction of roles (and stereotypes)and the need to move beyond the narrow focus on native versus non-native speaker as the onlyrelevant identity in investigations of the use of the target language. Fillmore (1979) found that theindividual differences in learning a target language had nothing to do with intellectual or cognitivecapacity. Rather, it was solely a matter of social preference and social confidence. Issues of languageand social identity had also been discussed in terms of gender, minority versus majority status,geographical setting, and age (McKay & Hornberger, 1996). Other issues in the ESL/EFL contextwere related to the limitations of relatively superficial multicultural curriculum and the need to dealmore proactively and critically with societal inequalities reproduced through certain educationalpractices (Fleras, A., & Elliott, J. 1992; Grant, C. & Secada,, W., 1990; Ng, R., Staton, P., & Scane,J., 1995, Zamel, 1997, Putney & Wink, 1998). Hasebe-Ludt, Duff, and Leggo (1995) also examinedthe cultural messages conveyed through English language teaching materials in a multiculturalcommunity school in Canada as well as in Asian and South Pacific regions and raised concerns aboutcertain trends associated with community building and globalization that may have paid lip service todiversity without really confronting the tensions and misrepresentations that probably accompanieddiversity.

Along the same line, “the teaching of culture as a component of language teaching hadtraditionally been caught between the striving for universality and the desire to maintain culturalparticularity” (Kramsch, 1993 as quoted in Duff and Uchida, 1997). In EFL settings, cultural valuesrepresented in the teaching materials were probably alien for the learners. Yet, when the culture(s) ofthe target language was reduced and minimized to give way to respecting the students’ own cultures, adaunting question still remained: how could educators incorporate the students’ diverse identities,ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, and cultural traditions in the English curriculum in order tounderstand, affirm, and enhance the learning experiences of all students? This question is significantin light of the vast diversity of the Indonesian people and cultures. Education in Indonesia isapparently facing a mammoth task of recognizing that diversity and acknowledging the variedsociocultural backgrounds in the English curriculum.

CHAPTER III

I. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This study used a content analysis. Initially, 108 questionnaires were sent randomly toteachers of English in 36 senior high schools in 6 cities in East Java, Central Java, Bali, and Lombokto find out the English textbooks they used in addition to the government endorsed textbooks. 68questionnaires were completed and returned.

In addition to the government-endorsed textbooks, according to the data from thequestionnaires, senior high schools in Indonesia also used other books based on the 1994 Curriculum.(Please see Appendix 2 for a list of the books those teachers used as supplement to the governmentendorsed one). The reading passages in those books were used as the data of this study.


Then a content analysis was conducted on all the reading passages and supportingpictures/illustrations found in those books. The unit of analysis was the reading passages found inthose textbooks. To sharpen the focus of this study, four sets of representative categories wereconstructed as follows: gender (male and female), socio-economic status (low, middle, and upperclass), local cultures and/or ethnicity (Javanese, those of other islands in Indonesia, those outsideIndonesia), and geography (Java, other islands in Indonesia, and outside Indonesia).

The category of gender was further divided into two: representation and bias, each of whichconsisted of male and female subcategories. Representation meant the frequency of certaincharacters, proper names, references, and pronouns of one of the two sexes (male or female) in thereading passages and pictures/illustrations accompanying the passages. For example, a readingpassage “The Red Cross” described the efforts of Henry Dunant in initiating International Red Crossand used pronouns “he,” “his,” and “him” (referring to Dunant). This passage was counted in therepresentation of the male subcategory. Bias meant the textbook writers’ assumption that the genderof characters, people, and professions was of one of the two sexes (male or female). In a readingpassage, “Funeral Ritual in Tana Toraja,” for instance, the writer used “men,” “man,” they, and “he”to refer to the dead buried and living people involved in the funeral ritual while actual funeral ritualsin Tana Toraja normally involved both men and women.. Thus, this passage was counted as a bias ofthe male subcategory.

The category of socio-economic status was divided into low, middle, and upper classsubcategories. This division was based on a typology by Svalastoga (1989) that divides social classesinto 5 strata: upper, upper middle, lower middle, upper lower, and lower lower classes based onideology and lifestyle. For the sake of simplicity in this study, the 5 strata were combined into 3classes: upper, middle, and lower (See also Soekanto, 1990). Texts and supportingpictures/illustrations portraying topics on Indonesian as well as foreign subject matters were alsoanalyzed based on this typology with an Indonesian perspective. This category was the hardest to usefor several reasons. Firstly there has not been any single typology commonly accepted as far asclasses are concerned. Sociologists and economists have various theories, arguments, and opinionsconcerning the existence of socio-economic status in Indonesia (Please read Heryanto, 1999;Subianto, 1999; Robison, 1999; Werner, 1999; Liddle, 1999; Budiman, 1999). A modified typologyof Slavastoga was chosen for the sake of simplicity and clarity. Secondly, determining the socio-economic status of characters and topics in the text was not easy.

Therefore, this study set four indicators to help determine the socio-economic status: lifestyle,ownership, kind of job, and academic as well as aristocratic degree. Changes in socio-economicstatus also implied changes in wealth, power, and information (education) in such a way that differentsocial classes developed unique sub-cultures marked with different lifestyles. The upper way ofthinking emphasised genteel and elegant lifestyle. The middle classes were preoccupied with careeradvancement and religious behaviours. And the lower class focused on life survival and sometimesreflected attitude of apathy (Slavastoga, 1989).

Ownership was used as another indicator to replace economic status that was often used insociological and demographically studies. While many sociological and demographically studiesoften used nominal indicators such as annual income, amount of tax paid, and spending, this study hadto ignore such indicators because almost none of the texts contained current nominal measures. Whatwas meant by ownership was possession of certain things associated with status symbols. Forinstance, offices decorated with paintings by famous artists were associated as status symbols of theupper class.

Next, kind of jobs and academic/aristocratic degrees were used as the third and fourthindicators with the following classification:


Class Jobs Degrees

Upper Class: Cabinet ministers, high ranking officials,professors, doctors, lawyers, companydirectors,

Baron, Princess, Prince,Raden, Raden Ajeng,Dr., Prof.

Middle Class: Journalists, secretaries, school teachers,nurses, accountants, police-officers, clerks,shopkeepers, computer operators, religiousministers

Reverend, Kyai

Lower Class: Newspaper deliverers, farmers, factoryworkers, domestic helpers, beggars.

--

The classification was based on the tendency that in Indonesia position was considered moreimportant than role as revealed by Soekanto (1990).

The next category was affected by the assumption that like other areas, education in Indonesiawas very much centralized. Recent discourse on autonomy and local role was yet to be implementedand proven. At the curriculum level, this centralization meant the dominance of Javanese culture inthe topics contained in the texts. As a matter of fact, it was interesting to note that the 44 books usedin this study were published by nine publishers, eight of which were located in Java. Based on theresults of the preliminary survey to find data for this study, schools in Bali and Lombok (two of themore developed islands in Indonesia) also used textbooks written and published in Java. Therefore,the category of local cultures and/or ethnicity was divided into Javanese, those of other islands inIndonesia (labelled as Non-Java), and those outside Indonesia (labelled as International). Likewise,the category of geography was divided into Java (labelled as Non-Java), other islands in Indonesia(labelled as Non-Java), and outside Indonesia (labelled as International).

CHAPTER IV

I. PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION, AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

There were 44 textbooks and 823 reading passages. Two sets of books (Learn Grammar theEasy Way 1,2 and 3 and English for SMU) published by Interaksara and Grafindo Media Pratama didnot comply with the 1994 Curriculum and so did not contain themes and sub-themes prescribed in thecurriculum. Yet, the reading passages in these books were also counted as data in consideration thatthese books were used in several schools as suggested by returned questionnaires to teachers. Those44 textbooks were published by 9 publishers. The publishers--rather than the individual books--wereused to present some of the findings for a more compact data presentation.Out of the 823 texts, 520 were presented in those books as texts only while the rest (303) as textsaccompanied with pictures (Please see Table 1). The text-supporting pictures were also used as dataespecially in examining the frequency of gender representation and bias in the storyline.


Table 1 : Units of Analysis by PublisherN= 823

No. Content Focus

PublisherText only

Text &Picture

Total

1 Yudhistira 71 47 118

2. Ganeca 153 48 201

3. Interaksara 32 8 40

4. IKIP Malang 47 41 88

5. Erlangga 81 45 126

6. Refika 46 37 83

7. Bina Pustakatama 34 16 50

8. Tiga Serangkai 51 51 102

9. GMP 5 10 15

Total 520 303 823

63.18% 36.82% 100%

This study yielded some interesting findings on the four sets of categories. To helpunderstand those findings better, this paper presented the identification of the textbooks used in the1994 English Curriculum for Senior High Schools and the theme distribution in those books for Grade1 (265 texts), 2 (250 texts), and 3 (215 texts) respectively in Tables 2, 3, and 4. The total of readingtexts that incorporated the prescribed themes from the 1994 Curriculum was 730. Ninety-three othertexts were not in accordance with the prescribed themes. Overall, this study used 823 texts as thedata. It seemed that the theme distribution in those textbooks was quite even.

Table 2: Theme Distribution in Reading Passages in Grade I English Textbooks

TERM I TERM II TERM III

No. Publisher Book Title

Edu

En

v’t

Fam

ily

Lif

e

Ast

r’m

y

Hea

lth

Sp

orts

Clo

thin

g

Tou

rism

Mas

sM

edia

Pol

luti

on

1 Yudhistira Communicativeand MeaningfulEnglish for SMU

2 3 6 2 6 7 4 6 6 9

2 Erlangga English in Usefor SMU

4 4 5 2 2 5 1 4 1 6

3 Refika English for SMU 3 1 1 5 4 3 1 3 5

4 IKIPMalang

English for theSenior HighSchool

2 3 3 4 3 3 5 3 5 3

5 TigaSerangkai

KomunikasiAktif BahasaInggris

3 1 4 4 1 6 2 2 4 5

6 BinaPustaka

English’94 forSMU

3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3




Edu

En

v’t

Fam

ily

Lif

e

Ast

r’m

y

Hea

lth

Sp

orts

Clo

thin

g

Tou

rism

Mas

sM

edia

Pol

luti

on

7 Ganeca Penuntun BelajarBahasa Inggris

7 4 5 3 6 6 5 5 6 4

Total 29 19 27 23 26 33 21 26 31 30

265

Table 3: Theme Distribution in Reading Passages in Grade II English Textbooks



Geo

’ph

y

Cu

ltu

re &

Art

s

Agr

icu

ltu

re

Wel

fare

His

tory

Com

m &

IT

Ear

nin

g

Int’

lR

elat

ion

s

1 Yudhistira Communicative andMeaningful Englishfor SMU

5 2 4 1 6 7 5 7

2 Erlangga English in Use forSMU

4 9 4 2 6 2 3 1

3 Refika English for SMU 4 8 3 3 3 1 4 2

4 IKIPMalang

English for the SeniorHigh School

6 4 6 6 2 6 6 2

5 TigaSerangkai

Komukikasi AktifBahasa Inggris

3 14 3 3 5 4 3 2

6 BinaPustaka

English’94 for SMU 4 2 3 3 3 3 4 3


6 11 10 5 5 3 6 8

Total 32 50 33 23 30 26 31 25

250

Table 4: Theme Distribution in Reading Passages in Grade III English Textbooks



Eco

'y

Sci

ence

&T

ech

Pol

itic

s

Cu

ltu

re &

Art

s

Com

m’t

y

En

v’t

and

Pre

serv

atio

n

Tra

de

&In

du

stry

Int’

l R

el’

ion

s

En

ergy

Ban

kin

g

Wom

enR

oles

1 Yudhistira Communicativeand MeaningfulEnglish for SMU

2 3 1 2 2 6 1 2 5 7 2




Eco

'y

Sci

ence

&T

ech

Pol

itic

s

Cu

ltu

re &

Art

s

Com

m’t

y

En

v’t

and

Pre

serv

atio

n

Tra

de

&In

du

stry

Int’

l R

el’

ion

s

En

ergy

Ban

kin

g

Wom

enR

oles

2 Erlangga English in Usefor SMU

1 5 4 2 3 4 2 5 7 3 1

3 Refika English for SMU 3 1 1 5 2 2 2 2 3 1 2

4 IKIPMalang

English for theSenior HighSchool

1 3 3 5 1 6 2 2 1 1 2

5 TigaSerangkai

KomunikasiAktif BahasaInggris

4 2 2 4 2 2 2 3 1 3

6 BinaPustaka

English’94 forSMU

- 3


9 9 6 3 6 5 7 6 8 4 3

Total 20 23 17 24 16 25 14 19 27 17 13

215

The first set of categories—gender—was divided into two: gender representation and genderbias. For this category of gender, both texts and supporting pictures were used to examine thefrequency of representation and bias. Tables 5 A and 5 B summarized the findings in genderrepresentation in texts and pictures respectively. One reading text (or picture) possibly containedmore than one representation (This should explain why the frequency was larger than the number oftexts and pictures). On the other hand, there were some passages and pictures that did not denote anygender representation; for instance, a reading text on the solar energy did not indicate any male orfemale representation.

Table 5A: Frequency and Percentage of Gender Representation in Texts, f = 941

Gender Representation f %

Female 297 31,56

Male 644 68,44

Total 941 100

This study found 297 representations of female gender (31.56%) and 644 of male gender(68.44%) in the 823 texts. This meant that the representation of the male gender was above twice asthat of the female representation.


Table 5 B: Gender Representation in Text-Supporting Pictures, f = 1.177

No. PicturePublisher

F M Total

1. Yudhistira 69 131 200

2. Ganeca 75 165 240

3. Interaksara 1 7 8

4. IKIP Malang 42 84 126

5. Erlangga 55 104 159

6. Refika 46 101 147

7. Bina Pustaka 21 52 73

8. Tiga Serangkai 62 124 186

9. GMP 15 23 38

Total 386 791 1.177

Out of 303 text-supporting pictures, the study found 1.177 frequencies of genderrepresentation consisting of 386 female and 791 male representations.

Then, to examine the gender bias in the reading texts, this study first mapped the possibleaspects of the sub category of gender bias as shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Aspects of Gender Bias Sub Category in Texts, f = 213

No. Gender Bias

Aspects of Gender BiasFemale Male

1. Proper name associated with a job requiring strength,courage, leadership, and ratio

25

2. Personal/possessive pronoun associated with a jobrequiring strength, courage, leadership, and ratio

29

3. Proper name associated with attention to detail, neatness,patience, care, and service

21

4. Personal/possessive pronoun associated with attention todetail, neatness, patience, care, and service

37

5. Personal/possessive pronoun in the area of sports (athletics,soccer)

4

6. Personal/possessive pronoun in the area of mass media 7

7. Personal/possessive pronoun in the area of politics (party,voters, president)

3

8. Leaders (king, queen, chair) 1 9

9. Personal/possessive pronoun for smokers and drinkers 3


No. Gender Bias

Aspects of Gender BiasFemale Male

10. Personal/possessive pronoun for witch/wizard and hermit 2

11. Personification of flower, beauty, gentleness 3

12. Personal/possessive pronoun in the area of fashion 5

13. Personal/possessive pronoun for shoppers 3

14. Personal/possessive pronoun for philosophers 1

15. Personal/possessive pronoun for drivers 2

16. Personal/possessive pronoun for puppet master (“dalang”) 1

17. Personal/possessive pronoun for dancers 1

18. Personal/possessive pronoun for sculptor 1

19. Personal/possessive pronoun for farmers 7

20. Personal/possessive pronoun in banking (banker,accountant, teller, client)

1 7

21. Personal/possessive pronoun in science and education(students, researchers)

7

22. Personal/possessive pronoun pertaining to social status(rich, poor, unemployed)

5

23. Personal/possessive pronoun for entrepreneur 5

24. Personal/possessive pronoun for family planningparticipants

7

25. Personal/possessive pronoun in environment (animallovers, caretakers, hunters)

2 4

26. Personal/possessive pronoun for workers and job seekers 3

27. Personal/possessive pronoun for places 2 3

28. Personal/possessive pronoun for criminals 3

Total 82 131

Tables 7 and 8 presented respectively the frequency of the gender bias by publisher and asummary (in number and percentage) of the frequency of gender bias in texts.


Table 7: The Frequency of Gender Bias Sub Category in Texts by Publishers, f = 213

Gender BiasPublisher Female Male

Judistira 13 16

Erlangga 7 18

Refika 11 15

IKIP Malang 10 12

Tiga Serangkai 10 17

Bina Pustaka 9 17

Ganeca 17 21

GMP 3 2

Interaksara 2 11

Total 82 131

Table 8: A Summary of Frequency and Percentage of Gender Bias in Texts, f = 213

Gender Bias f %

Female 82 38,5

Male 131 61,5

Total 213 100

The results showed that 38.5% of the frequencies contained bias that favoured female genderand 61.5% favoured male. Again, one reading text might contain more than one gender bias. On theother hand, there were some passages that did not denote any gender bias; for instance, a reading texton pollution did not have any references to gender nor indicate any male or female bias.Table 9 combined the data on gender representation and bias and displayed the biased as well as theunbiased representation as follows:

Table 9: Gender Representation (bias and non bias), f = 941

Gender Representation

Gender

Not-BiasedRepresentation

BiasedRepresentation Total

Female 215 82 297

Male 513 131 644

Total 728 213 941


Next, Table 10 summarized the number of gender-biased and unbiased texts in this study andindicated that out of 823 texts, 178 (21.63%) contained gender bias.

Table 10: Gender Bias in Texts, N = 823

Reading Text Content Focus

Penerbit Biased Text Not-Biased TextTotal

Yudhistira 23 95 118

Erlangga 23 103 126

Refika 21 62 83

IKIP Malang 20 68 88

Tiga Serangkai 23 79 102

Bina Pustaka T 19 31 50

Ganeca 35 166 201

GMP 3 12 15

Interaksara 11 29 40

Total 178 645 823

21.63% 78.37% 100%

The findings in the Gender Category indicated that the textbooks did not provide equalinclusion, in terms of both gender representation and bias. The representation of the male gender (644in texts and 791 in text-supporting pictures) was more than twice as the female representation (297 intexts and 386 in text-supporting pictures) while the bias that favoured the male gender was also higherthan that favouring the female gender (131 and 82). Out of 941 gender representations, only 213 werebiased. Overall, out of 823 texts, 178 (21.63%) contained gender bias.

In relation to gender perspective, one area of concern was the under-representation of womenin the textbooks. The inequities, as shown in the finding that the male representation was more thantwice as the female representation, may have very well been the result of sexism built into the socialsystem and pervading the values of the culture (Stanford, 1992). The study also found a higher degreeof bias that favoured male especially in the use of habitual language that was sex-discriminating andstereotyping.

To help apply the second category (socio-economic classes), four aspects were set: lifestyle,ownership, kind of job, and academic as well as aristocratic degree. This study used an Indonesiancontext and perspective in determining the level of classes. A farmer, for instance, may belong to thekind of job held by members of the middle and even upper class in some other countries. But in theIndonesian context, a farmer (at least in the society’s perception of the job) belongs to the lower class.Examples that fell into the lifestyle aspect were dining out, type of childcare, type of child education,ways of saving money, and ways of spending holidays. Vacationing and travelling overseas wereconsidered the upper class way of spending the holidays. Saving money in national banks wasconsidered a lifestyle of the middle class and in foreign banks and investment that of the upper class.Ownership included possession of certain things such as cars, houses, villas, clothing articles(including jewellery), and satellite dish. Kinds of jobs were doctor, lawyer, director, manager,accountant, teacher, nurse, factory worker, domestic helper, driver, and farmer. Jobs held by theupper class included doctor, lawyer, director, and corporation owner while teacher, nurse, secretarybelonged to the middle class. It was assumed based on the Indonesian perspective that such low-


paying jobs as factory worker and farmer referred to the lower class. All academic as well asaristocratic (Raden, Sultan, etc) titles were considered as belonging to the upper class.

Please see Table 11 for the distribution of the socio-economic aspects across the three classesand Table 12 for the summary of the findings.

Table 11: Aspects of Socio-economic Classes Sub-Category, f = 261

No. Category: SESPublisher Aspects Upper Middle Lower TOTAL

1. Yudhistira Life Style 5 2 1 8

Ownership 1 2 -- 3

Kind of Job 3 11 1 15

Degree 5 -- -- 5

2. Erlangga Life Style 9 5 3 17

Ownership 5 5 1 11


Degree 5 -- -- 5

3. Refika Life Style 3 8 6 17

Ownership 4 1 1 6

Kind of Job 5 2 2 9

Degree 5 -- -- 5

4. IKIP Malang Life Style 5 9 1 15

Ownership 5 -- -- 5

Kind of Job 2 2 3 7

Degree 2 -- -- 2

5. Tiga Serangkai Life Style 3 6 6 15

Ownership 2 5 1 8

Kind of Job 3 4 1 8

Degree 3 -- -- 3

6. Bina Pustaka Life Style 5 5 2 12

Ownership -- 3 -- 3

Kind of Job 1 1 -- 2

Degree 1 -- -- 1

7. Ganeca Life Style 5 8 3 16

Ownership 5 13 1 19


Degree 2 -- -- 2


No. Category: SESPublisher Aspects Upper Middle Lower TOTAL

8. GMP Life Style 2 -- 1 3

Ownership -- 1 2 3

Kind of Job 2 1 1 4

Degree -- -- -- --

TOTAL 108 107 46 261

Table 12: Category of Socio-economic Class by Publisher, f = 261

SES

Publisher Upper Middle Lower Total

Yudhistira 14 15 2 31

Erlangga 24 16 10 31

Refika 17 11 9 37

IKIP Malang 14 11 4 29

Tiga Serangkai 11 15 8 34

Interaksara -- -- -- --

Bina Pustaka Tama 7 9 2 18

Ganeca 17 28 7 52

GMP 4 2 4 10

Total 108 107 46 261

% 41.4 41 17.6 100

Based on the four aspects, the study found-- among the 823 texts--261 frequencies related toany of the three classes. One hundred and eight frequencies pertained to the upper class, 107 to themiddle class, and 46 to the lower class. There were more than one frequency in one text and likewise,there were texts that did not contain any references to the socio-economic classes.

As explained before that the second category was the hardest to apply, the difficulty indetermining the sub-category in terms of their socio-economic status may have led to the weaknessesof this study. This study attempted to provide a mapping of the upper, middle, and lower classrepresentation by first classifying the data into the four aspects of classes: lifestyle, ownership, kind ofjob, and academic/aristocratic degree. In light of the majority of the Indonesian students whobelonged to the middle and lower classes, the classification process was heavily influenced by anIndonesian perspective. For instance, spending the holiday by travelling overseas was considered alifestyle belonging to the upper class in this study while in many other countries, people of the middleclass group occasionally travelled overseas to spend their holiday. This should explain the evendistribution of the upper and middle class representations (108 and 107) as many texts discussingforeign subjects portray lifestyle, ownership, kind of job, and/degree that--in the Indonesianperspective--belong to the upper class.


The findings showed that the lower class representation was very low (46 out of 261 all-classrepresentations). The overall distribution of the three-class representations obviously did not portraythe real class stratification in the Indonesia population which consisted of a small percentage of theupper class, a bigger percentage of the middle class, and the majority as the lower class or lower-middle class (Soekanto, 1990). The different portrayal of class stratification in the textbooks mighthave served as a two-edged sword. On one hand, the representations of classes above the students'own class could motivate them to aspire higher and climb the social ladder. This eventually wasexpected to change the social stratification as schooling could also serve as an agent of social change.On the other hand, however, not every student had enough confidence to face such challenges. Somemight have been so sensitive that they could have felt alienated by the high representation of lifestylesthat were beyond their grasp and the low representation of behaviours, activities, people, and habitsthat they were familiar with. The idea of keeping up with the Joneses could be too overwhelming andintimidating for some students.

Next, the category of local cultures and ethnicity brings about findings as presented in Table13 (Java Sub Category), Table 14 (Non-Java Sub Category), and Table 15 (International Sub-Category).

Table 13: Java Sub-Category, f = 159

JAVA

No.

Category: Ethnicity

Publisher Nam

e

Tra

dit

ion

Eth

nic

Gro

up

Art

s

Lan

guag

e

Lit

Clo

thin

g

Cra

ft Total

1. Yudhistira 11 -- -- -- 3 -- 1 6 21

2. Erlangga 22 2 -- 6 5 3 6 6 50

3. Refika 8 1 -- -- 1 -- -- 1 11

4. IKIP Malang 3 1 -- -- 1 1 -- 1 7

5. Tiga Serangkai 18 1 -- -- 1 -- -- 3 23

6. Interaksara 3 -- -- -- 1 -- -- -- 4

7. Bina Pustaka 2 1 -- 1 1 -- 1 -- 6

8. Ganeca 10 4 -- 4 2 -- 5 4 29

9. GMP 5 -- -- -- 2 -- 1 8

Total 82 10 -- 11 17 4 13 22 159

As seen in Table 13, aspect of Name in the Java Sub Category had the highest percentagebecause many texts used Javanese names such as Sastrowardoyo, Bagyo, and Hartati.


Table 14: Non Java Sub-Category, f = 52

NON JAVA

No.

Category: Ethnicity

Publisher Nam

e

Tra

dit

ion

Eth

nic

Gro

up

Art

s

Lan

guag

e

Lit

Clo

thin

g

Cra

ft Total

1. Yudhistira 2 -- 1 -- -- -- -- 1 4

2. Erlangga 5 3 -- 1 1 1 3 4 18

3. Refika 2 -- -- 1 -- 1 -- 1 5

4. IKIP Malang 1 2 -- 1 1 -- -- -- 5

5. Tiga Serangkai 4 -- -- -- 1 -- -- 1 6

6. Interaksara -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

7. Bina Pustaka 1 3 2 -- -- -- -- -- 6

8. Ganeca 2 1 -- 1 -- -- 1 2 7

9. GMP 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1

Total 18 9 3 4 3 2 4 9 52

Table 14 showed that the total frequency of representations of ethnic groups and local culturesother than Javanese was very low compared to that of Javanese. (52 to 159).

Next, Table 15 showed the high total frequency of representations of ethnicity and localcultures outside Indonesia. What significantly contributed to this high frequency was the aspect ofName as the use of English (and other foreign) names such as Robert, Billy, Susan, and John was verycommon in English textbooks. Please note that there is not much difference in the total of Javaneseethnicity representation and the international representation (159 and 161). It is interesting to see thatthe non-Javanese ethnicity representation was the lowest and that the gap between this sub-categoryand the other two was significantly large.

Table 15: International Sub-Category, f = 161

INTERNATIONAL

No.

Category: Ethnicity

Publisher Nam

e

Tra

dit

ion

Eth

nic

Gro

up

Art

s

Lan

guag

e

Lit

Clo

thin

g

Cra

ft Total

1. Yudhistira 9 -- -- 1 -- -- -- 2 12

2. Erlangga 19 -- -- 2 5 3 -- -- 29

3. Refika 8 1 -- -- -- -- -- 1 10

4. IKIP Malang 9 2 -- -- 3 -- 2 6 22

5. Tiga Serangkai 27 -- 1 3 2 1 -- -- 34

6. Interaksara 11 -- -- -- -- -- -- 3 14


NON JAVA

No.

Category: Ethnicity

Publisher Nam

e

Tra

dit

ion

Eth

nic

Gro

up

Art

s

Lan

guag

e

Lit

Clo

thin

g

Cra

ft Total

7. Bina Pustaka 6 3 -- -- 1 -- 1 -- 11

8. Ganeca 16 1 -- 1 2 3 2 3 28

9. GMP 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 1

Total 106 7 1 7 13 7 5 15 161

Tables 16 and 17 presented respectively the breakdown of Category of Ethnicity by itsAspects and Publishers and the distribution of Sub-Category of Java, Non Java, and International byPublishers.

Table 16: Aspects of Ethnicity by Publisher, f = 372

No.Aspects

Publisher Nam

e

Tra

dit

ion

Eth

nic

Gro

up

Art

s

Lan

guag

e

Lit

erat

ure

Clo

thin

g

Cra

ft

Total

1. Yudhistira 22 0 1 1 3 0 1 9 37

2. Erlangga 46 5 0 9 11 7 9 10 97

3. Refika 18 2 0 1 - 1 0 3 26

4. IKIP Malang 13 5 0 1 5 1 2 7 34

5. Tiga Serangkai 49 1 1 3 4 1 0 4 63

6. Interaksara 14 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 18

7. Bina Pustaka 9 7 2 1 2 0 2 0 23

8. Ganeca 28 6 0 6 4 3 8 9 64

9. GMP 7 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 10

Total 206 26 4 22 33 13 22 46 372

Table 17: Distribution of Ethnicity by Publisher, f = 372

No. Pub.Ethnicity

Yudistira Erlangga RefikaIKIP

MalangTiga

SerangkaiInter-Aksara

BinaPustaka

Ganeca GMP Total

1. Java 21 50 11 7 23 4 6 29 8 159

2. Non Java 4 18 5 5 6 0 11 7 1 152

3. Int’l 12 29 10 22 34 14 11 28 1 161

Total 37 97 26 34 63 18 23 64 10 372

Finally, Table 18 presented a summary of the ethnicity representations.


Table 18: A Summary of Ethnicity Category, f : 372

No. Ethnicity f %

1. Java 159 42.7

2. Non – Java 52 13.9

3. International 161 43.3

Total 372 100

The last category of geography was related to the ethnicity geography. What was meant bygeography in this study was the setting of place of a story or any reference to a certain place. It wasdivided into 3 subcategories and labelled as Java, Non-Java, and International. Table 19 showed thatreferences to places outside Indonesia were the highest (255 out of 440). Next was the Java Sub-Category (110). The difference between Java and Non Java representation (110 and 75) in theGeography Category was not as big as that (159 and 52) in the Ethnicity category. Yet, in view of thevast territory of Indonesia outside Java, this difference was still worth noticing.

Table 19: Category of Geography by Publisher, f = 440

Category: Geography

PublisherJava

Out ofJava

Out ofIndonesia Total

Yudhistira 11 6 27 44

Erlangga 24 14 36 74

Refika 15 13 29 57

IKIP Malang 11 13 35 59

Tiga Serangkai 13 12 33 58

Interaksara -- -- 11 11

Bina Pustaka Tama 8 2 21 31

Ganeca 26 14 61 101

GMP 2 1 2 5

Total 110 75 255 440

% 25 17 58 100

In terms of ethnicity and geography, it was not surprising that the reading passages in thetextbooks used in senior high schools in Indonesia indicated the predominance of the Javanese cultureamong all the sub-cultures in Indonesia (159 to 52). The frequency of the cultures outside Indonesiawas the highest (161). The portrayal in the Category of Geography was not much different (110 forJava, 75 for outside Java, and 255 for international). The use of English (foreign) names such asRobert, John, Billy, and Joan and description of places outside Indonesia significantly contributed tothis high frequencies in both categories of ethnicity and geography. In addition, many texts alsocontained topics on global issues. Furthermore, as the Teaching and Learning Program Guidelinesprescribed theme of International Relation for Grade 1 Term 3 and Grade 3 Term 2, many textbooksaddressed international agencies and events such as the United Nations, UNICEF, and Earth Summit.


CHAPTER V

I. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS

The findings in this study presented some points for thought regarding the multiculturalperspectives in the English curriculum used in Indonesia. In terms of theme and sub-themedistribution, the curriculum attempted to provide a diverse composite ranging from science andtechnology to environment. In general, the various English textbooks used in senior high schoolscomplied with the Teaching and Learning Program Guidelines and covered the prescribed themesquite evenly.

To address the first item in the statement of the problem--whether the English textbooks usedin the 1994 Curriculum incorporated the multicultural perspectives in relation to the students’ diverseethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds, this study found that the inclusion of multiculturalunderstanding in those textbooks still left some room for improvement. In light of the vast diversityof the student population in senior high schools in Indonesia, the textbooks seemed to be rathercentralized and limiting. The following response for the second item in the statement of the problemwould help support the finding with more specific points.

To what extent the English textbooks used in the 1994 Curriculum incorporated the students’diversity in relation to gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and geography could be revealedthrough the four sets of representative categories used in this study. In relation to gender perspective,one area of concern was the underrepresentation of women in the textbooks and a higher degree ofbias that favoured male especially in the use of habitual language that was sex-discriminating andstereotyping.The findings on the second set of representative categories showed that the overall distribution of thethree-class representations obviously did not portray the real class stratification in the Indonesiapopulation which consisted of a small percentage of the upper class, a bigger percentage of the middleclass, and the majority as the lower class or lower-middle class. The diversity of the socio-economicstatus of the students was obviously not portrayed appropriately.

In the last two sets of categories--ethnicity and geography--it was not surprising that therepresentation of the non-Javanese sub-category was significantly lower than the Javanese andinternational sub-categories. While exposure to global issues and concerns in the English textbooksmay have been justifiable to expand the students’ horizon, the representation of local cultures otherthan Javanese in Indonesia was still very low especially considering the immense variety of ethnicgroups and local cultures in Indonesia. Like in the socio-economic class representation, students fromethnic groups outside Java might feel estranged when using curricular materials that seemed foreign,irrelevant, and unfamiliar to them.

Finally, the third item in the statement of the problem--whether the English textbooks used inthe 1994 Curriculum met the principles and underlying concepts set in the Teaching and LearningGuidelines (GBPP) and used the meaning-based approach in relation to the multiculturalperspectives--could be addressed inductively based on the findings on the four sets of categories. Itwas stated in the guidelines that the underlying concept of the curriculum included the use of learningmaterials that were meaningful to learners and relevant to their experiences, interests, values, andfuture. Yet, the claim that the 1994 English Curriculum applied the meaning-based approach andmulti-cultural understanding was still questionable when viewed from the multicultural perspectivesat the curricular materials level. Based on the findings of this study, learners' experiences andbackgrounds could have been validated more adequately to make the learning process and the lessonsmore meaningful.


II. CONCLUSIONS

In terms of gender-inclusive curriculum, taking time to adjust this habitual language and learnnew terms may seem wasteful and superficial to teachers and textbook writers but once they get pastthe first awkwardness of using police officer for policeman, chairperson for chairman and they orhe/she for he, they may notice that their own thinking changes. More important, they acquire a habitof scrutinizing their speech for sex-discriminating or stereotyping expressions that favour or harmeither sex.

Textbook writers must take care that the imprint they place in the minds of the students andthe values they infiltrate in the culture are inclusive and non-discriminatory. It is a challenge toeducators in Indonesia to address the inequities institutionalized in the curriculum and learningmaterials selected to be taught. Through a respect for gender equity, textbook writers are to producenon-discriminatory curricular materials that can contribute to a sense of equity in classrooms.

While knowledge of unfamiliar people and lifestyles may reduce the students' fears andavoidance of differences later in their lives, their motivation for reaching beyond their class barriersrests on their self-confidence, their ability to empathise with others' experiences and feelings, andtheir anticipation of satisfaction to be derived from expanding their social relationships. It is likelythat students of all groups that are underrepresented in the learning materials and/or negativelystereotyped are vulnerable to the feeling of ambivalence about their group identification. In a societywhere personal worth is often equated with wealth, shame related to one's low income is a commonexperience. In this kind of society, students may question their personal worth when they learnthrough their lessons about other people with lifestyles that are beyond their reach.

In addressing socio-economic differences, one might well ask, So how can we--and shouldwe--try to help low-income students feel good about the fact that they are poor? We know thathuman beings' aspirations are often formed at an early age by their adult models and their livingconditions. Do we then want to reinforce these constraints by extolling the virtues of poverty?Ideally, we want our students to feel competent and affirmed on a personal level. To achieve this,educators--including textbooks writers--can help them by conveying that their families' circumstancesare not the only way of life and are often the result of social injustice rather than personal failure. Ifstudents cannot distinguish between these social and personal issues, educators can empower themand help them expand their ideas about possibilities and aspirations. At the same time, their lifestylesand philosophies should be validated more in the textbooks.

In the recent social and political discourse in Indonesia, concerns about the over-dominanceof Javanese culture and the alienation of indigenous cultures in national policies have surfaced.Social scientists and representatives of ethnic groups have expressed their pressing need for moreautonomous governance, which is more relevant and suitable for their local contexts. This drive forautonomy should also include the implementation of curriculum and the use of teaching-learningmaterials that are relevant and meaningful to the students in their own local, cultural, and ethniccontext. Considering the vast diversity of local cultures in Indonesia, designing a curriculum anddeveloping learning materials that reflect multicultural perspectives may not be easy. Certainly, oneset of books will not be adequate to address this diversity and incorporate the various components ofthe Indonesian cultures. It is time to include local efforts to take charge of their affairs including theright kind of education that is more suitable and relevant with the local context. In line with thediscourse on autonomy, there have been pressures to reduce control from the central government andresist the top-down approach. In the curriculum development, scholars and educators from all regionsof the country should be encouraged to get involved in determining the curriculum content for theirown context. It is recommended that the central ministry endorse more than one set of textbooks. Asfar as multicultural education is concerned, schools should have a choice of various textbooks to use.

While it may still be necessary for the Department of National Education to set goals andprescribe themes in the national curriculum, the further development of learning materials should be


left in the hands of local scholars, educators, and textbook writers to the extent possible. Someregions in the country have been developed enough to have their own resources and develop their ownlearning materials. Concerns that the local regions are not ready should not be neglected. Manyregions still lack resources and power. Yet, this fact should not be used to justify the delay ofrelinquishing power and control to the local level. In cases where the local educators and scholarsmay not be ready to develop their own materials, the curriculum developers and textbook writers atthe national level should involve their local counterparts as partners and empower them as localresources who can later develop their own curriculum.

Meanwhile, teachers should be aware of the growing diversity in schools and the implicationof using a certain set of curricular materials in their classrooms. Social scientists and commentatorsoften point out the rich blend of cultural differences found in the Indonesia society. While theseobservers have a point, it is equally true that diversity is difficult—especially in schools. However, asAristotle saw it, the challenge of ethnicity, is one of augmenting familial love, expanding the naturallinks to one’s own ‘kind,’ so that these links also include others who are more distantly related, ratherthan doing away with the initial links and bonds as such. Today, for a variety of reasons, the motto ofunity above diversity and the expectation that schools can be the melting pot for cultural differencesamong students are being challenged. “Absence of diversity would lead to the dehumanization,mechanization, and utter impoverishment of human beings“ (Fishman, 1989). The weakening of thissociety is a cause for alarm, a tendency to be resisted and combated. Recently, there have beenpitched battles and wars by various ethnic, racial, and religious groups for more autonomy. It wouldnot be surprising that this demand would soon also include a push for more control and power of thecurriculum and emphasis of their particular heritage in classrooms. Teachers are often faced with thedilemma of how to respect differences while finding some common basis for all their students to feelincluded and respected in the classroom environment. Not surprisingly, these teachers may feel illprepared to address the diverse cultural, personal, religious, socio-economic, and ethnic diversity oftheir students. The multicultural issues should be placed as one of the important agenda in sessions ofteachers professional development so that teachers can learn ways to create a learning environment inwhich differences are recognised and accepted while simultaneously providing students with acommon set of norms and values that bind students together.

III. RECOMMENDATIONS

In summary, to develop a multicultural curriculum in an attempt to provide education forpeace and development, it is recommended that:

1. The Department of National Education should ensure that the curriculum respectsdiversity.

2. The Department of National Education should endorse more than one set of books toprovide a large choice of textbooks to use.

3. Schools should have the freedom to choose textbooks, which are suitable, andrelevant with their local contexts in relation to multicultural perspectives as long asthose textbooks are in compliance with the goals, objectives, and principles set in thenational curriculum--Teaching and Learning Program Guidelines (GBPP).

4. Educators and textbook writers should ensure that textbooks used in classrooms donot contain discriminating and stereotyping language and content in relation togender, socio-economic, local cultures, and ethnic diversity.

5. Educators from the local regions—especially from outside Java—should beencouraged and facilitated to develop curricular materials and write textbooks whichare suitable and relevant with their local needs, or


6. Textbook writers at the national level should involve educators from the local regionsas partners and empower them to develop learning materials that address the diversecultural, racial, personal, and academic needs of their students.

7. Teachers should be aware of the growing diversity in schools and always attempt tocreate a learning environment in which differences are recognised and accepted whilesimultaneously providing students with a common set of norms and values that bindstudents together.


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