By M. Tata Taufik
Islamic boarding schools may not be widely known by the Indonesian public, especially the international community. Luckily, on June 3, Al-Ikhlash Ciawilor Islamic Boarding School, Kuningan, West Java, was visited by Heramb Kulkarni from the Council for Creative Education (CCE) Finland. A Finland-based organization that promotes innovative approaches to education.
In the letter of application received, the CCE explained the purpose of their visit. CCE wanted to learn more about the pesantren’s unique teaching methodology, curriculum development, and the educational environment at Pondok Pesantren Modern Al-Ikhlash.
“We request for the opportunity to meet with school administration, teachers and students to gain insight into your educational practices. We look forward to observing your classroom, engaging in discussions with educators, and exploring potential areas for partnerships or joint initiatives between our organizations.”
Of course we are happy to welcome the intention of the visit. Long story short, upon arrival at the pesantren, Heramb Kulkarni was invited to tour the pesantren to see the environment and observe various spots around the Islamic boarding school. Starting from the messages and motivations around the pesantren to paying attention to the oral examination process that happened to be taking place.
After walking around the campus, he was invited to gather with the teachers to discuss what Islamic boarding schools do in educating their students. It begins with a synopsis of Islamic boarding school activities along with the basic principles in the educational process that takes place at Al-Ikhlash.
It was also explained that education at Al-Ikhlash leads to what is needed in social life. So, what will be found in the community is what is taught in the pesantren. Starting from the mentality, abilities, and skills needed for each person in life later. Also in terms of the role of the santri in society later, such as organizational, religious education, religious knowledge, as well as general knowledge and foreign languages, especially Arabic and English. All of these are keys that alumni can use to develop themselves.
After the meeting with the asatidz (pesantren theachers), the next stage was a discussion with elements of the pesantren leadership. The first question we asked: What did he get from his observations and from the information he got?
Discover new things
It turned out that he was very impressed and got a lot of new things. According to him, “I can honestly say that I got new things and extraordinary creativity in educational design in Islamic boarding schools.” He said, “This is the first time I have visited Indonesia and the first time I have visited an Islamic boarding school.”
According to him, after seeing the process of the oral examination, he saw that the students were confident in facing the examiners. This can be seen from the gestures and attitudes of the students when having a dialogue with the examiner. He conveyed that the success of the learning process is not only seen from the test scores, there are many aspects that can be assessed.
Furthermore, he told me that in Finland there are no final exams. According to him, tests only make students study hard when they are about to be tested. “After that stop studying, even though what we want them to continue learning and not stop learning.”
He added that it is the teacher who knows the student’s learning ability. Thus, it is the teacher who determines whether or not students pass from one level of education.
We convey that Indonesia will also go in that direction with the concept of Freedom to Learn and an Independent Curriculum. Apparently, he also knew about it and said, “Freedom to Learn!”
We convey that at our Islamic boarding school there is still a final test, the aim is to arouse students’ enthusiasm for learning. In Islamic boarding schools, the concept of “test to study” is developed, not the other way around. We also carry out the final exam independently by the pesantren. And each pesantren has the autonomy to carry out the teaching and learning process including its evaluation.
There are no multiple choice questions
Next we also ask about the format of the exam questions, are there multiple choice or multiple choice questions in Finland? He said that in Finland there are no multiple choice test questions because questions like that invite children to answer haphazardly. So, they only need to choose one answer even though there is one answer that is the most correct.
We also convey that Islamic boarding schools do not use tests with multiple choice models. We mostly use the essay form to stimulate students’ thinking skills and their analytical skills. With that statement, he couldn’t agree more.
Then we add that this pesantren does not judge students just because of the grades they get. For us, every student has the right to get the same treatment. We really appreciate the process and strengths of each student. That every student has the right to be rewarded with various achievements. And they are motivated to know their strengths and weaknesses. All students have the potential to progress and develop.
Even though administratively we do a ranking of test scores, but that’s only for the students concerned. We do not announce it in their classes and do not provide special rewards for those who achieve the highest scores. The consideration is, for us—the educators—all santi must be given the same award.
Don’t give gifts
After each semester exam, we held a thanksgiving event. We convey to the students that their achievements have increased, their experience has increased, they know how to study, and they know their strengths and weaknesses. It was conveyed to the students that following the educational process at the one-semester boarding school alone there would definitely be changes, both mental, attitude and knowledge.
As for the students who can complete their education at the boarding school, they have the same position in our eyes as educators. So, they have the same ability and opportunity to develop. We never give gifts. For those who got the highest scores, they also never belittled the students with low test scores. We hope—husnuzan—that they will be able to develop according to their abilities.
We convey that the students are at zero point, meaning that they all have the opportunity and have the same ability to develop their personality. Develop himself and develop his knowledge in the future.
Hearing this explanation, Heramb was very impressed and appreciated our work. He also wanted to know more about pesantren education.
About PISA
The discussion then turned to PISA (Program for International Student Assessment). An international student assessment program organized by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). We also ask him: What about PISA, which has so far influenced educational policies in various countries in the world? He replied that Finland does not use PISA and students do not follow it. According to him, many have escaped the assessment offered by PISA.
The next question he conveyed was how could the students master a lesson comprehensively? We try to explain that they are trying to analyze the content of the textbooks being studied. A kind of discourse analysis is carried out and they make sketches in the form of pictures, diagrams or mind maps, they are even used to making summaries.
No less important, we convey that the key to education in our Islamic boarding schools is to treat humans as they should treat humans—treat them as humans. We convey that the education process here prioritizes human aspects. We are educating humans, so the treatment must also be the treatment needed by humans.
Maintaining the tradition of ringing the bell
We still have the tradition of hitting the bell as a sign that an activity has started. The bell blow also marks the replacement of one activity with another. Why do they still have to ring the bell? Because there is responsible training. Officers will maintain punctuality and it is a process of instilling a sense of responsibility. They will get used to being serious about doing a job.
We do not use an automatic bell with a time setting by an electronic device with a computer. Hearing this explanation, he laughed. This is what we mean by increasing human participation and reducing the use of technology.
Education is a matter of preparing students to be able to master life skills in their time. And it must start from the roots of universal human life traditions; problem solving, strategic and critical thinking and responsiveness, and have analytical skills. We are not creating robots here, but we are going to educate humans as they are beings who are always actively thinking.
So, here we are still teaching children to write by hand without relying on assistive devices such as computers, typewriters, and others. This means that they have to go through several steps, such as writing traditionally, using a pencil or pen, then learning to type, then learning to use a computer. Even though they come from their homes, of course, they already have the skills to use such a tool.
These traditional life skills are needed to provide life skills in a simple way. And it is very useful later to become the basis for self-development and abilities in any era, whether living in a traditional way or in life which is very modern and advanced.
The red thread of Finnish Education and Islamic Boarding Schools
We also teach religious values and universal values of kindness. In turn, we also instill a love of knowledge and learning all the time.
In response to this statement Heramb was very interested. He commented that it turns out you are educating with the roots of tradition. According to him, technology will continue to grow and run.
And education should indeed instill the roots of traditions that are owned, both from religious values and social values that apply in society, so that in the future they are ready to develop themselves. Up to this point, it can be seen that there are many similarities in opinion about the concept of education between pesantren and what is implemented in Finland.
Actually, there were still many topics that could be discussed, but due to time constraints the discussion ended with a group photo and hopes to be able to collaborate in the future. Through this story, we hope that we can further explore our educational methodology and approach, and communicate it to an international audience.