SASTRA DAN PENGAJARAN BAHASA

SASTRA DAN PENGAJARAN BAHASA

Diterjemahkan kedalam Bahasa Indonesia oleh: Denny Nugraha

Jurusan Tadris Bahasa Inggris Semester V

Institut Agama Islam Negeri (IAIN) Syekh Nurjati, Cirebon, Indonesia

Ditulis dalam Bahasa Inggris (original) oleh: Mohammad Khatib dan Amir Hossein Rahimi

Jurusan Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris

Universitas Allameh Tabataba’l, Tehran, Iran

Abstrak

Jurnal ini menyediakan sebuah tinjauan ulang pemikiran dan penelitian mengenai peran sastra dalam kelas bahasa. Pertama, jurnal ini menyediakan penjelasan berupa pandangan yang positif dan negatif terhadap penggunaan sastra sebagai sumber belajar pengajaran bahasa. Kedua, jurnal ini mengungkapkan isu-isu metodologis yang berbeda mengenai penggunaan sastra. Yang terakhir, beberapa studi empiris yang telah dilakukan dihadirkan untuk menguji peran sastra dalam pengajaran bahasa.

Kata kunci: Sastra, konteks EFL/ESL, Pengajaran bahasa.

1.    Pendahuluan

Penggunaan sastra dalam pengajaran bahasa merunut kembali pada abad 19. Metode dominan dari pengajaran bahasa pada saat itu adalah grammar translation dan teknik yang paling populer adalah penerjemahan teks sastra kedalam bahasa target. Karya sastra menyediakan materi tambahan untuk praktik tata bahasa (grammar), belajar kosa kata, dan penerjemahan (Liaw, 2001). Sejak munculnya pendekatan struktural terhadap bahasa dan populernya metode langsung dan audiolingual, sastra tidak digunakan lagi dalam kelas bahasa. Bahkan disaat diperkenalkannya CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) literatur/sastra diabaikan dan dihilangkan dari silabus pelajaran bahasa. Salah satu tokoh yang berpengaruh di bidang sastra, Maley (2001), menyebutkan kurangnya riset/penelitian empiris dalam mendukung peran fasilitatif sastra sebagai alasan utama munculnya pandangan negatif terhadap sastra.

Akan tetapi mulai dari pertengahan tahun 1980-an minat untuk menjadikan sastra sebagai sebuah sumber pengajaran muncul kembali dan berlanjut sampai sekarang. Hal ini dapat dilihat dari publikasi buku teks tentang peran sastra dalam kelas (contoh Duff dan Maley, 1991; Gower dan Pearson, 1986; Hill, 1986; Lazar, 1993; Maley dan Duff, 1989; McRae, 1991), tetapi masih ada kontroversi tentang penggunaan sastra untuk tujuan pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa (Inggris). Banyak guru EFL (English as Foreign Language)/ESL (English as Second Language) mempertimbangkan sastra hanya sebagai karya seni belaka dan tidak cocok untuk level kemampuan siswa ESL/EFL, dan mengabaikan sastra sebagai sumber pembelajaran dan pengajaran bahasa (Bassnett dan Grundy, 1993). Beberapa guru menggunakan sastra sebagai tipe kegiatan pengisi dan tidak sebagai bagian yang utuh dari pengajaran mereka (Wasanasomsithi, 1998). Tetapi beberapa ahli percaya bahwa sastra bisa memperluas pengetahuan linguistik siswa (Povey, 1967). Pugh (1989) berpendapat bahwa sastra adalah sumber belajar yang kaya akan masukan/input yang bermakna khususnya dalam konteks bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa asing (ESL/EFL).

Berikut adalah pandangan negatif dan pandangan positif terhadap penggunaan sastra dalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris.

2.    Pandangan negatif terhadap penggunaan Sastra

McKay (1982) menyebutkan beberapa pendapat yang menentang penggunaan sastra. Pertama, kurangnya kontribusi sastra pada pengajaran grammar yang merupakan salah satu tujuan penting program pengajaran bahasa. Alasannya adalah kerumitan struktural dan penggunaan bahasa yang unik dalam sastra. Pendapat yang kedua adalah bahwa sastra tidak membantu para siswa untuk mencapai tujuan akademik dan keahlian. Yang ketiga adalah pandangan kultural khusus yang terdapat di setiap karya sastra. Memahami dan mengartikan sudut pandang budaya mungkin sulit bagi siswa khususnya yang bahasa ibunya bukan bahasa Inggris (non-native speaker of English).

3.    Pandangan positif terhadap penggunaan Sastra

Menurut Povey (1972) membaca karya sastra membuat siswa familiar/terbiasa dengan penggunaan perbendaharaan kata yang banyak dan sintaksis yang baru dan kompleks, hal ini berkontribusi pada perluasan penggunaan bahasa dan pengetahuan linguistik. Kelebihan lain dari penggunaan sastra dalam kelas bahasa Inggris adalah mempromosikan penggunaan bahasa atau komunikasi terutama dalam konteks EFL. McKay (1982) meyakini bahwa dalam konteks karya sastra, hubungan peran dan konteks sosial yang telah ditetapkan sebelumnya telah dipertimbangkan, sehingga sastra dapat digunakan untuk meningkatkan kesadaran siswa tentang penggunaan bahasa. Kontibusi yang lainnya dari sastra pada pembelajaran adalah faktor pengalaman dan motivasi atau afektif yang disediakan melalui sastra dan pengaruhnya pada kecakapan membaca siswa. Jika kita memahami membaca sebagai interaksi antara pembaca dengan teks, maka pembaca harus berkeinginan atau termotivasi untuk membaca dan sastra dapat dipertimbangkan sebagai alat untuk menyediakan motivasi/dorongan membaca tersebut. Peningkatan kemampuan membaca mengarah pada pencapaian dalam tujuan akademik dan keahlian praktis. Keunggulan lain dari sastra adalah dorongan bertoleransi dalam menghadapi perbedaan budaya dan sebagai wadah pengenalan kreativitas siswa.

Maley (2001) menggarisbawahi alasan-alasan mengenai kesesuaian sastra sebagai sumber belajar dalam konteks EFL dan ESL sebagai berikut:

1.    Universalitas: semua bahasa diketahui mempunyai sastra dan tema-tema yang disampaikan melalui sastra tersebut seperti cinta, kematian, perpisahan, alam, dsb., adalah umum bagi semua budaya. Sastra diseluruh dunia mengikuti tradisi dan genre yang sama.

2.    Non-trivialitas: tidak seperti banyak sumber pengajaran bahasa yang lain yang meremehkan teks dan pengalaman, tapi sastra tidak meremehkan atau memandang rendah teks. Sastra menawarkan masukan/input yang asli dan otentik.

3.    Keterkaitan pribadi: pemikiran-pemikiran, kejadian, dan hal-hal yang diekspresikan dalam sastra dialami oleh siswa atau dapat dibayangkan oleh mereka. Oleh karena itu, mereka dapat menemukan sangkut-paut/keterkaitan antara sastra dengan kehidupan pribadi mereka.

4.    Keragaman: ada keragaman yang besar dari bahasa dan permasalahan yang dibicarakan dalam sastra. Siswa dapat menikmati sebuah pilihan karya sastra yang tidak monoton dan serba guna juga menghibur.

5.    Ketertarikan/minat: sastra bersifat menarik sebagaimana sastra berkenaan dengan subjek masalah dalam cara yang atraktif dan menarik.

6.    Ekonomi dan kekuatan mempengaruhi: salah satu ciri tersendiri dari sastra adalah makna yang membawa kenangan, perasaan, dan ingatan yang mana juga dapat akhirnya mengingatkan kembali kata-kata dan kalimat yang pernah dibaca. Sastra berangkat diluar apa yang dikatakan dan memungkinkan pikiran dapat diungkapkan hanya dengan beberapa kata.

7.    Ambiguitas: sastra memperkenankan perbedaan penafsiran. Jarang sekali bagi dua pembaca untuk mempunyai sebuah penafsiran membaca yang sama terhadap suatu teks. Keragaman pendekatan-pendekatan dan penafsiran ini menciptakan sebuah kesempatan bagi pertukaran pemikiran yang asli dan menimbulkan interaksi. Selain itu, setiap siswa dapat merasa aman tentang keabsahan penafsiran mereka dari sebuah teks tertentu.

Arthur (1968) menyebutkan tiga cara dimana sastra dapat mempromosikan pembelajaran bahasa. Yang pertama adalah daftar perbendaharaan kata yang besar yang digunakan lebih banyak dalam sastra dibandingkan pada percakapan sehari-hari. Yang kedua adalah pola sintaksis yang unik yang hanya terdapat dalam bahasa Inggris tertulis seperti sastra. Contohnya adalah penggunaan kalimat pasif, sering munculnya subordinate clause, subordinasi dalam subordinasi dan pembalikan urutan/inversi dengan gaya tertentu. Kelebihan yang ketiga adalah bahwa sastra membantu siswa untuk memahami budaya masyarakat lain. Karakter yang berperan dan peristiwa yang terjadi berdasarkan pada norma-norma dari budaya atau masyarakat tertentu.

Oster (1989) menunjukan dua keunggulan penggunaan sastra dalam konteks ESL dan EFL. Sastra “memperluas pandangan siswa dan mengasah berpikir kritis” (85). Sastra membantu siswa untuk melihat dari berbagai perspektif karena ketika mereka membaca sebuah karya sastra, mereka bertukar pikiran tentang kejadian-kejadian, karakter, dan perbedaan penafsiran. Siswa akan mengerti bahwa teman sekelas mereka telah melihat sesuatu dengan cara berbeda dan mempelajari bagaimana untuk membaca dengan cara-cara yang baru. Oster menyebutkan keunggulan sastra terhadap kemampuan menulis seperti mendorong kreativitas, mempelajari kosa kata yang lebih kaya dan menggunakannya dalam menulis dan belajar bagaimana menggunakan bahasa kiasan untuk membuat tulisan lebih emosional.

Hadaway, Vardell dan Young (2002) mengajukan tiga keunggulan penggunaan sastra. Yang pertama adalah kontekstualisasi bahasa. Siswa menjadi familiar dengan pemakaian bahasa di situasi yang berbeda ketika mereka membaca sebuah karya sastra. Kedua, faktor sosial dan emosional yang ditanamkan dalam format-format yang berbeda dari sastra seperti buku cerita bergambar, koran/majalah, cerita pendek merupakan keunggulan lain dari sastra. Jadi, sastra bisa sesuai bagi siswa dengan gaya yang berbeda. Keunggulan yang ketiga merujuk pada penggunaan yang alami dan bermakna dari bahasa yang dibangun oleh ilustrasi dan penggunaan bahasa deskriptif dalam sastra. Lazar (1993) mengatakan bahwa sastra dapat digunakan sebagai sebuah alat untuk menciptakan peluang untuk diskusi, perdebatan, dan berpikir kritis.

4.    Isu-isu metodologis dalam menggunakan sastra di kelas

Salah satu poin terpenting dalam menggunakan sastra di kelas bahasa asing adalah konsep dari pengalaman yang berkaitan dengan sastra. Dengan lugas didefinisikan oleh Arthur (1968) bahwa sastra adalah sebagai interaksi spesial yang ada antara buku/teks dengan pembaca. Pengalaman sastra mempunyai ciri-ciri tertentu. Yang pertama adalah bahwa pengalaman menikmati sastra itu terjadi pada pembaca sendiri. Dengan kata lain, kita tidak bisa memaksakan seseorang untuk menikmati puisi atau cerita. Yang kedua menyangkut pembaca dan teks. Karya sastra hendaknya sesuai untuk pembaca dan pembaca sendiri hendaknya antusias dan mau untuk merespon karya sastra tersebut. Ciri-ciri yang terakhir adalah bahwa pembaca hendaknya secara total dan intelektual terlibat dengan karya sastra yang mereka baca. Poin penting yang disebutkan oleh Arthur adalah bahwa “jika sastra adalah untuk menyediakan kendaraan yang berguna untuk pengajaran kemampuan bahasa kedua/asing, maka sastra harus berhasil/lulus dulu sebagai pengalaman pribadi”.

Ada beberapa faktor yang berperan penting dalam mendorong siswa untuk mengalami sendiri pengalaman sastra ketika membaca sebuah karya sastra. Faktor pertama adalah pilihan/opsi teks sastra. Ada beberapa usulan yang diberikan oleh Arthur mengenai pemilihan teks. Guru seharusnya tidak memilih sebuah teks yang melibatkan banyak item kosa kata dan struktur grammatikal yang baru dan sulit. Hal ini akan mematahkan semangat siswa karena mereka tidak dengan mudah bisa mengerti karya sastra tersebut khususnya dalam konteks EFL dimana tingkat kemampuan siswa mungkin tidak cukup baik untuk menganalis dan memahami kosa kata dan struktur kalimat yang sulit. Asumsi kultural yang baru dan tidak dikenal hendaknya dihindari khususnya di tahap-tahap awal pembelajaran. Ada beberapa cerita yang umum untuk semua bangsa dan budaya. Guru dapat memilih cerita-cerita itu atau menerjemahkan cerita populer kedalam budaya/bahasa asli siswa jika mereka mempunyai bahasa ibu/asli yang sama. Tetapi nilai kesastraan cerita itu hendaknya tetap terjaga selama proses penerjemahan. Faktor lain yang turut berkontribusi pada pengalaman sastra adalah penyertaan item non verbal yang tertanam pada teks. Petunjuk-petunjuk non verbal ini termasuk gambar-gambar (bahkan untuk orang dewasa), efek suara khususnya bagi anak-anak yang disesuaikan oleh suara guru. Hal ini direkomendasikan bahwa sastra harus dihadirkan pertama kali kepada siswa sebagai sebuah pengalaman non verbal yang utuh. Faktor yang ketiga dan terakhir yang disebutkan oleh Arthur adalah lingkungan membaca. Selama menggunakan sastra dalam kelas EFL/ESL, atmosfir/lingkungannya harus rileks dan tanpa mengintimidasi. Jumlah penjelasan yang diberikan oleh guru hendaknya diminimalisir. Guru juga hendaknya menghindari membuat ujian membaca setelah membaca suatu cerita karena siswa akan mempersiapkan diri mereka untuk ujian daripada menerima cerita sebagai pengalaman sastra.

Maley (1989) telah membedakan antara dua tujuan pengajaran bahasa menggunakan sastra. Yang pertama adalah pembelajaran bahasa untuk studi sastra dan yang kedua adalah penggunaan sastra sebagai sebuah sumber untuk pembelajaran bahasa. Tujuan yang pertama menekankan/mengutamakan status sastra yang ‘spesial’. Sedangkan tujuan yang kedua memandang sastra sebagai salah satu dari banyak fungsi bahasa.

Jika kita cenderung pada tujuan yang pertama, maka kita dapat mendekati sastra melalui dua metode yang berbeda. Sebagaimana disebutkan oleh Maley (1989) sebagai berikut:

(a)      Pendekatan yang pertama adalah pendekatan kritis kesastraan dimana perhatian utama kita adalah pada tingkat kesastraan dari teks yang kita pelajari. Pada pendekatan tradisional ini kita berfokus pada aspek-aspek dari teks seperti alur, karakterisasi, latar/setting, sudut pandang, motivasi, nilai, psikologi, dsb. Agar pendekatan ini berhasil, siswa harus cukup kompeten dalam berbahasa, dan familiar dengan kebiasaan kesastraan. Biarpun begitu, siswa EFL/ESL jarang berada pada level kompetensi untuk tujuan ini. Hasilnya adalah apa yang disebut sebuah ‘kompetensi semu’ dimana siswa menghafal istilah kritis teknis tanpa pemahaman yang mendalam dan hanya mengulang opini-opini yang telah mereka ekspos dalam ujian bahkan dengan hafalan diluar kepala. Oleh karena itu, penerapan sastra dengan cara yang seperti ini memerlukan persiapan yang besar dan mengutamakan bekerja pada kompetensi bahasa dan kesastraan siswa.

(b)     Pendekatan yang kedua adalah pendekatan stylistic yang mana kita fokus pada sastra sebagai ‘text’. Titik acuan untuk pendekatan ini adalah teks itu sendiri dan lalu kita berfokus pada penemuan tekstual yang mengarah pada penafsiran teks. Karena bahasa adalah prioritas dalam pendekatan ini, pendekatan ini tentulah lebih relevan pada konteks EFL/ESL. Tidak seperti pendekatan pertama, pada pendekatan ini proses pemaknaan dan pendeskripsian linguistik mendahului penafsiran.

Maley mengindikasikan jika tujuan yang kedua ditetapkan sebagai fokus perhatian, maka sastra dapat dianggap sebagai sebuah sumber pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa. Kita dapat mengambil kelebihan dari sifat yang menarik dari sastra untuk menciptakan motivasi pada siswa, dan kemudian membuat kegiatan yang sesuai dengan tingkat kemampuan/kecakapan mereka. Perhatian utama kita nanti adalah untuk memastikan bahwa siswa dapat saling berinteraksi baik dengan sesama maupun dengan teks. Interaksi ini akan mengarah pada pembelajaran bahasa dan pemahaman kesastraan kemudian mengikuti sebagai sebuah hasil sampingan dari keterlibatan mereka dengan teks.

5.    Kajian pada penggunaan sastra di kelas

Donato dan Brooks (2004) menguji sebuah pelajaran sastra di sebuah sekolah menengah atas untuk mata pelajaran bahasa Spanyol untuk melihat apakah diskusi kelompok di kelas ini membantu siswa mengembangkan fungsi berbicara (speaking) tingkat lanjutan. Mereka menganalisis wacana diskusi kesastraan dalam hal: a) struktur wacana diskusi kesastraan, b) tipe pertanyaan yang digunakan oleh guru selama diskusi, c) penggunaan tenses verb, dan d) kecerdasan siswa dengan menggunakan sebuah desain penelitian kualitatif. Penemuan studi mereka menunjukan bahwa struktur wacana/diskursus dari diskusi kesastraan, didalam kelas yang mereka amati, adalah bahwa kebanyakan kata dan kalimat tingkat wacana (discourse), dan naskah IRE cukup sering diamati. Dominansi paparan pertanyaan merupakan penemuan lain yang signifikan. Ketika berdiskusi hasil temuan mereka, Donato dan Brooks menyatakan bahwa diskusi yang bertempat dalam kelas sastra mempunyai potensi untuk menggabungkan tujuan-tujuan kecakapan lanjutan, biarpun begitu untuk mencapai tujuan ini, guru dan siswa hendaknya siap siaga dan sadar akan potensi dari diskusi kesastraan.

Mantero (2001) meneliti sifat percakapan kelas di sebuah kelas semester empat, mata kuliah bahasa Spanyol berasaskan sastra. Dia pada awalnya mengidentifikasi tiga tingkatan percakapan kelas yaitu ujaran, dialog dan diskusi, dan meneliti sifat percakapan kelas dalam sebuah kelas sastra. Dia secara khusus berfokus pada contoh-contoh ketika percakapan kelas berpindah diluar level ujaran dan dialog, bersama dengan peran-peran bacaan (teks), siswa dan guru dalam percakapan kelas. Penemuan dari penelitiannya mengungkapkan bahwa sifat percakapan kelas dalam mata kuliah bahasa Spanyol adalah paling banyak pada level dialog (sama dengan naskah IR (Initiation-Response) dimana guru memulai sebuah diskusi dengan sebuah pertanyaan dan siswa mengikuti (follow-up) dengan sebuah respon). Penemuan yang menarik lainnya dari penelitian tersebut adalah bahwa guru berada dalam kendali di kebanyakan percakapan kelas, yang membiarkan siswa hanya merespon pada pertanyaan yang ditanyakan olehnya.

Skidmore (2000) menganalis dua contoh wacana kelas (classroom discourse) antara seorang guru dan sekelompok kecil siswa, yang termasuk pada genre ‘percakapan tentang teks’, di sekolah dasar Inggris (konteks bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa ibu). Sama dengan penelitian Donato dan Brooks (2004), Skidmore menganalisis satu sampel dari dua genre percakapan, secara internal persuasive discourse dan authoritative discourse, dengan urutan pada a) tipe-tipe pertanyaan yang ditanyakan oleh guru, b) elaborasi/uraian respon siswa (contoh: kecerdasan), dan c) kemudahan atau hambatan guru selama diskusi kelas.

6.    Kesimpulan

Sastra merupakan sebuah bahan/materi baru dalam pengajaran dan pembelajaran kompetensi komunikatif bahasa. Dalam kelas bahasa berbasis sastra, sastra bisa menjadi materi utama pengajaran bahasa target, asalkan konteks situasi komunikatifnya asli dan nyata. Sastra juga menyediakan kesenangan belajar bahasa baru dengan dan melalui cerita-cerita yang menarik. Siswa dapat memperluas wawasan dan pengalaman dunia mereka dengan membaca karya sastra. Guru bahasa hendaknya mendorong siswa untuk membaca karya sastra untuk pemaknaan dan pengalaman mereka sendiri alih-alih dipaksa untuk menerima persepsi guru dari teks, sastra menyediakan contoh-contoh penggunaan bahasa yang efektif dan sesuai untuk dipelajari oleh siswa. Sastra juga menunjukan siswa cara-cara baru untuk melihat dunia disekitarnya dengan membangun makna yang berasal dari teks.

THEORY OF LEARNING AND ITS IMPLICATION TOWARD EDUCATION

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THEORY OF LEARNING AND ITS IMPLICATION TOWARD EDUCATION

Translated and edited into English by: Denny Nugraha

English Education Department 5^th Semester

From the book of “Landasan Pendidikan” (The Foundation of Education)

Originally written in Indonesian by: Dr. Asep Kurniawan, M.Ag

The State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Syekh Nurjati Cirebon

Introduction

The success of teachers in implementing kinds of their roles will depend on their comprehension about students’ development and the skills to apply it in the practice of education. This statement refers to the assumption that one of teachers’ role is to help students in completing development tasks accordance with their development phases. Moreover, another teachers’ roles in learning process are as facilitator and motivator for their students. In the implementation of their roles, teachers also need to comprehend how students are learning, which it will be concerning about theory of learning.

This paper will elaborate the study of theory of learning and its implication as in psychological study of education. One of educators’ role in learning process is as facilitator or motivator for their students. For the sake of implementing their role, they need to understand how the way students learn, moreover this is regarding with the theory of learning. In this paper, there are three main issues regarding with the theory of learning. The first main issue involves the theory of learning according to behaviorism school and its implication toward education. The second main issue is about the theory of learning pursuant to the cognitive school and its implication toward education. The last main issue is about the theory of learning according to humanism school and its implication toward education.

1.    Behaviorism Theory of Learning

The figure of behaviorism theory of learning is B.F. Skinner. This theory is based on the assumption that: (1) learning outcome is in the shape of behavior’s change which can be observed; (2) behavior and its change as the result of learning are modified by the conditions of environment; (3) the components of this theory are stimulus, response, and consequence; (4) the important determiner factor as the condition of environment in learning is reinforcement.

 The adherents of this theory explain learning as a behavioral response system toward physical stimulus. They prioritize the effect or consequence of a reinforcement, practice or training, and external motivation. Teachers who follow this theory, commonly plan the curriculum by arranging the knowledge content to be small parts which is marked with certain skill. Furthermore, those parts are compiled by hierarchy, following the principle of simple-to-complex. Students are viewed as the passive creature, which need outside motivation and are influenced by reinforcement. Therefore, they develop the structured curriculum very well and determine how students should be motivated and evaluated. The learning progress of students is measured by the observable outcome.

In detail, the concepts’ implication of behaviorism theory of learning toward education are as enclosed by Yelon and Weinstein (1977) as follow:

a.    Individualization: individual manner treatment is based on the tasks, rewards, and disciplines.

b.    Motivation: learning motivation is extrinsic through customization simultaneously or through reinforcement.

c.    Methodology: learning method is elaborated in detail to develop certain skill and knowledge, and use the technology.

d.   Curricular purpose: centered to the academic knowledge and skill also social behavior.

e.    Class management form: class management is teacher-centered, social relations are only the ways to reach the purpose and not the purpose which is intended to be reached.

f.     Efforts to make effective the teaching: namely by the way of organizing the program minutely and gradually also prioritize the mastery of material or skill.

g.    Participation: students may be passive.

h.    Students’ learning activity: skill’s proficiency through phase by phase customization minutely.

i.      General purpose: the ability to do something (competence).

2.    Cognitive Theory of Learning

The figures of the cognitive theory of learning are Jerome Bruner and Jean Piaget. This theory is based on the assumption that: (1) individual has the ability of processing information. (2) the ability of processing information depends on cognitive factor in which the development progresses gradually in line with individual’s age phase. (3) learning is internal complex process in the form of processing information; (4) learning outcome is in the form of cognitive structure; (5) learning way in childern and adult are different according to their development phase.

According to Piaget that every living being needs to adapt and organize the physical environment of their surroundings so that they can remain alive. For Piaget, the mind and the body are also affected the similar play rule. Therefore, he thinks that the mind’s development is also the same with the biological development, namely both of them can adapt with and organize their environment. Piaget states that the theory of knowledge is basically the mind adaptation theory into a reality, like organism adapts into the environment.

As stated by Paul Suparno (1977), Piaget suggests that human’s mind has structure which is called scheme or schemata. Scheme is a mental structure or cognitive which can make someone intellectually adapt and coordinate his/her surrounding environment. Schemata will adapt and change during the mental development of children. Adult has many schemata. Scheme is used to process and identify the coming stimulus. A newborn baby has a little scheme, which is in his/her development becomes more general, more detail and more complete.

Human intellectual adaptation is carried out by two ways, namely through assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the cognitive process which makes perception, concept, or new experience into the scheme or pattern which has existed in someone’s mind. Assimilation is viewed as a cognitive process that locates and classifies the new event or stimulus into the existing scheme. Thus, this process always proceedes simultaneously.

If someone cannot assimilate the stimulus or new experience because it is not suitable with the scheme which exists in his/her mind, thus he/she will do the accommodation, which involves: (1) forming the new scheme which can be suitable with that stimulus or or new experience, or (2) modifying the existing scheme so that it is suitable with that stimulus or new experience. Scheme is the product of construction, therefore the scheme is not imitation of the existing world’s reality.

In the individual cognitive development, individual needs the balance between assimilation and accommodation. This process or condition is called equilibrium, namely self-adjustment mechanically to set the balance both of the assimilation and accommodation process. If both of them are not balance, this condition is called disequilibrium. Whereas the process from disequilibrium to equilibrium is called equilibration. This process remains progressive on one’s self through assimilation and accommodation. Equilibration makes someone can unify the outside experience with the inside structure (schemata). If there happens the disequilibrium, he/she is spurred to seek the equilibrium by the way of assimilation and accommodation.

According to Piaget, the scheme develops in line with the development phases of mental/cognitive/individual. Thus conceptually that the cognitive development goes in all development phases of someone’s mind since the birth until adult. The knowledge is shaped by individual continuosly. So that Piaget is classified a cognitive psychology expert which follows the philosophy of constructivism.

The implication of the cognitive theory of learning concepts toward education is as summarized by Yelon and Weinstein (1977) as follow:

a)        Individualization: individual manner treatment is based on the cognitive development phase of students.

b)        Motivation: learning motivation is intrinsic which appears according to the knowledge which has been mastered by students.

c)        Methodology: using the curriculum and methods which function to develop the basic skill of thinking.

d)       Curricular purpose: focused to develop the entire motor sensoric skill, language, and cognitive, as regards to the social interaction is the way/tool to develop intelligence.

e)        Class management form: class management is student-centered; teachers should act to lead and guide students in learning process, exploration, and discovery.

f)         Efforts to make the teaching to be effective: by the way of prioritizing the programs of education in the shape of integrated knowledges, as regards to the concepts and skills must be arranged by hierarchy.

g)        Students’ participation: students are demanded to participate actively to develop their cognitive with principle learning by doing.

h)        Students’ learning activity: prioritizing the learning through the insight learning and comprehension.

i)          General purpose: developing the skills or cognitive functions optimally and skill to use the intelligence wisely.

3.    Humanism Theory of Learning

The figure of the humanism theory of learning is Carl Rogers. This theory is based on the assumption that: 1) individual is the intact person, he/she has the freedom to choose and determine his/her life; 2) individual has the desire to know (curiosity), the desire to explore, and assimilate his/her experiences; 3) learning is the whole function of individual personality; 4) learning will make sense if it involves the whole individual personality (if it is relevant with the need of individual, and involves the intellectual aspect and the emotional of individual).

The implication of concepts of humanism theory of learning toward education are as stated by Yelon and Weinstein (1977) as follow:

a)    Individualization: individual manner treatment is based on the individual needs and students’ personality.

b)   Motivation: learning motivation is intrinsic namely based on the individual needs’ satisfaction of students.

c)    Methodology: using the method or approach of integrated project, emphasizing on the social studies or studying the social life.

d)   Curricular purpose: prioritizing on the social development, communication skills, the ability to respond toward the need of group and individual.

e)    Class management form: class management is student-centered, students are free to select the material whereas teachers/educators act to aid and not to lead.

f)    Efforts to make the teaching to be effective: the teaching is organized in the form of integrated topics based on the needs of students personally.

g)   Students’ participation: prioritizing the active participation from students.

h)   Students’ learning activity: prioritizing the learning process through the understanding and comprehension, not only to achieve the knowledge.

i)     General purpose: reaching self-perfection and comprehension.

Conclusion

In order to the practice of education, we should not adopt only one of the theory of learning’s school above. Kinds of concepts from that the three theory of learning should be viewed as the alternative way which can be choosed, and mutually overlap. In line with that, we should be wise in selecting, adopting, and applying the appropriate concepts. As regards to the reference which we should take in choosing, accepting, and applying the theory is our view about the essence of students, the purpose of education which is intended to be reached, students’ characteristics, also the situation and condition or context faced by us as the educators.

Education, Society, and Culture

EDUCATION, SOCIETY AND CULTURE

Translated and edited by: Denny Nugraha

Department of English Education 5^th Semester

From the book of “Landasan Pendidikan” (The Foundation of Education)

Originally written in Indonesian by: Dr. Asep Kurniawan, M.Ag

The State Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Syekh Nurjati Cirebon

Introduction

            An educational institution and its educational program will reflect the life and culture of its society, circumstances of socio-culture will not be separable from it. Sociological and anthropological foundation of education namely are discussing about the concepts of education in society contexts and its culture, the relation between education and society, the relation between education and its culture, also various environments of education which exist in the society. Therefore, the study of sociological and anthropological foundation are viewed important for those of educator, especially for teachers.

            This paper will emphasize the discussion of sociological and anthropological foundation of education in Indonesian context. Here the focus will be on the matters of function of education that teachers or educators should deal with. The discussions which involve the definition of social institution, the relationship between education and society, and the relationship of function between the society and its culture will be presented to broaden the teachers’ knowledge and so for those who are concerned in education.

1.    Education as Social Institution (Pranata Sosial)

Theodorson G.A defines the social institution as “an interrelated system of social roles and norms organized about the satisfaction of an important social need or function”. Social institution is a roles system and social norms that are related and organized around the fulfilment of need or important social function (Sudarja Adiwikarta, 1988). Komblum uses the term of institution to describe the social institution, he defines it as “a status and role structure which are directed to the satisfaction of basic needs of society member” (Kamanto Sunarto, 1993). Whereas Koentjaraningrat (1984), in his definition about social institution intrinsically mentions also the tools and human that implement those roles. All definition above is critically different, but fundamentally contains the same relative understanding. The essence is that social institution constitutes a typical activity system of a patterned behavior; this typical activity is done by every individual or human which each has status and role which is mutual connected or has structure; refers to the system of certain ideas, values, and norms or behavior patterns; implemented by using various tools; and this particular activity has function to fulfill the basic necessity of society member. In other words, social institution is a patterned behavior used by the society to fulfill every basic need.

Every member of society (individual) and the society itself as an individuals unity have various basic need, for instance the need of metabolism, reproduction, security, health etc. These basic necessity will be fulfilled in the shape of cultural responses of food supply, kinship, protection, education etc. These responses will have similarity in pattern within a certain society. The standardized pattern of responses is called social institution which involves economic institution, political institution, religious institution, educational institution etc.

Educational institution (pranata pendidikan) is one of social institution in the matter of socialization process and/or enculturation to deliver individual into social and cultural life, also to maintain the existence of society and its culture. Through the educational institution, the socialization and/or enculturation is held by the society, so the existence of society and its culture can last although there is a change of its member because of the birth, death, and/or migration.

As the social institution, educational institution exists within the society and is open. Therefore, educational institution takes the input from the society and gives the output to the society too. For example, the input of teachers and students in a educational institution derives from the society itself; the purpose of education is formulated according to the input of the society’s system of values, hopes, and dreams etc. Conversely, the society provides or gives the input resources for educational institution and receives the output from the educational institution. For instance, within the society there are residents, value system, knowledge system, etc., this is input resource which is provided by the society for the educational institution. But though the society itself (for example a company) accepts the fresh graduate of educational institution (school or university) as the employee or worker etc.

2.    Education and Society

a.         The Relation between Education and Economy

In the perspective of history is well known that education in the beginning is held informally in family environment and non-formally in society environment. Furthermore, education is also implemented in schools. Even as the reality, recently education is experiencing a significant development. The development deals with the amount of institution of education (number of child education institution, elementary education, middle education, and high education institution); the increase of education level for a position or profession (i.e., in the past, to be an elementary school teacher, someone must be a graduate from teacher education school (SPG) which is in the same level with high school (SMA), then it is increased to be diploma 2, and now it must be for bachelor degree graduate (S1)), the existence of increasing society’s aspiration concerning the significance of education etc. Towards those development, Olive Banks calls it as “explosion of education” (ledakan pendidikan) (Sudarja Adiwikarta, 1988).

 Besides of the occurence of development in education as described above, recently there happens the development in economy too. The development of economy is signed with the use of technology which is progressively developed in industry, the appearance of the new job field needs certain skills and managements, etc. In line with the condition above, raise a question, is there a relationship between education and the economic condition of a society?

Concerning with the problem as it is questioned above, based on the data gained from various source, Sudarja Adiwikarta (1988) concludes that there is a constant and positive relation between the level of education and economic condition, meaning that the higher level of education, the higher level of economic condition too. So many evidences show that between the two there is a mutual influencing relationship, namely that the growth of education influences the growth of economy, and conversely, the growth of economy influences the growth of education. Scrutinizing the statement above, we can conclude that there is mutual relation between the growth of education and the growth of economy. Yet, it does not know clearly that which factor that appears first and becomes the cause for another factors, whether the growth of education that causes the growth of economy or conversely, the growth of economy causes the growth of education.

By citing the explanation from Parellus (1978) and Knowles (1982), Sudarja Adiwikarta (1988) states that in sociology, the concept of relation between education and economic condition as explained above, gets supports from the adherents of consensus and conflict theory. Both the adherents of these theory have similar view that the main function of an institution or educational institution in the matter of involvement with the economic condition is to prepare the youth to fill the productive job field. Furthermore in the the matter of education for adult, the purpose that is intended to be reached is not more to prepare the skills, but to increase the skills so that students can face any problems at that moment. Therefore, they (students) achieve the education of mentals, attitudes, knowledges, and skills which are useful for them. The process happens in all society’s layer, started from the most traditional to the most modern society.

b.    The Relation between Education and Social Stratification

Fundamentally there is equality among human. But conversely, the reality also shows that wherever in a society always exists the inequality of status or position of society member. The inequality of status maybe in job position, type of job, wealth, prestige, education level etc. The differentiation of society member based on the status is called social stratification.

There are many kinds of method used by the sociology experts in determining the social stratification, those are (1) objective method, (2) subjective method, and (3) reputation method (S. Nasution, 1983). Through the objective method, social stratification is determined according to objective criteria which are concerning with the amount of income, education level, job type, etc. Through the subjective method, social stratification is decided on the view of society member itself in evaluating theirselves in the position hierarchy of the society. Whereas through the reputation method, social stratification is determined according to how the society member locate themselves in the society stratification. In this way, the member of society is given a chance to decide the social groups which exist in in their society, furthermore, they are asked to identify each group member. In determining the social stratification by using the reputation method, W. Lloyd Warner finds six class or groups, namely class or group: “upper-upper, lower-upper, upper-middle, lower-middle, upper-lower, lower-lower”.

In sociology there is a differentiation between closed social stratification and open social stratification. Based on J. Milton Yinger, a stratification is called as closed if every society member remains on the same status with their parents. Further, a stratification is called as open if every society member has a chance to stay the status which is different with their parents, maybe higher or lower (Kamanto Sunarto, 1993).

In the system of social stratification, everyone has their own status, everyone will occupy in their group or class. Yet, in the open social stratification, everyone has a chance to raise up or even maybe down their status/class/group. This is called social mobility. For example, a son of the street seller has a technique bachelor degree and gets a job with the biggest salary than his parent’s salary, will stay on the higher group than the group that is stayed by his parents in their social stratification. Social mobility will keep going, opened chance for someone to raise up the status/group in his/her social stage. Conversely, they which are born in upper status/group which are less motivation and hard work to achieve knowledge, attitude, mental, and skill which are needed for certain profession, thus they will downgrade the status/group in their social stage.

Social stratification and social mobility which happen within the society, have attracted the attention of sociologist, they question those things in relation with education. Is there any relationship between education and social mobility? So that they also question about the relationship between education and social stratification.

According to Ralph Turner, in the society with open social stratification system, education is viewed as the important facility of social mobility. Turner views the education as the holder of social mobility function (Sudarja Adiwikarta, 1988). Education is viewed as the way to reach the better position in the society. The higher level of education which is reached by someone, the bigger hope to upgrade to the higher status in his/her social stage. In line with this, S. Nasution (1983) also states that “Education is viewed as the chance to move from one group to another, from the lower to the higher one. Education is the way for social mobility”.

Many education experts which put the trust on the function of education to repair the someone’s fate so he/she can upgrade the status/group in his/her social stage. The implication is that the appearance of idea and the expansion program and proration of chance to get the education. By that idea and program, it is hoped that it can be liquefied the boundaries across status/class/ group in a social stage. It is hoped that the similar chance for learning gives the opportunity for every child to get the job which is dreamed by them. The mandatory education program or universal education gives the same competence for everyone from all status/group. Thus, the social differences will be able to be decreased, although maybe it cannot be deleted entirely. The problem is: is it able for education to omit the social stratification?

As it is professed by Sudarja Adiwikarta (1988), Emile Durkheim suggests that the more progressive a society thus there will be division of labor which demands specialization for a field of job. Specialization contains meaning selection, because specialization locates people on a certain position appropriate with talents, interests, competences, and opportunities which are available in the society. This process also means allocation and distribution of resource which exists in the society. People get reward, including material reward, appropriate with the role that they play in the society. Selection means allocation and distribution of wealth resource, because every field of specialization get different reward. Furthermore, those happenings can evoke social stratification. How can selection, allocation, and distribution process be happened? These can be happened through education. Earl Hopper supports this theory. According to Earl Hopper, selection is undertaken in several phases, and it is started in education institution. When entering the school, children experience the strict selection through selection test. Then they must choose a field of study or study program, whether they are accepted or not in such study program, the criteria are decided by education institution. Educational curriculum in various ladders/stages and fields of study or studies program are projected for a certain job field, there are high, middle, and low position, and thus the salary too. Through the education institution, every society member is selected and gets certain knowledge, attitude, value, mental, and skill. So that, when entering the job field - which is through selection too – they will occupy certain job field appropriate with their education. Even after entering the job field, someone will likely get training or advanced education. There is potential job field to get the better income or the worse one, and there is a closed or open job field to achieve the progress through better and further education is undertaken by institution or company where someone works or through the education in other institution. Hopper views the education as the selection facility in implementing the social roles which are as stated by Durkheim which can arouse social stratification.

 Scrutinizing the explanation above, the conclusion is that education has socialization function for the sake of homogenity, also it has selection function to create heterogenity that is implicated for the creation of social stratification. Social stratification will not dissapear because of education, conversely education will create or conserve the existence of social stratification.

Education cannot abolish the social stratification, even conversely it can conserve and maintain the existence of social stratification. However, the concept of relation between education and social mobility gives the hope for everyone to be able to rise the status/group in their social stage. This must be understood and concerned by all teachers, because this concept will become hint by the teachers to give stimulation and motivation for their students, so that students can study to reach the high achievement until the higher education level. Teachers should be able to give the model concerning with such cases of social mobility. In this context, it is not expected that teachers underestimate their students which are from the low group, or teachers are not sure with their students’ capability. These attitude of teachers clearly will be contra-productive, and will hinder the occurence of social mobility. Therefore, teachers should realize that education – particularly school – has social mobility function.

3.    Education and Culture

Culture is the product of human and the prerequisite for them. They create culture because with it they become cultural creature. Take a look at a newborn baby, he/she is in the condition which is full of dependence to other people, especially to his/her parents, he/she cannot control his/her emotion yet, has not known yet about the values and norms, is not able to expect his/her future yet, etc. Yet, because he/she lives in cultural environment, through the education (enculturation), finally he/she can be an adult which is able to take part in society life and its complex culture.

According to the anthropology’s point of view, something that it is possible to let the above phenomenon happened is the process of enculturation. By referring to the statement of Melville J. Herkovits, Imran Manan (1989:34) states that: “The enculturation process of someone for years from his/her life is the main mechanism which makes a stable culture, while the ongoing process on the older member of society is important in encouraging the change”. Thus during his/her childhood and youth, enculturation stabilize the culture, because enculturation develops social habits which are accepted and to be the maturation of his/her personality. In this way, enculturation means cultural transmission. Yet, when entering the adult world, enculturation often stimulates the change. This is happened because there are so many new behavior forms which are needed by the adult people, even it is not only for theirselves, but for the culture itself too.

There are three views about culture which have implication towards the concept of education. Those three views are: 1) superorganic view, 2) conceptualist view, and 3) realist view (Imran manan, 1989).

a.    Superorganic’s view

As it is stated that the culture is the creation of human, conversely based on the view of superorganic adherents, that culture is a reality which exists on the top and outside of individuals which become the support of culture, and this reality has its own law. Thus, culture constitutes superorganics’ reality. Leslie White, one of the adherents of this view, states that: “Human’s behavior is the only organism response towards the culture’s stimulus. Therefore, human’s behavior is determined by the culture. What does one search about and how he can find it are determined by the culture. This is a view of “cultural determinism” where human is viewed as instrument, through human, the culture reveals itself.

As stated by Kneller (Imran Manan, 1989), the implication of superorganic’s view about culture towards education is that education is viewed as a process which is used by a society to control and form individuals appropriate with the purposes which are determined by basic values of a culture. Education – informal, formal, and nonformal – is the process which puts the new generation under the control of a culture’s system. Superorganic’s view also emphasizes that the must of the government to do strict supervision to guarantee that teachers simply implant the ideas, attitudes, and skills which support the advancement of culture. This means that education has sentralistic character, moreover education functions only for inheriting or cultural transition.

b.    Conceptualist’s view

Contrastingly with the view of superorganic, according to conceptualist that culture has not ontological reality, culture is not a superorganic’s reality in the top or outside of individual. But, culture is a “logical construct” which is abstracted from human’s behavior. Culture is a concept which is established from the uniformities which can be observed in the order of behavior by using a logical abstraction process.

The implication of conceptualist’s view about culture towards education is that in education, the new generation must learn their cultural heritage appropriate with their concern and develop their own description about their culture objectively. Therefore, according to conceptualist’s view, education is viewed to become the tool of culture’s change which means to create opinion athmosphere which stimulates thinking and the innovative acceptance.

c.    Realist’s view

According to realist’s view, culture is an empirical concept and reality. As it is stated by  David Bidney (Imran Manan, 1989), culture is “cultural heritage” namely abstraction or generalization from the real “behavior” of society members. This means that culture is a concept (abstraction) and also a reality (behavior).

The implication of realist’s view about culture towards education: the adherents of realist view believe that human child has adjustment ability towards the surroundings reality, towards his/her physicality or socio-culture. To develop such adjustment ability they must be given various kinds of knowledge, value, attitude, and skill which are provided by their culture. They want the system of education which functions to train young generation that have ability to consider objectively the social and cultural change which is appropriate with the value of their basic culture.

The above explanation gives understanding about the existence of the ideological differences regarding the culture and its implication towards education. This is about what does education in a society only function to implant the cultural heritage or to influence the development of culture? Moreover it is also regarding with whether the students should learn the cultural heritage as it is taught by their teachers, or students should explore by their own initiative, creating their own description about cultural heritage. By these questions, it is possible to know that fundamentally there are two main functions of education in the relation with the condition and hope of the society and its culture. The functions are:

1)   Conservative function

In this way, educational institution functions to transmit/inherit or conserve the values of society’s culture and/or to maintain the ongoing existence of society.

2)    Innovative/creative/transformative function

In this way, educational institution functions to do the change and renewal of society with its cultural values.

The two functions of education as stated above, namely conservative and creative functions of education for the society and its culture can be understood and real happened in the society’s life. As it is understood that in the society there are values, knowledges, and patterned behaviors which are still relevant and viewed as good things which must be conserved. Otherwise, there are also values, knowledges, and patterned behaviors which are not viewed as relevant anymore and unworthy which need to be changed or renewed. Furthermore, to conserve and do the renewal or change, the society needs to do the above ways through education, or through what is in anthropology called enculturation.

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