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SCHOOL OF PAPUA
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I need to know everything about the world
I've been living in. I know everything about
my environment.
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The sea, the fish, how to catch the fish.
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I followed my mother to our agricultural
land. I know what to grow, how to
nurture the plants.
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I followed her and I was happy.
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So what was so hard? I came back from
school. I didn't have to do homework.
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Teachers who lived in colonial times, we
had a different approach to teaching.
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How to teach kids to write and read – it's
quite different from how they do it now.
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Now they mostly do it by forcing the
pupils.
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Why do we have to give homework to the
children?
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We have to provide them time to play. So
they have time to play, and sleep well,
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without heavy burdens on their shoulders.
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Otherwise, even when they want to play,
they remember that they have this
homework.
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They ask their mothers but they don't
understand.
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They ask their brothers, and it's nearly
dark and tomorrow the homework must
be handed in.
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So, there's a limitation to the world they
need to build because of homework.
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Too much fear results in stupidity. Too
much fear results in weak thinking.
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Because some kids can only see to
understand. Others hear to understand.
And other kids do it and understand.
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There are many things that we need to
understand in this case.
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They may be looking outside but they are
still listening.
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Now, they trap students inside buildings.
Then, the teachers become angry,
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shouting, "What are you looking at?"
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We are just wasting time by giving advice.
In class we have very limited time.
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Now we have this "superior class".
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So we separate kids by those who learn
fast and those who don’t.
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The ones who already know a bit –
let other teachers teach them.
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So, we don't simply teach, but consider
all aspects.
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And for coaching, the teacher needs to
really get close to the kids. Hold their hands.
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We can come and write something down
and ask students to repeat this by
themselves.
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In several meetings with parents, I said,
“You are limiting these kids just because
of an issue with uniforms”.
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“If their uniforms are wet, they can just come
in T-shirts. If their shoes get stolen or broken,
send them in sandals or even barefoot.”
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“The important thing is that the child has the
eagerness to study.”
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If we compare the era of Dutch
colonisation to today, there is a big
difference.
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The colonialists didn't just build schools,
they started by doing research,
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in the coastal areas, mountains, valleys,
upstream.
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After that, they decided on the kind of
education model to use.
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They created readings where the stories
were all based on local stories,
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so the readings for children were based
on the places where they've been living
from youth to maturity.
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The children understood these stories
because they knew them.
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They have pigs, they have fire on their
farmland and in their houses. On the beach
they usually use it to cook fish.
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If you look at how they build schools now,
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it's too restrictive and traps kids so they
can't freely enjoy the scenery,
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the environment, which was created by
God.
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In the old days, they built school walls
only as high as a small child's shoulders.
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So we can see birds fly, clouds, rain, so
it reduces the boredom of the lesson.
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In my school years, a day must be filled
with singing and drawing. Usually in the
late hours we will sing.
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So this learning was based on stimulating
ideas. We discussed things by drawing them.
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The reason I say this is a Papuan school
built in Indonesia is because the majority
of students here are Papuans.
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There are some differences in the way
that Papuans and non-Papuans respond
to lessons.
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If we teach one plus one, immediately the
non-Papuan kids will have the answer two.
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But the Papuan will examine this lesson
carefully.
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One plus one, why does it become two?
That's not because they are stupid.
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No. But because they are very thorough.
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That's why the Dutch teachers would not
mix the Papuan kids with non-Papuans in
one classroom.
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It's not discrimination, no.
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But if you put the Papuan kids with
Indonesian kids in one class, the
Indonesians will surpass them.
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Indonesian parents will support their kids
to learn at home.
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But the Papuans, even if their parents are
high-ranking officials, they are not used to
teaching their kids at home.
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So, for the teachers this is a big burden.
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That's why the Papuan kids need more time
and a slower pace. It's not because they
are stupid.
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But it's like clapping with one hand, it doesn't
make a sound.
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But if parents and teachers are committed
together, they can clap with two hands.
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It will work and benefit the children.