INTEGRATED
CURRICULUM: A CONTROVERSY GATE TO THE DREAM EDUCATION PARADIGM
Education is a very vital aspect of a country to
improve its quality in front of the other country. Through education, a country
will be able to produce the excellent generation of society which automatically
increases the nation’s competencies in the middle of global competition.
Many countries try to change
their curriculum periodically and hope in the future they will find the
appropriate curriculum. Indonesia, one
of the biggest country in Asia also do not want to become “Fall a Sleep Eagle”
in the global education competition. Almost every year Indonesia always changes its curriculum. According to the history, Indonesia have been changed its curriculum in 6 times,
but the problems always appear when Indonesia implements these curriculum both
technical problem and non-technical problem. Now, Indonesia is preparing the
new curriculum to increase its education quality. One sign becoming major attention
to the Indonesia’s education paradigm is the 2013 curriculum implementation
plans
that known as “Integrated Curriculum”. This step can be assumed as the revolutionary efforts of the
government to recover the Indonesia’s education that recently invite some critics
from the educational experts. They argue that such decision is considered as
“the rash decision”. Eventhough the 2013 curriculum implementation
invite some rejections both from societies and from educational experts, this
policy is likely near to the reality. The questions appears now is: what is the 2013 curriculum? Why 2013 curriculum implemented? and How far the effectiveness of 2013 curriculum? This
essay wants to elaborate the 2013 Curriculum implementation to the Government’s
reason implements this curriculum, the public response, the teaching
infrastructure readiness, and the student’s response.
The 2013 curriculum implemented by
the government as the reflection of the previous curriculum implementation, SBC
(School Based Curriculum) which is not fulfill the government’s real
expectation about how the quality of Indonesia’s education should be. The government wants to
make a “Dynamic” education through this curriculum. As the illustration, if this
curriculum is really implemented, the Social Science and the Natural Science do not exist. The Social Sciences
will be merged to the Nationality Education (PKn) and Bahasa Indonesia and the
natural science will be merged to the Mathematics and Bahasa Indonesia. The
2013 curriculum also make the students’ learning time per week increase 4 up to
6 hour. Totally, the learning time of senior high school grade 10 after this
curriculum implemented becomes 42 hours from the normal time of 38 hours.
Meanwhile for the grade 11 to 12 the learning time increased up to six hours,
so the learning time per week becomes 44 hours. This condition invites the pessimistic attitude from
the society because the time addition is not always equivalent to the great
students’ quality development. They think that one of the components
determining the enhancement of students’ quality is the teachers’ creativity.
The problems now appears is the implementation of 2013 curriculum is not give
attention more to the teachers’ credibility recently. We remember the issues
happened in a previous year which says most of the teachers follow the certification only for gaining more income in their pocket. It makes the
product’s teacher from the certification afraid can’t answer the challenge
esspecially in the change of the curriculum. Moreover, according to Indonesian
Education and Communication Forum consisted of experts, practitioners and
educational observer, the curriculum’s change aren’t based on the comprehensive
study, 2013 curriculum is very centralism. Contrast to the spirit of
reformation demanding decentralization of education’s management. The
Yogyakarta Education Council’s leader Wuryadi, there are some weaknesses of
2013 curriculum. Those weaknesses are : it is not according to Indonesian’s constitution
No. 20, year 2003 about
the National Education System because the curriculum development pressure only
based on the pragmatic orientation not to the quality.
The 2013 curriculum implementation
plan also get the various responds from the Indonesia’s society, some people
support the change of curriculum as the government’s answer to the global
education demand, but in the other side, there are many people rejecting this
policy and blame it. The support of 2013 curriculum implementation basically appears
because of the assumptions that is the time for Indonesia to implement the
integrated curriculum to produce the excellent quality of students. However
Indonesia is the potential nation of High Human Development Index. Beside that
the 2013 curriculum implementation however give the teachers chance to develop
material better. This condition influenced by the the additional time
allocation of the learning activity and the reduction of the basic competencies
which have to achieved by the students. The another reason making the part of
societies agree is there are the interest subject having to choose by the
students before the learning process execute. The parents expect the existence
of interest subject, the academic potential of the students will be found
easily and then developed maximally. In their opinion, the interest subject
helps the students to have a better preparation in the next study especially in
the university. On the contrary, the societies rejecting the 2013 curriculum
implementation gives attention more to the learning time allocation. They think
that when the learning subject decreased and the time allocation increase will
be inviting folded capacity because it follows core competency thinking pattern.
At last the students’ learning responsibility becomes multiple. In addition, the
core competencies formulation are not based on the comprehensive study,
research and innovation. The relationship between core competencies and basic
competencies becomes incoherence, so it might be affected to the increasing of
competence density.
The third component that influence
the 2013 curriculum implementation is the education’s infrastructure readiness.
As we know that without the existence of infrastructure, the curriculum can’t
be done well. If we flash back to the previous curriculum implementation in
Indonesia. Almost every the curriculum change some districts of Indonesia are
likely to be shocked esspecialy in the place which still isolated. This
education’s shock trigged by the lack quality of education’s infrastructure
that finally invite the social gap between the education’s quality. This
condition also happened in the 2013 curriculum implementation, where the
government as if close their eyes in the effect of 2013 curriculum
implementation and do not make consideration first about what will be happened
if this curriculum implemented, and Do the education infrastructures for 2013
curriculum implementation being spread evenly on every district. Actually this
question must be answered first by the government efforts to supply the
education’s infrastructure to the isolated place, so the education’s
infrastructure gap will not be happened again. The problem now
appears is the government are unable to provide the infrastructure for every
district of Indonesia get in touch with the 2013 curriculum implementation.
Some experts suggest that to prepare the education infrastructure in facing the
new curriculum challenge, the government must recommend the teachers as one of
the major infrastructure of education to follow the seminar or training about
the concept of 2013 curriculum implementation. Even if the situation is enable the
parents and students also obligated to follow the training. It is very important
because essentially the curriculum management must be transparent.
The last component which proper to
become the main attention of 2013 curriculum implementation is the students’
respond. The students’ respond is very important because they are the actors
of curriculum implementation, so they assumed as the key point of 2013 curriculum
implementation impact. The shocking facts exactly appear from the students’
responses. Most of the students agree to this curriculum implementation. They
agree because the 2013 curriculum make the student’s responsibility to follow
the lesson decrease. They assume if the responsibility to follow the lesson
decreased, they are not burdened with the various lesson that must be followed
as the previous curriculum. In addition the component becoming main attention
which be going in the basis of this arguments is the existence of students’
interest subject, where in this curriculum, the interest subject of the student
get more exploration. So, they can maximize their ability in the learning
activity that finally it will give the direct influence to students’ quality as
the last product of 2013 curriculum
May be, behind the government’s plan
to implement 2013 curriculum invite satisfaction and dissatisfaction from both
societies and education’s expert, but behind all of that actually enclosed a
big hope from the Indonesian societies that this controversy’s gate will be
able to bring indonesia into the “Theater of Dream” of Indonesian Educational paradigm.
