Kamis, 06 November 2014

Guest Lecturer Session

This session of Affective Education class was quiet different with the previous class. In this session, we had a joint class with students from CurDev (Curriculum Development) class from cohort 2011. We also had a guest lecturer from Sekolah Cikal. In this class, we discussed about the 2013 Curriculum (kurikulum 2013/ kurtilas) and its comparison with IB curriculum used in his school. Our guest lecturer is a teacher and expert in curriculum.
What I got from his explanation is mostly about the use of IB curriculum in his school, Sekolah Cikal. He said IB curriculum is more flexible because the students can choose the course that they like or they want to learn the most. He also shared his experienced on how his students can master beyond what he expects from them only by watching YouTube. One thought which I remember from him is that teachers will be substituted by YouTube in the near future if they do not improve themselves. He thought what the point of being teacher then if internet, especially YouTube could provide all the things students need, like tutorial, explanation, etc. He then compared the IB curriculum and 2013 Curriculum which are similar in flexibility for him. Both of the curriculums have clear rubrics of assessment so that the students know what level they must achieve.

His explanation was mostly about curriculum, how he compared the two of the curriculum. And he rarely talked about affective component. This was not meet my expectation because I firstly think that he was going to explain about how to develop a curriculum with affective element inside it, but then he mostly talked about curriculum. So, my suggestion for the next is it would be better if we are able to get guest lecturer which not only talk about one topic only, but also integrated with another topic, moreover in joint class like this.

Problem Solving

Do you have problem? Do you ever encounter a problem? Do you ever think that you will never be able to solve your problem? Do you think that the problem you have is bigger than anyone else? Or do you never think “problem” as a problem?

Well, all of people in this world of course have problem, not only one, but a lot. With family and work, their own health care system, self-management, physical difficulties, or social environment. And what people have to do is to solve the problem, so that they will not feel stress or anxious to think about their problem. But how to solve the problem? Nah, that is why I write this article.

Problem solving, which means the ability of someone to solve problem, is included in one of 21st century skill, in part of learning and innovation skill. Before we talk further about problem solving, let us discuss first about what problem is. Problem is a condition when expectation does not meet with the reality. There are some factors which can arise problems; goal, object, operation, and constrain. Problem itself is divided into two types, well defined problem and ill defined problem. Well defined problem is a problem which has one and only clear-cut solution, like mathematics, statistics, chemistry, etc. While ill defined problem is a problem which has multiple possible solutions, like solving problem between couple who just has a quarrelsome.

After knowing two kinds of problem, so how do we do to solve it? According to William and Carey (2007), there are six steps to solve problems; identify the problem, seek out information and goal, brainstorm, choose solution, describe the plan, also review and revise.

1. Identify the problem
When we want to solve a problem, firstly we have to know the root of it. You have to take a look deeply on the problem. Just imagine that you have to solve about arithmetic problem when you just learn about multiplication. It is kind of impossible, right? It is just the same when you have to solve a problem but you do not know what the real problem is. So what you have to do first is identify the problem, deeply.

2. Seek out information and goal
Next step is seeking for information on how to solve the problem and setting the goal to achieve.

3. Brainstorm
Re-think about the possible solution, and consider about the after-effect of each solution.

4. Choose solution
After considering positive and negative effects from each solution, it is the time to choose the most suitable solution which can solve the problem.

5. Describe the plan
After you choose the solution, you need to describe the plan you have made to solve the problem, for example whom the person who possibly help you to solve the problem.

6. Review and revise
The last step is reviewing and revising. After applying the solution, you have to review whether the solution is running well or not. When the solution is not working at all, what you have to do is revising the solution and take a look back to the first step.


As a conclusion, in our life, there must be a lot of problem we face. The important thing we have to think is how we are able to solve the problem well.



Resources



(http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/carl_ltc/quantitative_writing/wellversusill)







Between Potential and Passion

Do you like drawing? Do you like singing? Or do you good at dancing? Do you think you have potential in dancing? Or you just fell passionate to dance? Do you get confused? So what is potential? And what is passion? Well, let me explain it to you one by one. Potential is the birth-gift thing God give to you, it is the ability for you to do the things, or we call it as “bakat” in Bahasa Indonesia. While passion is your personal interest to do the things, or in bahasa Indonesia we call it as “minat”.
Potential, as we all have known from the previous session, is related to Johari Window. This theory was proposed by two psychologist, Joseph Luft and Harry (Joe and Harry = Johari), in 1950, and it is used to understand self potential and awareness. This Johari Window has four parts in it; open area, blind area, unknown area, and hidden area.

1. Open area
Also known as  "free area" or "public area". It can also be called as the "area of free activity". In this area, information about the person, like behavior, attitude, feelings, emotion, knowledge, experience, skills, views, etc is well known by the person (the self') and known by the team (others). The aim in any team is to develop the 'open area' for every person, because when we work in this area with others we are at our most effective and productive, and the team is at its most productive too. For example I am good at dancing, I have followed some dance competition, and people already know that I am a dancer.

2. Blind areaCan also be called as "blind spot". This blind area is area which is known by others in the group, but is unknown by the person him/herself. It could also be referred to as ignorance about oneself. Not an effective or productive space for individuals or groups. The aim is to reduce this area by seeking or soliciting feedback from others and thereby to increase the open area, i.e., to increase self-awareness. Others and the person itself take responsibility for reducing the blind area - in turn increasing the open area - by giving sensitive feedback and encouraging disclosure. For example, people say that it is possible for me to be a singer because they ever hear me sing. But still, I do not know that I cam sing well. That is why, people give courage to me that I am able to be good singer, and I will try to increase my awareness because of that.

3. Hidden areaOr it can be called as "avoided self/area" or "facade". It is the area where potential is known to ourselves but kept hidden from, and therefore unknown, to others. Represents information, feelings, etc, anything that a person knows about him/self, but which is not revealed or is kept hidden from others. Also include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas, manipulative intentions, secrets - anything that a person knows but does not reveal.„ Relevant hidden information and feelings, etc, should be moved into the open area through the process of 'self-disclosure' and 'exposure process'. The example is I am able to use sign language, but not lot of people know that I am good at it, because I never show to people that I can do it. 

4. Unknown areaIt can be called as "hidden self"', "hidden area" or "avoided self/area". What is known to ourselves but kept hidden from, and therefore unknown, to others. Represents information, feelings, etc, anything that a person knows about him/self, but which is not revealed or is kept hidden from others. Also include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas, manipulative intentions, secrets - anything that a person knows but does not reveal. To know our potential, we have to do trial and error. For example I want to know whether I have a potential to be a writer or not. Therefore, I try to make some writing to know whether I have capability on it or not.

Potential is supported by motivation, both internal and external motivation. External motivation can influence the potential, but the effect of internal motivation is bigger than external motivation. For example, I want to develop my potential in dancing by joining the dance competition. I have intrinsic motivation, that I could be the best dancer in that competition. My friends also give support to me and say that I am able to win the competition. This could be included as external motivation.
By knowing our potential well and having motivation to develop the potential, we will be able to be brighter than what we ever expect.
So in which part of window you are now?


Reference
https://www.usc.edu/hsc/ebnet/Cc/awareness/Johari%20windowexplain.pdf

Happiness and Education: a Review

Happiness is the best feeling people have in the world; they will feel happy in their life when they have felt about sad in their life. As stated in every religion that later every people will get the happiness in their next life, which means heaven, if they do the good things in their life. People have to do something first if they want to get happiness. But what is happiness?

Happiness for me is when I am able to make people I love become happy. It is also a feeling when you can be what you want to be, without any force from other people about what to do. Being happy can make people relax, and unconsciously, being happy can make people life longer. When people feel stress or under pressure in doing something in their life, they need some refreshment to renew their mind by doing something that can make they feel relax, like watching movie, joking with friends, or do the thing they loves to do. Sometimes, being happy does not mean to spend lot of money, you can also be happy by surrounding with the people you love because being happy is not about what you spent, but what you feel.

Happiness is also needed in education. Why? Education is mostly done in the school, and that is why school has become the second home for most of students. That is why it is important to make them feel happy and comfort in school, because when they do not feel comfort to stay in their “home” how could education process work well?

We Talk, We Work

The third meeting of Affective Education was talking about Developing Social Skills, Working Together, Collaboration, and Communication. There are five parts in developing social skills such as interaction, making conversation, building and maintaining friendship, empathy, and dealing with conflicts. In this writing, I am going to focus on communication. Everyone in this world needs to communicate each other. We, as human being, have to communicate each other because it is impossible for us to live by our self without help from other people, even from our birth we need someone to help us. In education context, communication means students ability to interact with others in a good way, Body language, facial expression, spoken words, are example of communication.

Communication, according to Johnson (1973, 1993) is any verbal or nonverbal behavior that is perceived by another person. It needs five basic elements which should be fulfilled; the sender, the receiver, the message, the channel and feedback. The sender is the person who send the message. The receiver is the person who receives the message from the sender. While the message means what the sender want to deliver to the receiver. A message can come in many different forms, such as an oral presentation, a written document, an advertisement or just a comment. The message travels from one point to another via a channel of communication. The channel sits between the sender and receiver, it is used to deliver the message, from the spoken word, television, an internet site, or something written like book, letter, or magazine. The last is feedback, it describe the receiver response towards sender's message. Communication will work effectively when the message intended by the sender is well received by the receiver and there is feedback from the receiver.

In conclusion, it is important to know how to communicate with each other well, because as human being communication is one of the ways to make us received by people.

A Review on Online Learning

OLC4TPD (Online Learning Community for Teacher Professional Development) is one of the website which provide online learning made by some expertise in education to gain knowledge and share each other. This website is a recommended website especially for teachers and students because it not only provides some courses we could join, but also some article related to the topic which is discussed. Some courses which are provided in this website are Reflective Practice, Koala Bear Project, Teaching and Learning, Curriculum, Leadership, Assessment, Social Learning, Teacher Portfolio, Students Portfolio, and Teaching Bahasa Indonesia. This website is not only visited by teachers or students, but also professors and researchers who are gaining data for their thesis. Here, they can gain comments from viewers by posting some articles or cases to be solved.

Using online learning is not the new thing for me. In Faculty of Education, we have moodle which provide us the material and task in online ways. We can access the material shared by others and we can share our materials. We can add a discussion forum and talk about the latest issue happening in education. Joining an online learning forum like OCL4TPD brings lot of benefits. Besides getting some information and gaining knowledge, you can also expand your network of friendship because there will be a lot of people joining this online forum, so it is possible for you to get lot of friends.
OCL4TPD is also talks about Affective Education. Confronting this 21st Century, we need some skills which can improve and develop us to be a better person, and luckily, this website provide it. Good and bad side is always stay in every single thing in this world, include in this website. There are some good and bad of using this website. It is true that this website provides lot of information which is needed, but the display of this website is boring and old fashioned. It will be fun if this website is not only providing article or some videos, but also linked with another social media, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.