Cendekia Serpong School: A Lesson in Gift Giving

Each time I walk into the lobby I pause and take a touch of aromatic oil for my hands. It’s a little lift to my senses, a special gift I give myself. It helps me get ready for this amazing experience.

Prepared with ‘Gift of the Magi’ lesson plans, we arrived late for our 7 am class because our driver overslept…thinking our teacher would have started without us, we were surprised to be ‘on’ the moment we walked into the classroom.  The 12^th grade students were very polite and shy, and as Amy and I began our lesson, we were pleased that our teaching styles meshed so nicely and things moved along seamlessly.  The teachers are fascinated with our collaboration, and share their desire to learn how to work with each other as well as their frustration with unsuccessful attempts.

Indonesian kids are similar to Americans in many ways, except these kids spend many more hours at school – class begins at seven, and ends after three.  During Ramadan students wake at three, pray, eat and arrive at school by 6:30 am.  We ignored the yawns and listlessness of some students, and empathized with what they dealt with on a daily basis.  We learned that 3,000 students apply for admission, and only 120 are accepted.  It is a great honor to attend this school, and many students use government scholarship for tuition.  Teachers refer to the program as ‘career studying’.  Students who don’t pass are expelled – there are no second chances.

After two classes, each videotaped by the teacher, we switched to 11^th grade English and our presentation on the US and our state, schools and families.  The students asked more interesting questions about American culture, boy/girl relationships, the CIA/FBI, what ‘Sin City’ was, and the American Dream. Several classes have told us they know America is a ‘superpower’, and that they can earn scholarships to study in our colleges.  They have such hope for their futures.

Later that evening we were invited back to school to literally ‘break-fast’ with some teachers and the dorm counselors.  As we arrived, we were excited to see the male students out of uniform and participating in an ‘Iron Chef-style’ cooking competition using bananas, chocolate and cheese.  Girls could only gather around and express their frustration with their techniques.

Just like American students, Indonesian kids don’t love their cafeteria food.  Big blue coolers filled with endless amounts of rice supplements the canteen offerings.  A quick tour of their dormitories revealed the stark reality that they live far from home.

We ended our visit with a traditional ‘break-fast’ meal.  Interestingly, we start with sweets (dates, coconut drink, steamed buns with rice paste), and end with savory (chicken, rice, and fresh vegetables).  Sitting on the floor, eating new foods and watching our hosts so adept without utensils, we reveled in the gifts they were sharing with us.

Each day in Indonesia concludes with a mixture of exhaustion and admiration; navigating this extraordinary culture takes a great deal of energy, a humbleness and willingness to learn from our mistakes, and an openness to receiving the gifts of knowledge and awareness.  We process our similarities and differences, laugh at ourselves, and ask a multitude of questions in our quest to bring our disparate worlds together.  I am so grateful for the honesty and candor of the people here; they are giving me a priceless gift that I hope will help me enrich my global classroom in America.

Jakarta: Starting Out

Arriving in Jakarta was really exciting - after three flights and countless hours of layovers and sitting upright, I was ready to explore.  The Indonesian language is difficult to decipher, so I followed the crowd to get bags, exchange money, and find our guide, Lilia.

 I had heard about the infamous Jakarta traffic, and prepared for the 36 km, nearly two hour drive from the airport to the hotel.  Indonesia is 14 hours ahead of California, so we essentially missed Wednesday and arrived on Thursday.

After an interesting breakfast - Indonesians eat rice at every meal, as well as meats and seafood - even for breakfast - we headed off to our guide's public school - SMP 49 in east Jakarta.

 

As we drove into the school, we were greeted by students hanging over the railings and the teachers and administrator in the parking lot.  We were surprised to learn that it was a school holiday for the start of Ramadan, yet the students and teachers came to school anyways just to meet us.  They made us feel like celebrities as we exited our bus!

We began with a faculty meeting to discuss global education and get to know each other.  It was interesting that the principal began and ended  the meeting with prayers. 

 We spent the next hour working in classrooms.  To our surprise, the English teacher wanted us to teach his students, so we launched into a discussion about our schools, families, and culture of America.  Notice the uniforms in this 8th grade English classroom - especially the sneakers!  My partner, Amy, is from Chico, California, and we had prepared a Prezi on her iPad which really came in handy

 The classrooms were sparsely decorated and moderately air conditioned.  Students here test into the school, so they are considered high-achieving.  They are extremely fluent in English, although some are reluctant to speak.  It was interesting to me that a student leader rose when we entered, then asked the rest of the class to do the same.  They greeted us, said a prayer, then took their seats.They are fascinated with American teens, and really loved hearing about our own kids and students.  They said they love Twitter and American movies!

Everywhere we went and everything we did they documented with video and photos - the teachers are so eager to learn about what American classrooms are like and how we teach.  I was impressed with the emphasis on behavior and respect, as evidenced by signs all around the school.

I was touched by how delighted the school was with our visit, and how honored and respected they made us feel.  I really think that these students and teachers have so much in common with us in the US - they want to learn, improve and have great hope for their futures. We left with happy hearts and new connections to help us learn to be better global citizens.