Kamis, 06 Agustus 2015

Postgraduate Degree for School Teachers in Indonesia is Not A Must

School teachers of English in Indonesia should not have a postgraduate degree. It is a fact that to be a teacher is not easy. The teacher has to complete a professional curriculum in a teacher education institution to get the certificate of teaching qualification as a proof that he/she has passed examinatons and gained a certain degree of knowledge in teaching English as Foreign Language (Rasyid, et al, 2015). The teacher also has to comprehend the areas of teacher competences which consist of pedagogical competence, professional competence, personality competence and social competence (BSNP Indonesia, 2015). However, having a postgraduate degree could not be considered as one of the qualification.  It is true that it is better than graduate degree, but it does not guarantee that one who has the postgraduate degree is more competent to be a teacher than the one with graduate degree.

Everybody knows that English subject that is learnt in schools contains the basic materials. It focuses on four language skills and four language elements. English Education scholars have learnt all of the materials related to the English subject for school students. It is enough to teach the students with the knowledge from graduate degree. They only have to comprehend the materials much better, so they can anticipate the students’ questions. they also need to practice using English more, so they will have many experiences to share, and can give a good example in practicing English to the students.

Another reason why postgraduate degree is not a must for school teachers of English in Indonesia is the presence of a program called Training of Teacher Profession. This program is specialised to graduate scholars who want to work as teachers. It is good to learn more about how to be a good teacher and how to make lesson plan, scoring rubrics, etc. They can also practice microteaching and many things that are needed in teaching and learning process in schools later. If this program can run well, good English teachers undoubtedly can be resulted.

Furthermore, to continue the study in postgraduate program is not cheap. It needs much money to register. In this case, not all of graduate scholars are able to continue their study. It is rather difficult to study in postgtaduate program when they still do not have a job. They may wish they could get a job easily by having a graduate degree. They might be smart or capable for teaching, but if the school teachers should have postgraduate degree, it means that the work field has lessened and they could not be considered to teach. So, it will be more difficult for them to continue their study if the work field is limited.

Lastly, one with graduate degree is enough to be qualified as a teacher. One only need to learn and practice more before teaching, so he/she can be more competent than before. In short, postgraduate degree does not need to become a teaching qualfication. One can consider to continue his/her study to the postgraduate program after becoming a teacher.

REFERENCES
Rasyid, Muhammad Amin, et al. 2015. Getting insights Into The Perennial Truths of EFL Teaching-Learning Processes. The Perennial Truths: Introduction to TEFL, State University of Makassar, 27th July [Lecture Notes taken by Ayu Pertiwi, 2015].

BSNP Indonesia. 2015. Standar Pendidik dan Tenaga Kependidikan. Available at: http://bsnp-indonesia. org/ ?page_id=107/ [Accessed August 2, 2015].