Catatan Guru Biologi: MY OPPINION ABOUT TEACHING

MY OPPINION ABOUT TEACHING

What is teaching? everyone in this planet who calls them self as a teacher should be able to answer this question, of course in their own knowledge. In this way we must be careful, because if you get it wrong, you can't be a good teacher and maybe you can be the worst one.

Teaching is not about telling your students what is written in text book or it,s not just about telling them about "A for Apple, B for Ball", absolutely not. Teaching is about touching heart and changing paradigm.

Touching heart and changing paradigm, what does it's means? To explain this, I'll use a case about teaching alphabet in primary class, so you can understand why that I said teaching is not about telling your student about "A for Apple and B for Ball".

In a primary school there are two classes, with two different teachers in each class but with the same subject. To help us, I'll give them a name, Mr. Joko in Class A and Mr. Mamat in class B. In Class A, Mr. Joko tells his students to memorize the all alphabets and than he ask them to repeat what he said, like A for Apple, B for Ball, etc.

In the other classroom, Mr. Mamat with his students singing a song about alphabet, Mr. Mamat also give an example how to use each letter, like A for Apple, B for Ball, etc. He not ask his students to repeat what he said, but he ask them to make another word with those latter, for example A for Animal or A for Aunt.

What do you think about both case, who is teaching? Mr. Joko or Mr. Mamat? I dare to say that you gonna says that it's Mr. Mamat. And if you do, you are right. Why it is Mr. Mamat? if we look back what did Mr. Joko and Mr. Mamat did in their class, we'll see that Mr. Joko class are bored and difficult, because he ask his students to memorize and his students not gonna able make another word because he just ask his students to repeat what he say about each letter.

But if we look back what Mr. Mamat did in his classroom, we'll meet different atmosphere. That classroom look fun and enjoy, becouse Mr. Mamat and his students are singing. Mr. Mamat touch his students heart by that song, so that the students have no burden in learning and motivated to studies. And what Mr. Mamat did by asking his students to make another word with each letter will help them thinking in different way about how to use each letter, and it's means the students learn much by their own comprehension.

Well, in this session that's all that I can share. Actually, there are many explanation about what teaching is according my own experience in classroom and what I get in college.