Following up DBE 3 Training, Success in Developing Students' Life Skills

Based on Research by Drs. Agus Suprapto, MM, School Principal of SMPN 2 Kradenan

THE DEVELOPMENT of students' social and academic skills in lessons is currently not generally very effective. The cause for this is that teachers lack the ability to design and implement contextual learning integrated with life skills development. Training has taken place in the past to improve their capacity.

However, the training did not achieve positive results due to a lack of commitment on behalf of the participants and the lack of ensuing change is schools because no targets were set during the training. The DBE3 program organizes training for teachers on relevant learning for students which integrates the development of life skills. The training is followed up with action plans and support from school principals and district facilitators to ensure that teachers implement the results of the training on an ongoing basis.

This research, conducted by Drs. Agus Suprapto, aimed to assess whether the action plans and the follow-up activities conducted after the training have indeed improved teachers' capacity to implement contextual learning in order to develop life skills in the students at SMPN 2 Kradenan. The research objective is to enhance teachers' ability to design and implement contextual learning in developing life skills of students by ensuring that the participants follow up the DBE3 training at SMP 2 Kradenan.

The research was action research, conducted in two cycles. Each cycle consisted of four steps: planning, activity, observation and reflection. The research focused on the teachers of SMPN 2 Kradenan who have participated in DBE3 training program. The data was obtained through interviews and observation. The analysis showed that teachers' teaching skills improved from the beginning through to the second cycle. At the start, teachers' skills in developing and implementing contextual learning was assessed at 57.27%.

After the first cycle, it rose to 73.75% and after the second cycle, it rodse further to 86.02%. The percentage of students satisfied with learning activities at the beginning was 48.55% and the percentages after the first and second cycles were 70.87% and 80.44% respectively. The research concludes that supporting teachers to ensure follow-up of training improves teachers' capacity to implement contextual learning to develop life skills. There was also an impact on students' satisfaction with their lessons.

Classroom Research Has Changed

CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH (CAR), used to be regarded as a frightening specter by both my partners (Budi Santoso and Hading Rashid) and I, as an academic, thought the research was not particularly challenging. For both my partners, CAR was frightening because it was considered a difficult and something they could not do, not because they didn't want to try. They have frequently participated in workshops that have recently mushroomed all over the place. However, the more theory they heard about CAR the more confused they got and, as a result, never managed to do any CAR. Consequently both my partners are stuck as grade IVa civil servants.

On the other hand, I myself (as an academic) regarded CAR as inferior to experimental or ethnographic research. Maybe because I've never really paid much attention to it, even though I've often been trained in workshops, which were unfortunately mainly theory-oriented. However, as a result of the DBE3 CAR training program that we have taken part in, our opinions have gradually converged into a common understanding that CAR is essential to help improve the quality of learning, should and can be done by teachers and can be fun if done together by teachers and faculty members because we can play complementary roles and develop mutual understanding.

The CAR training system initiated by DBE3 is, to be honest, very effective. The training, which is more focused on analytical activities rather than theorizing, is supported by strong system of ongoing mentoring from the beginning, through the research processes (cycles I and II), right to the end (the reporting of the results). The research provided a new experience for our team. I have adapted the training for use in Teacher Training Certification activities in region 24 and have received a positive response from the participants.

One thing we learned from our CAR activities was that the biggest problem in learning Bahasa Indonesia faced by the students of grade seven in SMP5 Pirang, was the difficulty in writing, especially writing a narrative, and that this can be addressed using cooperative learning. In addition, the CAR implanted in us the belief that, as teachers and lecturers, we should not let our students experience protracted learning difficulties without trying to help them and every learning problem can be solved by working in a systematic and planned way using CAR style activities.