Sekolah Dasar di Inggris

Sejak dua bulan yang lalu, setiap hari Selasa saya jadi volunteer di salah satu sekolah dasar di York untuk ngajar matematika di kelas dua (usianya setara dengan kelas satu di Indonesia). Meskipun hanya seminggu sekali, saya seneng banget karena bisa dapet kesempatan untuk mengobservasi langsung sistem pendidikan dasar di UK.

Secara garis besar, sekolah tersebut mirip dengan dua sekolah nasional plus di Jakarta yang dulu pernah jadi tempat saya magang dan mengajar. Tata ruangannya mirip (ada karpet besar di depan papan tulis untuk kegiatan mengajar, dan ada kursi dan meja dalam bentuk berkelompok untuk tempat mengerjakan tugas), daftar pelajarannya serupa, cara belajarnya pun banyak samanya (sama-sama memaksimalkan penggunakan alat peraga visual, khususnya untuk pelajaran matematika).

Year 2 di Lord Deramore's Primary School

Ketika pertama kali masuk ke kelas Year 2, saya kaget karena anak-anaknya manis banget. Mereka juga sangat tertib; mereka bahkan baris sebelum masuk kelas setelah istirahat di lapangan sehingga nggak ada yang bertubrukan di koridor. Sebelumnya, saya sudah beberapa kali masuk ke kelas 1-2 di Indonesia, dan kesan yang saya tangkap beda banget. Menurut saya, wajar kalau ada beberapa anak yang sibuk sendiri atau malah asik main di kelas, apalagi kalau kelasnya cukup besar. Tapi di sekolah tempat saya magang ini, ke-28 anak yang ada di kelas anteng banget dengerin gurunya yang lagi ngajar. Gurunya pun santai, nggak perlu teriak, nggak pake marah-marah.

Di kelas, anak-anak ini cukup aktif dan kritis. Jika ada pertanyaan untuk kelas, guru kelas akan meminta anak-anak untuk mengangkat tangan jika mereka tahu jawabannya. Anak yang langsung menjawab sebelum ditunjuk akan diberikan teguran. Setelah satu anak menjawab, guru kelas biasanya bertanya lagi ke satu murid yang lain, "do you think that's correct?" Menurut saya, ini akan melatih anak untuk berani mengeluarkan opini dan menerima kritik, bukan jadi orang yang ikut-ikutan dan asal setuju dengan jawaban orang lain.

Di awal kelas, jika di hari sebelumnya ada tugas yang harus diselesaikan, guru akan memanggil nama beberapa anak dan meminta mereka untuk berdiri. "You all did very well, but I'm really impressed with these students, because they all showed great improvement on their writing." Yang dipuji bukan hanya kemampuannya, tapi usaha dan perkembangannya. Memuji di depan kelas juga menurut saya akan berdampak positif untuk self-esteem anak-anak tersebut, selain sebagai reinforcement agar mereka terus meningkatkan kualitas dari tugas-tugas yang dikerjakan. 

Waktu itu, saya pernah papasan dengan kepala sekolah yang sedang menenangkan murid kelas 6 yang lagi panik sebelum try-out SATs. Dengan bijaknya, kepala sekolah tersebut bilang, "You don't have to worry about it. The test is important, but it won't be the end of the world. You have an amazing brain and you've worked really hard. Your parents are going to be proud of you no matter what. You'll be fine!" Saya langsung berkaca-kaca dengernya. She sounded genuine and kind, and I wish I had more teachers like that. Di sini, nilai bukanlah segala-galanya. Setiap anak punya kelebihan masing-masing yang terkadang nggak bisa tergambar oleh sederet angka.

Ada satu hal lagi yang bikin saya kagum: kepedulian sekolah dan orang tua terhadap asupan gizi para siswa. Di sini, setiap waktu istirahat, kebanyakan anak membawa buah atau sayur dari rumah. Sekolah juga menyediakan pisang, jeruk, tomat, apel, dan/atau wortel untuk para murid untuk istirahat siang, serta susu untuk istirahat pagi. Murid-murid dilarang membawa minuman manis dari rumah (termasuk jus kotak). Saya kagum banget karena anak-anak ini jadi terbiasa untuk mengonsumsi makanan sehat sejak dini. 

Saya tahu kalau saya nggak bisa menggeneralisasi hasil observasi saya di satu sekolah dan menarik kesimpulan kalau pendidikan di Inggris jauh lebih baik daripada di Indonesia. Namun, saya benar-benar kagum dengan sistem pendidikan di sini serta cara guru-guru mendidik murid-muridnya. Saya jadi paham kenapa teman-teman saya di kelas yang lahir dan besar di UK secara umum lebih kritis dan berani berpendapat daripada mahasiswa-mahasiswa asia (termasuk saya). Pendidikan dini, menurut saya, memang sekrusial itu untuk membentuk pola pikir dan cara kerja kita.

Oh, and have I mentioned that the students don't need to pay anything to get a top-notch education? That's actually the best part! Because a high-quality education should be a right for every child, not a privilege. 

The Abundance of John Green

I used to be a keen reader. I read the fifth book of Harry Potter (I still remember that the translated version I read was exactly 1200 pages) in less than 3 days when I was 10 years old! But now I can't even finish a 200-pages book in a day.

So I listed "read more books" as one of last year's resolutions and bought myself a pink Kobo Glo because I like reading e-books, even though I do miss the smell of a new book, sometimes. And so I started to read again, even though I realized I didn't feel as excited as I was back then. I also began to read non-fiction books, after I ensure that it will still be a light read.

A good book, for me, is the one that can relate to anyone who reads it. If it's a fiction, it will make me feel that at least one character from the book is me. The plot and the story could be very un-relatable, it's the thought and that matters.

That's probably why I like John Green. I have read Will Grayson, Will Grayson and The Fault in Our Stars, just finished The Abundance of Katherines, and currently on Paper Towns.

And of course, Looking for Alaska is on my to-read list.

His novels are quite typical. Young adult novels with a geeky main character who has only one or two best friends, which is embellished with fancy words and deep, quotable sentences. When the characters fall in love, John will make sure that the readers fall in love as well. So he will use sentences like "the smile could end wars and cure cancer" or "if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane."

I don't really like young adult stories because it's just too young, but John Green's are exceptions. or me, plots are not as important as words and sentences. So yes, even though plenty of Goodreads user thought The Abundance of Katherines is a boring book, I still relish it because it was vastly relatable and thought-provoking as well.

(Source: Pinterest)

I do wonder if a person could really love someone just the way they are. I worry a lot, and I ponder a lot. Like Colin Singleton, I often have negative thoughts about myself, and I repeatedly imagine the worst possibilities of how another person would think of me. I do have questions about myself that I can't answer nor ask to anyone else. I do also push myself to be able to do something remarkable, because being in the middle of a bell shape is not fulfilling enough. But unlike a fictional character, there is no happy ending that is going to happen in just a few more pages. So just hang in there.

Well said, Colin. (Source: Weheartit)

Anyway, I don't only adore his novels, actually, but also the thoughts, passion, and broad knowledge of John Green and his brother Hank; as seen in their vlogs and Crash Course videos. How brilliant are the Green Brothers!

Proyeksi

"Kriteria ideal yang kita bikin untuk (calon) pasangan itu terkadang sebenarnya adalah proyeksi dari kriteria yang kita buat untuk diri kita sendiri. Kita pasang suatu standar untuk calon pasangan yang menurut kita sesuai dengan kondisi diri kita, tapi pada akhirnya kita akan sadar kalau kriteria itu adalah hal-hal yang kita inginkan untuk ada di diri kita, bukan yang cocok jadi pasangan kita. Pada akhirnya, yang Allah kasih ke kita mungkin ga akan sepenuhnya sama dengan yang kita pengen, tapi toh itu yang akan bikin kita bahagia."

- Disadur dari percakapan dengan seorang teman kesayangan yang dalam hitungan minggu akan jadi istri orang. It is always pleasant and insightful to have a conversation with you, Qis! 

Chin Up!

I have finally received the feedback for every essay that I have written in the first term and for a presentation that I did last week. Unlike in Indonesia, feedbacks for essay and presentation are given in detail, not just by a number that God knows where from. My lecturers actually read every single word in my paper and gave me a constructive feedback for several sentences that I wrote (like "this should be supported by more evidence" or "great idea!"). For the presentation feedback, my course coordinator created a table consists of marking criteria and gave it to the whole class, so that we would get feedback from each of our classmates.

I said "I'm the stupidest one here" a lot. I said "I'm nothing compared to everyone here" abundantly, as well. I'm constantly being too hard on myself, and I know it. So it feels relieving to receive such constructive feedbacks to keep my self-efficacy from plummeting. Now I realized that while academic world is clearly not for me and I'm not going to get a PhD anytime soon, I'm not all that bad. I am actually really proud of my presentation and my essay. There are some flaws, obviously, but I'm still learning, and making some mistakes is not a bad thing as long as I can make some progress. I thought I would never critically analyse a paper as well as what my lecturer expected me to do, but hey, I read my undergraduate thesis (the one that I am very proud of), and already found a new flaws in just a few minutes - which is a sign that my knowledge is evolving. And yes, being an international student who has never used English in academic setting before, of course needing more time and effort in order to thrive is normal.

The scores that I got for the first term was not impressive. But it wasn't bad, and I have to admit that I really get what I deserve. I obviously underestimated my own ability. I still have what it takes to be what I aspire to be - I just need to be reminded of that fact all the time, instead of ruminating perpetually.

So chin up, chin up. Keep this in mind: everything is going to be okay.