Teachers are key to the success of the teaching and learning process – the more qualified a teacher is, the greater the impact on a student.

Tanoto Foundation collaborates with educators across a range of teaching levels, including professors at universities, in achieving its goal of supporting the improvement of teacher quality and its subsequent impact on students, in Indonesia.

Sebelas Maret University (UNS) Surakarta is one of Tanoto Foundation’s partner universities.

“Through our collaboration, we assist teachers at our university to anticipate future changes within the field of education,” said Prof. Dr. Ravik Karsidi, Chancellor of UNS Surakarta.

One of the main things that Tanoto Foundation aims to do, in collaborating with its partner universities, is to strengthen the role of the Institute of Education and Education Personnel (LPTK) centres found in Indonesia.

LPTK are educational institution or educational department with the aim of transforming teacher candidates into professional educators.
“Tanoto Foundation’s strategy to improve teacher quality is to integrate theory and practice, and increase the use of these practices in both the LPTKs as well as their partner schools,” shared Stuart Weston, Director of the Pelita Pendidikan Program at Tanoto Foundation.

Understand the best teaching practices
Professional teachers should understand the best practices in the teaching and learning process. The teacher must understand that teaching and learning is a two-way process between teacher and student – not just from teacher to student. Teachers in Tanoto Foundation partner schools practice the best teaching models such as getting students to learn while playing, and also learning outside the classroom. This model makes students feel more comfortable and better understand the lessons.

Creatively improve student literacy
Teacher dedication is not limited to just delivering lessons in the classroom. A teacher must also be able to encourage students to carry out independent study outside the school. Several teachers at the Tanoto Foundation partner schools have succeeded in increasing student literacy in creative ways such as through the introduction of storytelling sessions in school and the creation of ‘reading corners’ in the classroom as well as outside it.

Communicate with parents
The ability to communicate with parents is an important skill that teachers must have. Teachers should help convince parents to care about their children’s development as well as school conditions. Teachers at Tanoto Foundation partner schools are encouraged to involve parents and communities in collectively playing an active role in the development and improvement in quality of schools.

Able to recognize the potential and motivate students
A teacher’s role can be similar to a football coach in that the teacher must be able to recognize the unique talents of all students. A student should be able to approach the teacher to gain an overview about their strengths, and focus on the most suitable field of study in line with these strengths. Teachers must also be able to motivate their students in order to realize their full potential.

Iwan Budi Santoso, a Tanoto Scholar from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), has an attitude of high social awareness.  Seeing how children in rural areas receive poor quality education, he devoted himself for a year as a teacher at SD Inpres Batulai, Kabupaten Rote Ndao, East Nusa Tenggara.

Iwan’s concern for the education of children arose when he was still studying at the Faculty of Psychology of UGM.  The Tanoto Foundation 2010 scholarship recipient followed a khatulistiwa (equatorial) expedition as a social and cultural researcher alongside the Indonesian National Army in Kutai Barat, an Indonesian border region with Malaysia.

In this remote rural area, Iwan saw for himself how the children were so eager to learn, but there was a shortage of teachers at the school.  Children just played around without the guidance and learning from the teachers. Since then, Iwan tried to step in and started teaching.

“It turns out that to be a teacher is indeed fun,” recalls Iwan. “There is a sense of satisfaction when I see children understand and be able to put into practice what I teach.”

Iwan’s desire to contribute to the Indonesian education world continues.  After graduating from university in 2013, he enrolled in the Indonesian Teaching Movement and was selected to be one of the Young Teachers in the program.

In the program, Iwan received intensive training for two months on education and teaching.  From this training Iwan got additional preparation for providing quality teaching learning, before plunging into the placement area on the island of Rote.

“I find that the children in the elementary school of SD Inpres Batulai are very enthusiastic in learning. Unfortunately, we still lack competent teachers to teach them, “said this young man born in Temanggung, Central Java, with cycling as a hobby.

His first task was to encourage the local teachers to utilize creative teaching learning media so that the children can enjoy more and understand easily the subject matters. Iwan also introduced outdoor learning to provoke children’s critical attitude.

“Sometimes I took the children to the beach to learn and know different types of wind. Another time, I invited them to get to know the natural phenomena of the lunar eclipse by watching it directly, “added Iwan.

Not only that, Iwan also took the initiative to introduce social media to the teachers so that they can exchange information and learn from teachers outside the region. Iwan hopes that what he did could improve the competence of teachers in providing learning in the classrooms.

At just 19 years old, university student and Tanoto Foundation scholarship recipient Mahtuf Ikhsan boasts quite an impressive resume, having attended international conferences in 10 different countries across Asia and Europe.

This month, Mahtuf is set to further add to this number when he goes to Mexico for his 11th conference – one where forestry students from around the world will convene.

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To Mahtuf, a student majoring in forest management at the Faculty of Forestry at Bogor Agricultural University, traveling abroad for free and acquiring new knowledge at the same time have been golden opportunities.

However, Mahtuf maintains this has only been possible with the hard work that he puts into writing his papers, often inspirational ones which suggest solutions to global environmental issues.

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The Pekanbaru native, born in 1999, attended his first international conference when he was still a Year 9 student in high school.

At the time, he heard about a conference that was to set to take place in Manila, Philippines. With his interest piqued, Mahtuf set to work consulting with his teacher and writing a paper to submit.
His paper was eventually selected to be part of the conference, and Mahtuf was off to the Philippines as a high school student representative from Indonesia.

Since then, Mahtuf has not been able to shake off the addictive feeling of attending international conferences, finding them beneficial in not only adding to his existing knowledge, but also in expanding his professional network.

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Within Indonesia, Mahtuf has been named the first winner of an online essay competition organized by the Muslim Student’s Association of Universitas Islam Indonesia’s Faculty of Economics in 2017, winner of the ‘Favorite Presentation’ award at National Student Science Week 2017, and the winner of Jambi University’s National Essay Competition 2017.

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However, his achievements also extend beyond the national level – Mahtuf received the ‘Best Presentation’ and ‘Best Paper’ recognitions during the 5th World Conference on Applied Science Engineering and Technology (WCASET) in Bangkok last year.

He also received ‘Best Presentation’ awards at the International Conference on Telecommunications and Communication Engineering (ICTCE) 2017 in Taiwan, as well as at the 14th International Conference on Management, Business, Social and Humanities Research (MBSHR) 2017 in Hong Kong.

“My goal is to become a forestry diplomat. I want to improve the forestry policies in Indonesia as well as in other countries, so that both the economy and forest environment can flourish harmoniously and sustainably,” Mahtuf shared.

For those interested in following in Mahtuf Ikhsan’s footsteps, here are some tips:
1. Look frequently for information about international competitions and conferences on international agency websites, on campus or through student organization networks.
2. Consult lecturers on the paper or essay which you intend to write. Lecturers are a repository of qualified and diverse references which can be used as sources for your writing.
3. Learn the writing style of technical essays which have been published in international journals and adopt it when producing your own work.
4. Constantly fine-tune the quality of your writing as your work should meet international standards.
5. Know when to start or stop – writer’s block is a real constraint. Do not push yourself when you are out of ideas. Take a break instead to rejuvenate before you get back to writing.