Esra Palentina Samosir, a teacher at SDS Global Andalan Estate Cerenti in Kuantan Singingi, Riau, Indonesia, was recently crowned the winner of an ‘Inspirational Writing’ Competition organized by Kuark, which publishes a national children’s science comic.

SDS Global Andalan Estate Cerenti is one of Tanoto Foundation’s partner schools, where Tanoto Foundation routinely carries out training for the teachers in a bid to further strengthen their teaching competencies.

The article below was contributed by Esra:

I feel proud to be the winner of the Inspirational Writing Competition held by Kuark. Not because my writing was deemed the best, but because I can now share my experiences with, and inspire teachers all over Indonesia.

For the competition, I wrote about the teaching methods I learned from attending training sessions held by Tanoto Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on educational activities. One of these methods I shared was how teaching can be carried out anywhere – including outside the classroom.

As a teacher at SDS Global Andalan Estate Cerenti in Gunung Melintang village, Kuantan Singingi, Riau, I feel lucky as our school implements about 70 per cent of our students’ learning outside the classroom.

This arrangement allows me to experiment with my teaching. One way I’ve done this is to have my students carry out observation work at a conservation forest which is a 10-minute walk from the school.

Once, I took the students of the sixth grade to look for special distinctive plants in the forest. I divided the students into four groups, and tasked each group to study a specific plant species – pitcher plants (kantung semar), dodders (cuscuta), rattan, and forest orchids.

After first having to locate their assigned plants, students then had to study and record the plants’ specific traits. During this stage, students have to study these plants as though they are scientists – they identify and note the plant’s name, height, leaf type as well as root type in their books.

I can see that students really enjoy this activity. Having students enjoy the learning process is a good start to making it easier for them to understand the lesson.

I’m really happy when I hear students sharing about the plants they have studied, correctly identifying their heights and characteristics. It makes me imagine these children as future scientists or biological researchers who will advance science in Indonesia. It makes me know that it is not impossible that one of them might become a Nobel laureate in the future.

In 2003, Nel Noddings emphasized that happiness in one of the important factors in education in her book ‘Happiness and Education’. According to Noddings, education should build happiness for individuals as well as groups.

In Indonesia, this happiness and education concept has to be widespread as it is only understood by limited numbers at present. National Children’s Day, celebrated on July 23 this year in Indonesia, aims to raise public awareness that children should be entitled to learning activities in a happy atmosphere.

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In recent years, Tanoto Foundation has contributed to disseminating this concept by introducing active, creative, effective and fun learning methods to students and teachers throughout the country.

Tanoto Foundation aims to implement the notion that teaching and learning should be two-way activities between teachers and students, and not just from teacher to student. Such conditions help to make students feel more comfortable, and thus able to understand lessons easier.

Take Muhammad Aldiansah, for example. Aldi is a Year 6 student at SDN 169 / V Cinta Damai in Renah Mendaluh, Tanjung Jabung Barat in Jambi.
Aldi is able to explain in front of the class about an experiment he’s conducted with his toy car, and how when the 50cm circumference of wheels of his toy car rotate with a ‘tok’ sound 220 times, they cover the 110m distance from his home to school.

Aldi looks comfortable explaining the concepts of distance, time and speed which have been taught by Kiswanto, his teacher.

Kiswanto encourages a ‘learning while playing’ approach, using props and games in his classroom during lessons. Thanks to this method, Aldi and his friends find it a lot more fun and easier to absorb science and math concepts than if they were to learn it just on paper.

Kiswanto is among the dozens of teachers that Tanoto Foundation has trained through its partner schools in the past few years. He was chosen as ‘Favorite Teacher’ in Tanjung Jabung Barat in 2014.

Being employed internationally and recognized as global talent, particularly at a reputable organization, is a dream for plenty. Growing up, Desi Setyawan, a former Tanoto Scholar, was no different in also harbouring this dream.

The Indonesian native has since then succeeded in achieving it. Desi’s continuous determination to work overseas has led him to land an executive position at a giant oil and gas company based in Brunei Darussalam, where he still works.

Desi’s passion for engineering was cultivated when he was a student of the Civil Engineering Department at the Sultan Agung Islamic University at Semarang. After graduating, he worked as an engineer at various construction companies in Indonesia.

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However, Desi felt a longing to grow and develop his career further. In 2010, he decided to take up a Master of Business Administration at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. Desi applied for and successfully received a Tanoto Foundation scholarship during this time.

Armed with his new postgraduate qualification alongside his engineering work experience and strategic management skills, Desi then became confident in competing with other professionals from abroad.

He soon landed his first overseas job at a company in Oman which provides oil and gas distribution services throughout the country. During his one year at the company, Desi handled several projects related to various countries in Asia.

In 2012, Desi returned to Indonesia to work for a foreign oil and gas company, before finally joining a large company in Brunei in 2014.

“I admit that entering the global workforce was a tough challenge. The first challenge is language differences, with the second being cultural differences. The third challenge is the differing best practices when it comes to job technicalities.

“Every time we enter a new country, we will of course face these three challenges, and each country is unique,” Desi pointed out.

To face the challenges, Desi shared that it is important to envision one’s desired future in the next five or ten years.With that vision, we can then break it down into achievable short, medium and long-term targets, he said.

“We must also be aware of our weaknesses and our strengths. We must be honest to ourselves. If we have something good, keep it. If we’re lacking something, then it’s a golden opportunity to improve in that aspect,” said Desi.

In order to work globally, Desi added, one should also try to maximize his or her expertise in a specific field.

“Logically, a country will only employ someone if they have no or few experts in a particular field. So we must have specific technical skills, at the very least,” he said.

Another advantageous skill would be leadership, a skill which is vital when it comes to handling a team.

Tanoto Foundation has always strongly emphasized the significance and development of leadership skills when running its activities and programs, in line with the leadership values shown by its founders Sukanto Tanoto and Tinah Bingei Tanoto.

Tanoto Scholars, in particular, receive leadership skills training during their tenure as scholarship recipients.