In March 2017, Tiominar, a teacher of SDN 115520 Sidodadi, Kecamatan Pangkatan, Kabupaten Labuhanbatu, North Sumatra shared teaching tips on her Facebook page. Mrs. Timi, which is her nickname, shared outside-the-classroom teaching tips that she gained from the Tanoto Foundation’s teacher quality improvement trainings.

It turned out that many responded to the tips, one of which was a teacher in Timika, Papua. Conversations were held in the social media which were then continued via the phone. The tips shared by Mrs. Timi were actually adopted by that teacher from Papua to be applied in his/her school.

This story proves that technology can be a tool to spread a teaching method to teachers throughout the archipelago.

Tanoto Foundation, a philanthropic institution in the field of education, tries to apply technology as an effort to improve the quality of education. Tanoto Foundation works together with Ruangguru, a technology-based education services and content provider, for disseminating teacher training modules across Indonesia.

The approach is through the creation of contents, which contain Tanoto Foundation’s training materials, and uploading them to Ruangguru’s applications so that they can be accessed by teachers wherever their locations are.

Technology with online network opens opportunities for teachers to share knowledge and skills in teaching. To be able to learn from each other, one of the keys is to keep improving one’s capability and competence as a teacher.

Here are three things one can do to improve one’s skills and competence as a teacher:

1. Participating in trainings to increase personal competence
Participating in teacher trainings is one of the best ways to improve one’s quality. There are quite a lot of teacher trainings available, both organized by the government as well as family philanthropic institutions such as the Tanoto Foundation.

You can search information about teacher trainings from government agencies, colleagues of the same profession, as well as from the internet. When an opportunity opens up for you, you should immediately register because the quota for participants is usually limited.

2. Sharing knowledge with fellow teachers
Each teacher will have different knowledge and experience. Share your experience and knowledge frequently with your peers. As the saying goes, knowledge divided will not diminish, instead it will only grow further.

There are many ways that can be used to share knowledge. In a modern time like this, you can share your knowledge both through physical as well as online meetings. You can share knowledge through the social media and also through the creation of a peer group in the instant messaging application. All these ways can be done easily and economically.

3. Testing one’s competence

Every time you have attended a training session, you need to know how much your capability has improved. One way to know one’s capability is by participating in teacher contests such as teaching contests, writing competitions, and competitions related to self-competence. From these contests, you can measure how much progress has been made.

Raden Ajeng Kartini, noted pioneer in the area of education for women in Indonesia, realized more than a century ago that good quality education is the key to achieving a better life.

With that mindset, Kartini went on to establish a school for women in Jepara, Central Java of Indonesia, changing the course of education and women’s rights in Indonesia forever.

Kartini’s beliefs and ideas have been passed down for generations to the women of today. According to data from the Ministry of Education and Culture, there are currently 1.47 million female teachers (at the compulsory education levels in Indonesia), compared to one million male teachers in Indonesia.

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There is no doubt that these female teachers have followed in Kartini’s footsteps of becoming inspirational educators – and this is being proven by some of Tanoto Foundation’s female partner school teachers:

Peni Herma Wirda, teacher at 52/V Pematang Pauh Elementary School, Tungkal Ulu Village, Jambi

Peni is a role model to her students, applying teaching methods that make her students more excited about their lessons.

Thanks to the methods, her students are now more active in answering her questions in class. Students also speak up and are unafraid to ask questions if they are unclear about subject matter, and are overall able to better understand the lessons taught.

Peni obtained these methods by attending Tanoto Foundation’s Pelita Guru Mandiri Program in Tungkal Ulu in 2016.

Sulastri Yerni, teacher at 004 Bukit Agung Elementary School, Pangkalan Kerinci, Pelalawan, Riau

Following her participation in a Pelita Guru Mandiri training session held by Tanoto Foundation in Pangkalan Kerinci, Sulastri Yerni became a lot more confident at teaching, and now uses simple props such as pictures and cards in class which help her students to learn more effectively.

The creative teaching methods she acquired from the training were also useful when Sulastri took part in a Pancasila Science and Citizenship Education Teaching Competition.

The teaching methods acquired through the training have also led Sulastri to win two teaching competitions held by the Education Department of Riau and the University of Riau.

Rensianur, elementary school coordinator at Raja Garuda Mas, Besitang Village, North Sumatra

Leading a school that has been established since 1981 is not an easy feat. The job comes up with ups and downs, especially when the number of students enrolled at the school dropped by 30 per cent at one point.

However, Rensianur’s efforts towards running Raja Garuda Mas Elementary School – the school founded by Sukanto Tanoto and Mrs Tinah Bingei Tanoto – and advancing the school has never wavered.

Rensianur, together with the teachers at the school, have organized various programs such as carnivals, competitions and recreational events for the students. This has proved successful, with parents routinely being enticed to enroll their children at Raja Garuda Mas today.

Tanoto Foundation continues to run its teacher training program, with the aim of helping to improve overall teaching capacity in Indonesia.
The Foundation is currently partners with over 500 schools in Indonesia.

Tanoto Foundation has established a partnership with Ruangguru, a digital learning platform to help improve teaching quality. The partnership was announced during the Learning Innovation Summit 2018, which was held last month in Jakarta.

Ruangguru, which translates to ‘Teacher’s Room’, is a smartphone application comprising a learning platform with complete learning solutions. The content available includes learning materials for elementary, junior and high school levels, in line with the national curriculum.

Tanoto Foundation will be using the platform to distribute training modules to teachers, as part of the Foundation’s Pelita Guru Mandiri program. The said program aims to improve teachers’ capacities and competencies, including the ability to carry out fun and effective learning activities for students.

The collaboration is meant to expand the impact of the Pelita Guru Mandiri program, which Tanoto Foundation has run since 2010, training around 5,100 educators in Indonesia to date. This collaboration will run to 2019.

“Research from the Programme for International Students Assessment has shown that Indonesia is still behind other OECD countries, in terms of teacher quality. We need breakthroughs and collaboration to find a solution.

“The first would be collaboration between the private sector and the government. The second is by using technology,” said Sihol Aritonang, Head of the Executive Board of Tanoto Foundation, during the Learning Innovation Summit 2018 event.

All teachers can download the Ruangguru application and visit the ‘Ruangbelajar’ section to access training modules for free.