Knowledge of psychology in education is very important for educators. Each learner has different backgrounds and characteristics so educators are required to be able to design and accommodate the differences that exist in the classroom.
In an effort to answer these challenges, the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia (UI) held the 5th Research Day webinar with the theme “Differences in the Learning Process” to provide an understanding for the academic community regarding research and research presented by the Teacher and Student Effectiveness Research Group of the Faculty of Psychology UI on Wednesday (15/6).
Prof. Dr. Frieda Maryam Mangunsong Siahaan, M.Ed, Psychologist, as the first speaker in this event delivered material related to individualized learning programs for educators of children with non-physical special needs. The birth of this program was motivated by the fact that so many children with special needs also have the right to go to school.
“Inclusive education in Indonesia only started in 2004. It has been 18 years since the establishment of inclusive schools, but Indonesia is still overwhelmed with how to organize inclusive education,” said Prof. Frieda, who is also a lecturer at the UI Faculty of Psychology.
She further explained that there are several things that pose challenges such as the level of education, the type of special needs, and the region. For the successful implementation of inclusive education, it is necessary to understand the concept of inclusiveness and its implementation.
“Such as: what are the requirements, what needs to be prepared, how is the process from selection to learning process, education system (regulation), as well as evaluation and expected output. Teachers and social support systems are at the forefront of inclusive education. Parents become social support for children, parents’ acceptance of their children’s condition is one of the keys to children’s success in the future,” said Prof. Frieda.
Not only the learning process in children with special needs, on the same occasion material related to the learning process in early childhood was also presented. Shahnaz Safitri, M.Psi, Psychologist, as the second speaker presented material with the title “Training for Creative Attitude Development in Early Childhood Teachers”.
Shahnaz conveyed the importance of creative teaching for an educator, especially for early childhood teachers. There are several reasons that make creative teaching an important topic, including the World Economic Forum highlighting creativity as an essential skill for the 21st century. However, data from the Global Creativity Index (CGI) in 2015 showed that Indonesian students ranked 115 out of 139 countries.
“This does not mean that all students in Indonesia are not creative, but the performance of Indonesian students in creativity is still low compared to other countries. Creativity is also very important for teachers because it is regulated in Regulation of the Minister of National Education (Permendiknas) No. 16/2007 on teacher competency standards to build a creative learning atmosphere. This shows that stimulating students to be more creative is part of the teacher’s job,” said Shahnaz, who is also a lecturer at the UI Faculty of Psychology.
As we all know, the home environment of each learner is very diverse. So, schools are expected to be able to provide creative simulations for students. Some issues related to creativity in the context of education are, first, teachers tend not to support students’ creative performances, especially if students behave differently from expectations. Second, creative students are seen as misbehaving. “Finally, teachers perceive teaching creativity as an “extra” thing to do or in other words, it requires more effort,” Shahnaz said.
Author: Psychology PR | Editor: Maudisha AR
