RALPH ROBLES
SCHOOL: GENERAL INFORMATION AND ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATION
10 AUGUST 2018
School Profile
Based on the Decree of the Minister of Basic Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia dated February 17, 1979 No. 030 / U / 1979, starting in April 1979, the school was declared as a First Level High School which is currently called SMP Negeri 13 Semarang located at Jalan Lamongan Raya, Sampangan Village, Gajahmungkur District, Semarang District. On the basis of the results of the Director General of Primary and Secondary Education No. 480 / C / 1992, starting the 15th of December 1992, SMP Negeri 13 Semarang was designated as Type B Middle School .
At present, SMP Negeri 13 Semarang has a total of 45 teachers and 25 sections from Grade 7 to 9. Each section ranges from 30 to 35 students. This class size effectively helps the teacher to monitor their students’ progress.
ACADEMIC SUPPORT SYSTEM
The school has a variety of Academic Support System for students to develop academic excellence. For today, Mr. Habsoro toured me around the school to observe the different rooms and offices. I also met different non-teaching school personnel. As I go around, I observe that the students have established discipline and responsibility especially in maintaining the cleanliness of the school. SMPN 13 is also complete with facilities to achieve the maximal potential of the child.
LET ME TAKE YOU THERE!
Library
Science Laboratory
The school has a library, a science laboratory, 3 computer laboratories, and a speech laboratory for Bahasa-Inggris. The library is smaller to accommodate many students but they have a comfy place to read. They have enough number of textbooks that students can borrow as reference. The Science Laboratory is filled with projects made by students like cell models, posters, and dioramas. It has the basic lab tools for experiments like the microscope, beaker, and petri dish. Unfortunately, I was not able to see the speech lab and the computer laboratories since they're locked. They seldom use them for class activities.
more about the learning environment
Mr. Habsoro also showed me their school's health unit, teacher's rooms, administrative room, canteen, garden, Musholla, Catholic's room, art room, basketball and volleyball courts. The school may look small but their rooms are complete to facilitate effective learning. It's all-checks for maintaining physical and psychological comfort for students!
Teaching system
The school promotes collaborative learning so that students can enhance interpersonal skills and critical thinking. Teachers commonly use Student Teams Achievement Division (STAD) or the Scientific Approach – observe, ask, collect information, analyze, and communicate. I found these approaches effective for learning because it promotes discovery learning. There are also times that teachers use the traditional method like Direct Instruction for certain topics. But, I believe that in teaching, there is no one strategy that fits all. The use of the traditional and non-traditional methods of teaching are the most effective so that our students can learn.
materials and other learning sources
The school has varied learning materials. Each classroom has their own projector, white screen, white board, and graphing board. They also have big measuring tools for teaching like a ruler, protractor, and meter stick. There is also a bulletin board at the back of the classroom to post different announcements and posters. Aside from this, each student also has a text book for every subject.
curriculum
In Indonesia, students spent three years in Junior High School from Grade 7 to 9; and another three years in Senior High School from Grade 10 to 12. Currently, the K13 Curriculum is implemented across the nation. As the backbone of Indonesia’s educational system, this curriculum gives primary emphasis on knowledge, skill, culture, and religion. Its goal is to develop students as a total man who is equipped with the necessary skills and attitudes of an ideal Indonesian citizen. Much to this, SMP Negeri 13 focuses on these aspects that is aligned with the goals of the K13 Curriculum.
One of the similarities of their curriculum to the Philippines’ is the use of standards and competencies. Both of these curriculums are competencies-based which means that there are intended learning outcomes that students must learn every class session. With this, students are assessed based on what they know and what they can do from the standards set for every lesson. However, the difference may be seen on the topics covered per grade level. In the Philippines, we are using a spiral curriculum which means that the topics are revisited when they go to a higher-grade level but on varying complexities. That is why some topics are taught in advance in the Philippines than in Indonesia. For example, in the Philippines, the Laws of Exponents are taught in Grade 7, but taught in Grade 9 in Indonesia. Even so, what I like about the K13 Curriculum is that students feel less pressured to learn all the topics at hand. They are not bombarded with too much information about the subject matter so they can absorb the lessons well. Nevertheless, whether the curriculum is spiral or straightforward, it is the teacher’s responsibility to chunk the lessons into manageable pieces for students to learn.
Teaching plan
The teaching plan in Indonesia is called Rencana Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran (RPP). This is their version of a Detailed Lesson Plan (DLP). I notice that their teaching plan is longer than ours in the Philippines. The reason would probably be the allocated time for every class meeting. In SMP N13 Semarang, the students meet twice a week for Mathematics, but each meeting is equivalent to 2-3 class sessions. Unlike my classes in the Philippines, we meet every day for a 1-hour class session. One of the pros of their time schedule would help the students to really master the topic with the guidance of their teacher/s. They have enough time to answer and discuss with their group mates. However, teachers are challenged to keep the interest of the students until the end of the class period. Sometimes it may be dragging for students to sit in longer periods especially those with short attention span.
Similar to our DLP, the content of the teaching plan focuses on three domains which are the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. The teacher specifies the teacher’s and students’ activities with their corresponding time allotment. For Mathematics, teachers would normally give practice exercises first and students will be the one to generalize the principle, concept, or formula. They are given a worksheet that they must accomplish by group. More on this will be discussed on the next article.