Reflection of being a teacher

Initially my opinion about being a teacher was very simple. This was based on my observation of my father, who was highly respected village teacher, who had virtually no training. I was motivated to be a teacher in a little village.

My initial ideas about teaching began to change when I compared the jobs of teachers and university lecturers in my region in 1990. The former worked six days a week while the latter might be expected to deliver a lecture only once every week or two. So I began to aspire to be a lecturer, hoping that I would have an interesting job which I could combine with household responsibilities which were typical domain of women in my region. I could see that as a lecturer I would be able to continue working if I were to marry and raise children. This idea persisted right up to the time I completed my teacher education programme at the most well-known institution in my home region of Sulawesi.

Since I was awarded a scholarship, I was able to do my master’s degree in mathematics education in Java. That was the time I began to realize that being a mathematics teacher was not simply about having mathematical knowledge. It required deeper insight into a range of other disciplines, especially pedagogical content knowledge. My interaction with teachers in Indonesia and my observation of teaching enhanced my understanding about the complexity of the teaching role. It was my experience, however, of working with two teachers in Australia that really gave me a much more comprehensive understanding of what the teaching profession really involves. In contrast to the popular image in Indonesia that teaching is a job for those who can’t find something better to do, and hence is very poorly paid, I became convinced that a serious effort needs to be made to raise the profile of teaching and establish its professional status. In order for the standard of teaching to be improved teachers need support, investment, opportunities for concentrated programmes of professional development.