IMPLEMENTATION OF STUDENT LEADERSHIP IN ASSISTED SCHOOLS

Coaching in Foster Schools ( Dokumentasi )

 

BEGINNING

"Tomorrow, wherever you are, make a small change in your classroom." – Nadiem Makarim. This statement from the Minister is actually intended for all of us, so that supervisors, principals, and teachers provide more space for students in their learning and leadership within schools. The new paradigm for educators continues to roll out to create major educational changes that are centered on students.

Major changes must be made. According to Bandura (2006), "change must begin with intentionality to be built, to organize and to do it, all must move." Students are given the opportunity to make choices and direct their own learning. The ability of students to direct their own learning, make choices, voice opinions, ask questions and express curiosity, participate and contribute to the learning community, communicate their understanding to others, and take real action as a result of their learning process.

Student leadership is about students acting actively, making responsible decisions and choices, rather than simply accepting what is determined by others. So as a supervising supervisor, I will encourage the creation of student leadership in the schools under my guidance. Students must be able to grow their potential and characteristics optimally; we must start this from an early age.

CHALLENGES

When students demonstrate agency in the learning process—that is, when they play an active role in deciding what and how they will learn—they tend to show greater motivation to learn and are better able to determine their own learning goals. Through a process like this, students will naturally learn learning skills (learning how to learn). These learning skills are very important skills that they can and will use throughout their lives.

Students are given opportunities to consider their 'voice'; 'choice'; and 'ownership' to encourage the growth of student leadership. Students are given the opportunity to choose how they demonstrate their understanding of what they have learned. They are given opportunities to choose the roles they can take in an activity and how the activity is organized.

In terms of "voice," students are given opportunities to ask questions, give opinions, discuss, discuss class beliefs, make class agreements, and involve students in providing feedback on the learning process that has been carried out.

In terms of student "ownership," teachers invite students to arrange their own classroom layout, ask for students' opinions to determine the form of assignments, and respond to feedback given by students. However, providing space for schools to encourage the creation of student leadership is not easy; it requires collaboration within the school community to achieve this goal.

All school members and stakeholders are invited to sit together to formulate the expected student leadership. Several principles that can serve as guidelines for building student interaction with the community include:

1. Building an atmosphere that values students. This ensures that in their interactions with the community, students will always feel welcomed, trusted, and physically and emotionally safe.

2. Listening to students. To create mutual understanding and trust, there needs to be an effort to listen to students sincerely and attentively. Sometimes this may not be easy because not all children are able to express what is on their minds clearly. Patience and empathy from the community are needed.

3. Dialogue or communication with students. When building understanding, students will construct their understanding through a process of reflection from their experiences interacting with the environment and the people around them.

4. Putting students in the driver's seat. In the decision-making process, the community can provide suggestions or encourage students' ideas, but ultimately it needs to ensure that the students are the ones who will make the decisions.

ACTION

The concrete steps that supervisors must take in assisting teachers and principals to innovate must be carried out continuously and sustainably. The supervisor provides guidance to teachers and principals by providing material on class agreements. In each class, it is expected that the teacher together with the students will create class agreements or beliefs. This gives students the opportunity to express opinions and create a comfortable atmosphere for learning in their classroom. Additionally, it provides opportunities for every student to become a class officer.

In school programs, students are given the opportunity to become committee members and officers in school activities. For example, social service activities, arts performance activities, work exhibition activities, youth scientific group activities, and so on. Students must begin to be given space to improve their leadership competencies, which are very useful for their life experiences in the future.

Implementation of Student Leadership at SMP Regina Pacis Bogor

SMP Regina Pacis Bogor, one of the 8 assisted schools, has provided an extraordinary space for enhancing student leadership. This school has many innovations and currently received an award from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in the form of the Achievement BOS (School Operational Assistance) fund. In several activities, it has provided many opportunities for students to manage school activities, such as arts performances, graduation ceremonies, social services, competitions, and other activities. However, the principal and teachers always supervise and monitor the programs carried out by their students.

Recently, there was a virtual exhibition activity showcasing the art of 9th-grade students. The results were extraordinary because the students truly took on their roles well. Organizing the virtual exhibition involved several stages:

1. Meeting: In working on this digital exhibition, we conducted meetings 5 times.

2. Processing: We worked on this digital exhibition starting from March 1, 2023, and this work was completed on March 11, 2023.

3. Committee: There were 30 committee members who contributed to the organization of this digital exhibition. These 30 committee members contributed in various fields.

This is the structure of our team, which worked together to make this virtual exhibition run well. For example, in class 9F: the works exhibited consisted of 27 Paintings, 24 Digital Works, 8 Graphic Works, and 3 Ceramic Works.

In the exhibition (Adiwarna), there were several speeches: from the Homeroom Teacher, Supervisor, Principal, Arts and Culture Teacher, Committee Chair, and Class Chair. Opinions from teachers, parents, principals, and other stakeholders about the Virtual Exhibition: there were extraordinary responses, feelings of pride, and inspiration to develop it for activities in the 2023/2024 academic year, for all subjects. Details can be seen in this link: https://art9fexhibition.blogspot.com/

CHANGE

Amazingly, there has been a change in mindset with the emergence of creative ideas. It turns out that making changes within the school community under guidance is a beautiful thing. As in SMP Regina Pacis, there has been a change in mindset, to always move and make changes to improve the quality of learning and school management.

Many works have been born, real changes have occurred, and there has been a change in the behavior of students, teachers, principals, and all school members. This school continues to achieve. Similarly, several other assisted schools are also improving, implementing learning that is centered on students, increasing the variety of differentiated learning, thereby continuously improving their students' competencies. I am proud of the hard work of the teams in the assisted schools because these schools are currently and continuously transforming into schools that are centered on students.