Abstract
This research is an evaluation of the two-year project Implementing the NationalIndonesian Curriculum. It examines the effectiveness of the project in achieving the intended outcomes, the main outcome being to change the practice of primary and secondary teachers of Indonesian and ultimately improve learning outcomes for Indonesian language students in Northern Territory schools. The underlying issues addressed by the study are: Was the project Implementing the National Indonesian Curriculum successful in bringing about change in the practice of teachers of Indonesian in Northern Territory schools? How effective were the project's professional development strategies in bringing about change in teaching practice? Data was collected from 28 participants in the project six months after its completion through an end-of-project questionnaire and an interview. Data was also gathered from the project officers' journal and end-of-year reports and participants' sample programs and workshop evaluation sheets.The research has found that the project, by focusing on effective language teaching methodology through use of the new curriculum, has been successful in bringing about change in the practice of teachers of Indonesian. Some participants (50%) are now using the curriculum materials as the basis for their planning whilst others (25%) have started to dip into the materials. A small number of teachers have been introduced to the social literacy learning model in order to develop deeper level sociocultural understandings in students and some of these are beginning to experiment in this area. Increased participation in teacher networks has occurred and more teachers are taking on leadership roles. Concrete examples show that there has been long term impact on individual teachers and on Indonesian language programs in schools. Contrary to expectations, the findings of this study show that secondary teachers were more likely to change their teaching practice than primary teachers. This seems to be influenced by teachers' previous training in language teaching methodology. The findings also show that the greater the percentage of Indonesian teaching in the participants' workload, the greater the likelihood for change in practice to take place.
The findings of this research have demonstrated that change in practice takes time and requires a supportive environment to encourage teachers to trial new ideas before they are able to incorporate this as part of their everyday practice. An investigation in another six months would help to validate the extent to which teachers have changed over the long term.
| Date of Award | Dec 1996 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Jim Cameron (Supervisor) |