The Recontextualisation of Professional Ideas and Practices in Indonesian Primary Schools : A Case Study of the Alps (Active Learning Through Professional Support) Project

Educational innovation forms a major part of the educational transfer from developed to developing countries. In the case of Indonesia, between the 1970s and 1990s, western educational ideas and practices had a direct influence on the establishment of institutions, theories and practices of management, pedagogic practices, curriculum context and assessment. Relevant questions to be asked of this transfer are : Does it raise issues of value conflict between foreign and national values ? Do the transferred ideas and practices fit with the cultural structure into which they are introduced ? To what extent have they brought changes in the professional practices of teachers, headteachers and supervisors, and in the teaching-learning process, and - ultimately in enhancing pupil’s learning ? Such questions motivated the author to investigate the ALPS (Active Learning through Professional Support) Project. ALPS was a maior innovation in Indonesian primary schools, and had a great impact on a variety of educational components. The success witnessed during its initial stages was followed by a period of decline. Sustainability is a major concern, and many studies of school effectiveness are inadequate in explaining this phenomenon. Unfortunately, there is insufficient research on this issue in developing countries, particularly in relation to cultural perpectives - from teachers’ ideas and practices in their lives outside school, and how these are reflected in their practices within school. This led the author to examine the factors influencing the recontextualisation process of ALPS ideas and practices from a cultural perspective. "Text" in its extended sense refers to ideas and practices expected in the ALPS programme. The application of the "text" in different cultures leads us to the notion of "con-text". Clearly, the context of ALPS ideas and practices originating in the U.K. differs from the Indonesian context. To a certain extent, the project’s consultants, staff and educational authorities tried to make adaptations to the existing context. However, due to the project’s emphasis on local-based development, the introduction of new ideas and practices through learning-how-to-learn, and its subsequent implications for many aspects of school life, what occurred was not merely an adaptation but a re-contextualisation of existing contexts. Teachers and headteachers - the agents - applied recontextualising principles of delocating, relocating, appropriating, and refocusing ideas and practices, adapting them to their own context and situation.
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