Teacher Reform in Indonesia The Role of Politics and Evidence in Policy Making [Paperback]

One of the noteworthy global achievements of the past two decades has been the remarkable increase inthenumber of children attending school and the number of children completing the primary cycle. As morechildren start school, the focus has shifted toward the quality of their education???on true learning, not justschooling.The critical role played by teachers to enhance the quality of education is especially salient in a populous,geographically dispersed, and culturally diverse country such as Indonesia. With close to three million teachers,Indonesia has one of the largest and most diverse cadres of educators in the world. The comprehensive Teacherand Lecturer Law, approved by the Indonesian government in 2005, radically reformed the management anddevelopment of those teachers.Teacher Reform in Indonesia: The Role of Politics and Evidence in Policy Making features a comprehensive analysisof the teaching profession and the impact of recent reforms, which included the doubling of a teacher???s basicpay once he/she satisfies the conditions necessary for certification???a factor that has improved the statusofteachers and attracted better candidates to teacher training institutions. This book provides a description ofthe political and economic context in which the reform was developed and implemented as wellas an analysisof how the reform affected teacher quality and student outcomes. The book???s framework promotes anapproach to reforms based on improving the nature of teacher recruitment; preservice education; induction,mentoring, and probation; formal certification; continuing professional development; teacher performanceappraisal; and ongoing career development.The recent history of teacher reform in Indonesia can inform other countries seeking to improve theireducational systems and, ultimately, the success of their teachers and students. This book should therefore beof particular interest to Ministries of Education that contemplate similar reforms and development alS!