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Friday, September 30, 2011

Indonesia: A ‘Multicultural’ and Dynamic Society?


 An Introduction.

“Cultural diversity”, that is the most prominent feature of the Indonesian nation. “A nation of unity in diversity (Bhinneka Tunggal Ika)”, that is the national slogan established at the time Indonesia proclaimed her independence in 1945. Long before the independence, in 1928, a group of young Indonesians declared the unity of their future nation: “One country, one nation, one language, Indonesia” (Satu nusa, satu bangsa, satu bahasa, Indonesia)”. It is interesting to note here that bahasa Indonesia was cited as the ‘national language’ at the time Indonesia was still colonized by the Dutch. It is more interesting to know that those young Indonesians consciously chose bahasa Indonesia as the lingua franca among the existing hundreds local languages spread over the archipelago. In his article: Notes on Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia (2004), Fox argues for the use of language as a means of indicating diversity in Southeast Asia instead of the concept of ‘culture’ as used by the earlier anthropologists. I agree that using language as an indicator of diversity is straightforward, though—as also argued by Fox (2004:18)—various dialects can make up one single language as he found among Rotenese in Eastern Indonesia. As Fox (2004:18) says: “Where exactly to divide up the dialects of Rotenese and decide on what constitute separate languages would be both difficult and arbitrary.” It is not at all easy to define the demarcation of each language, and so also is the reality with hundreds of cultures in Indonesia. This is only one issue to deal with such a complexity. Various other aspects of people’s life, for examples religion, kinship, and economic-social-political system also vary from one group to another.

By considering the total number of languages in larger islands and regions only, excluding the small islands, as many as 701 languages are spread throughout Indonesia (see Fox of his quotation on the number of languages in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java and Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua as quoted from Ethnologue: Languages of the World [Grimes 1992 in Fox 2004:15]). If language is used as an indicator of cultural diversity, it means that only from the larger islands and regions, there are seven hundreds cultures in Indonesia. We could thus imagine how enormous the diversity in Indonesia is. In such a situation, if bahasa Indonesia can function as the lingua franca, to what extent could the national identity and sense of belongingness function as the ‘tie’ of more than 200 millions people with their heterogeneous cultural identities and backgrounds? It is not at all a simple and easy thing to realize.

Referring to Furnivall (1948a, 1948b), Suparlan (2000a, 2000b) argues for Furnivall’s hypothesis that Indonesia is, in reality, a ‘plural society’ consisting of a large number of social groups who do not have any intricate relationships one another, nor do they have the same interests as members of a nation. The colonial regime of the Netherlands-Indie forced them to be together under their rule on the basis of economic interests. Economic interests became the means to build up network and relation in and through the market. Again, economic and political interests underlined the rule of the previous old regime of Soeharto where the ‘unity’ of Indonesian nation was forced strongly above its ‘diversity’ for the sake of their interests. In 1984 the Soeharto regime issued censorship on some sensitive areas, i.e. ethnicity, race, religion and inter-group issues, locally known as SARA that stands for Suku (ethnic group), Agama (religion), and Ras (race). As Budianta says (2004:21), “The SARA censorship betrayed the underlying tension beneath the State pluralistic motto of “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (Unity in Diversity).” The reality that we live in diversity with all its consequences should not be raised in public domain for the sake of ‘stability’ and ‘security’ issues as one nation. The ‘unity’ dimension was thus being forced to overcome the real ‘diversity’. Moreover, the rights of local communities to live in their own ways and own their properties in peace were neglected for the sake of the central regime’s maximum exploitation of natural resources (see Suparlan 2003). In the wake of Reform (from 1998 onwards), as Budianta (2004:21) argues, the pendulum swang from centralistic unity towards the needs to recognize diversity which further accelerated the resurgence of ‘multiculturalism’ issue. The euphoria was to turn down the centralistic control and heavy emphasis on unity to give rise towards a greater freedom of the regional and local people to control their own rights and resources in its diversity. Despite such euphoria, the question is, are we, Indonesians, really moving from a pluralistic society—in Furnivall’s meaning—towards a ‘multicultural’ society?

Suparlan (2003:31) argues for the meaning of multiculturalism as an ideology that praises cultural differences, or a belief that recognizes and enforces the formation of cultural pluralism as a form of societal life. How to operationally implement such an ideology in everyday life? How to put into action the praise of differences and the belief to enforce cultural pluralism? Fay (1996:241) argues against a too restrictive and too static a slogan of multiculturalism as only ‘recognizing, appreciating, and celebrating difference’. ‘Engaging, questioning, and learning’ are better captures the synergistic character of genuine multicultural interaction, as well as the dynamic character of social science (Fay 1996:241). Looking at the long history of the development of Indonesia as a nation, I argue that it would be a long way for the Indonesian people to form and reach the genuine multicultural interaction among the very heterogeneous people. This is the great challenge for both the people and the academia. Yet, this is the reality the people face in their everyday life. Like a pendulum, the swing is moving back and forth between the ‘forced plural society without any genuine multicultural interaction’ to the great interests to form a multicultural society, yet still in the midst of facing various problems, hardships and challenges to reach the other end of the pendulum: the multicultural Indonesia. Such is also a portray of how dynamic the nation is from the period of pre-independence up to this recent modern time through the struggle of sustaining independence, and the unity of the nation amid the very diverse conditions, people, and interests. On the other hand, the Indonesian nation has to struggle of reaching prosperity in the midst of prolonged poverty, while facing vast changes through modernization and globalization. Indonesia is also an archipelago with diverse degrees of contact between and among the people, within and between neighboring islands and foreign countries. The mobility of people within and inter-islands has also been going on since the colonization period up to recent times. In such a complex society, how do the families sustain their existence? To what extent do the family members exercise their decisions and strategies in transmitting ‘cultures’ which are so diverse, and by doing that, also sustaining and at the same time, changing ‘cultures’? Yet, within one nation having one language as the lingua franca, to what extent do the national language and ‘culture’ play important role in the ways the family transmit the ‘cultures’? In a heterogeneous society like Indonesia, could the genuine multicultural interaction take place where the family members do engage, learn, and question one another and with those belonging to the ‘others’? Referring to the main theme of the conference, is this the kind of ‘education’ the members of a ‘family’ perform and hence would support, or otherwise, jeopardize the efforts to create a multicultural Indonesia? Yet, what kind of ‘cultures’ do they, through what is called as ‘education’, transmit, sustain, and change in the midst of such a complex and dynamic Indonesia? These are not easy questions to answer. I will not be able to provide the answers of all those questions in this brief paper. Yet, a brief examination of the ongoing features of those phenomena will be discussed. Though the family as a social entity becomes the main focus of this conference, I would pursue my perspective in examining the ‘family education’ in Indonesia from theagency perspective and the situational and processual approaches instead of the emphasis on the system with the underlying essentialism point of view (see Bourdieu 1977;Giddens 1979; Ortner 1984; Vayda 1986; Ahearn 2001; also see Moore 1987, 1994;Vayda et al. 1991). Before examining these issues further, it is urgent to have an understanding of what constitutes a ‘family’ in a nation like Indonesia and what are the features of ‘families’ in a heterogeneous Indonesia.

Resources :
Ahearn, L.M.
2001 ‘Language and Agency,’ Annual Review of Anthropology 30:109—37.
Borofsky, R.
1987 Making History: Pukapukan and Anthropological Constructions of Knowledge.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
1994 ‘The Cultural in Motion,’ in R. Borofsky (ed.) Asssessing Cultural Anthropology.
New York: McGraw-Hill. Pp.313—19.
Bourdieu, P.
1977 Outline of a Theory of Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Budianta, M.
2004 ‘Multiculturalism: In Search of a Critical Framework for Assessing Diversity in
Indonesia,’ in K. Sunarto, R. Hiang-Khng Heng, and A.F. Saifuddin (eds)
Multicultural Education in Indonesia and Southeast Asia: Stepping into the
Unfamiliar. Depok: Jurnal Antropologi Indonesia. Pp.21—35.
Coppel, C.A.
2002 Studying Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. Singapore: Singapore Society of Asian
Studies.
2004 ‘Historical Impediments to the Acceptance of Ethnic Chinese in a Multicultural
Indonesia,’ in L. Suryadinata (ed.) Chinese Indonesians: State Policy, Monoculture
and Multiculture. Singapore: Eastern University Press by Marshall Cavendish.
Pp.17—28.
2005 ‘Introduction: Researching the Margins,’ in T. Lindsey and H. Pausacker (eds)
Chinese Indonesian: Remembering, Distorting, Forgetting. Singapore: Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies and Clayton: Monash of Southeast Asian Studies. Pp.1—9.
Dilts, D. and S. Hate
1996 ‘IPM Farmer Field Schools: Changing Paradigms and Scaling-up’, Agricultural
Research & Extension Network 59b:1-4.
Fay, B.
1996 Contemporary Philosophy of Social Science. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Fox, J.J.
2004 ‘Notes on Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia,’ in K. Sunarto, R. Hiang-Khng
Heng, and A.F. Saifuddin (eds) Multicultural Education in Indonesia and Southeast
Asia: Stepping into the Unfamiliar. Depok: Jurnal Antropologi Indonesia. Pp.11—
20.
Furnivall,
1948a Colonial Policy and Practice: A Comparative Study of Burma and the Netherlands
India. New York: New York University Press.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

10 Ice Breakers for Adult Students

Ice breakers are the best way to help your students get to know each other, to break the ice on the awkward first day of school. If your students are adults, it's even more important to choose an ice breaker that won't backfire on you. Most adults don't want to play silly games. Choose one of the top ten and you'll be a hit on the first day of school. Remember that ice breakers are also a great way to energize your classroom when the doldrums set in, or to introduce a new topic. Be creative!

1. People Bingo
People Bingo is one of the most popular ice breakers because it’s so easy to customize for your particular group and situation, and everyone knows how to play it. Make your own bingo cards, or use one of the fabulous online card makers.

2. Marooned
This icebreaker is a great introduction when people don’t know each other, and it fosters team building in groups that already work together. I have always found people’s answers to be very revealing about who they are as a person. Who would you want with you on a deserted island?

3. Table Topics
I picked up my first box of Table TopicsTM on a whim while shopping in one of those funky little shops you see in the artsy parts of any city. A four-inch clear acrylic cube holds 135 cards, each with a provocative question that is sure to inspire lively conversation.
  • Which piece of land would you wish to have preserved forever?
  • What’s your favorite quotation?
  • What song evokes the strongest memories for you?
4. The Power Of Story
Adults bring to your class or meeting room an abundance of life experience and wisdom. Tapping into their stories can deepen the significance of whatever you've gathered to discuss. Let the power of story enhance your teaching of adults.

5. Expectations
Expectations are powerful, especially when you're teaching adults. Understanding your students' expectations of the course you're teaching is key to your success. Make sure you know what your students expect with this expectations ice breaker.

6. 2- Minutes Mixers
You may have heard of 8-minute dating, where 100 people meet for an evening full of 8-minute dates. They talk to one person for 8 minutes and then move on to the next. Eight minutes is a long time in the classroom, so we'll call this ice breaker a 2-minute mixer. Ready? Go!

7. Photo Scavenger Hunt
A picture is worth a thousand words. Almost everyone has a photo or two in their wallet, especially when you’ve got a room full of adults, or even better, baby boomers with grandchildren. The photo hunt is on!

8. Where In The World
Technology and transportation in the modern world have given us the opportunity to learn so much more, often first hand, about the rest of the world. If you haven’t had the privilege of global traveling, you may have experienced the thrill of conversing with foreigners online or working side-by-side with them in your industry. The world becomes a smaller place the more we get to know each other. 

When you have a gathering of people from various countries, this icebreaker is a breeze, but it’s also fun when participants are all from the same place and know each other well. Everyone is capable of dreams that cross borders.

9. If You Had a Magic Wand
If you had a magic wand, what would you choose to change? Pass a magic wand around your classroom and generate some energy!

10.If You Could Take a Different Path
Almost everyone has wished at some point that they had taken a different path in life. We get started in one direction, and before long, there's no turning back. Sometimes this isn't that big of a deal, but what a tragedy it is when a life so full of promise gets off track and derails. It can seem like there's no way to change direction. Wouldn't it be wonderful if simply stating the desire for a new path could inspire it to action? Can't hurt to try. Find out if your students are in your classroom to find a new direction.

Sources :http://adulted.about.com/od/icebreakers/tp/toptenicebreakers.htm 
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