www.unesa.ac.id
Unesa.ac.id., SURABAYA--The Faculty of Languages and Arts (FBS) from Surabaya State University (Unesa) recently held a workshop entitled Workshop for Early Childhood Education Teacher Trainers in Indonesia" in collaboration with The University of York, England.
This important event was held at Four Points Hotel Pakuwon, Surabaya from Monday, 21 August to Friday, 25 August 2023. This workshop was the main part of a project entitled 'Inclusive Literacy Development Training for Pre-Service Teachers in Early Childhood Education in Indonesia'.
This project is a collaboration between The University of York, England and Unesa and can be implemented on an international grant, England-Indonesia Going Global Partnerships 2022 from The British Council The Going Global Partnerships program supports universities around the world to work together to build stronger, more inclusive and internationally connected higher education and vocational systems.
A total of fourteen lecturers who are prospective teacher educators were selected as participants and reflected the diversity and representation, namely: 7 regions in Indonesia represented 2 participants from Sumatra; 2 participants from Kalimantan; 2 participants from Sulawesi;
In addition, 1 participant from Maluku; 2 participants from Papua; 1 participant from Bali; 1 person from NTT, and 3 participants from Java); gender equality (8 female participants, 6 male participants); and diversity of disciplines (10 participants from Early Childhood Education, 4 participants from English Language Education)
The material development team
This workshop was opened by Prof. Dr. Siti Nur Azizah, S.H., M.Hum., Deputy Chancellor IV for Planning, Development, Cooperation, and Information and Communication Technology at Unesa. He said that the issues of literacy and inclusion were very important and a major concern at Unesa.
The issue of inclusive education needs to be worked on collaboratively so that we can help teachers and prospective teachers overcome learning difficulties in children from an early age.
Vice Chancellor Azizah expressed her hope that this workshop would be an active step for higher education institutions in Indonesia in addressing increasingly complex educational issues in an ever-changing era.
This workshop will not only encourage increased awareness of issues such as learning difficulties, access to education, and others, but is also expected to provide constructive input for policy makers in Indonesia.
For five full days, the participants actively discussed two topics – Inclusive Education and Skills Development – Early Literacy guided by Dr. Andrzej Cirocki and Dr. Bimali Indrarathne from The University of York, and Prof. Pratiwi Retnaningdyah, M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D., from Unesa.
One of the main focuses of the workshop was children's education, particularly on issues of learning difficulties such as dyslexia which account for 10 percent of the world's population.
Leader of Inclusive Education and Literacy for Early Age Project
Prof. Pratiwi Retnaningdyah, M.Hum., M.A., Ph.D. revealed that the workshop participants would contribute in adopting and adapting materials related to learning difficulties in early childhood. The results of their efforts will later be transformed into bilingual online courses, namely English and Indonesian.
These online courses will be uploaded to learning platforms owned by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) and can be used widely and free of charge by teachers and prospective teachers of PAUD, PGSD, and English Education.
With a high spirit of collaboration and education, it is hoped that this workshop will have a positive impact on the development of early childhood education in Indonesia, as well as encouraging the improvement of the quality of future teachers.
At the end of the workshop session, the participants revealed that the material studied was very useful for prospective PAUD teachers in dealing with students who have learning difficulties. One of the participants from Java stated that he was happy to be involved in adapting the material to the Indonesian context. "I understand more and more various strategies to overcome learning difficulties," he said.
Likewise, participants from Kalimantan and Sulawesi expressed their appreciation for the workshop which was very inspiring and provided new insights about dyslexia that many teachers have not yet understood.
Participants from Kalimantan said, “The course online as a result of this workshop can be implemented for PAUD teachers in providing stimulation for handling dyslexia in Indonesia, especially in East Kalimantan."
Meanwhile, participants from Sulawesi hoped that the collaboration between The University of York and Unesa could increase the awareness of PAUD teachers on how to deal with learning difficulties appropriately.
Furthermore, participants from NTT said, "the combination of three main topics namely Inclusive Education, Literacy Development, and dyslexia in this workshop provides a comprehensive concept of treatment for children with learning difficulties". [*]
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Author: FBS Workshop Team
Photo: FBS Workshop Team
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