Contribution of Indonesia Cahaya Method to the Improvement of Early Childhood Teachers’ Skills

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the enhancement of quality of teachers’ skills in Indonesia. Qualified teachers do not happen by themselves, it requires conscious, planned, continuous efforts to improve their knowledge and competencies. This research aims at examining the contribution of the Indonesia Cahaya Method to fostering teachers’ skills, including motivation in teaching, learning management skills, presenting effective learning materials, preparing interesting and fun learning, developing teaching aids; creating a dynamic learning atmosphere. The Indonesia Cahaya Method is one of the most popular learning methods for early childhood education system in Indonesia. This method was developed through a longitudinal study conducted by Dr. Masnipal, M.Pd. and Onyas Rohayati, which aims at determining the contribution of the Indonesia Cahaya Method to improving teaching skills of early c hildhood teachers. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted as follows: giving a pre-test to teacher before the training began; carrying out training (treatment) for 8 hours (2 x 4 hours) with the help of the team, applying the method into learning in their respective schools in 6–8 weeks (minimum 30 and a maximum of 40 classes); and conducting a post-test by a colleague (one of the teachers at the primary/elementary school) with observations and interviews. Results. The research findings conclude that the Indonesia Cahaya Method has contributed to the improvement of early childhood teachers’ teaching performance. The improvement of teachers’ teaching skills can be seen in: teachers’ motivation in teaching, skills in managing learning, skills in presenting effective learning materials, interesting and fun learning packaging skills, and ability in creating an atmosphere dynamic learning. In addition, the improvement of teachers’ teaching skills was followed by an increase in students’ participation in learning. Discussion and Conclusion. The training method is considered feasible to be followed, studied, developed and implemented in learning by early childhood education teachers. The results of this study add new references to various parties that the Indonesian Cahaya method can be an alternative in developing the competence of early childhood teachers and open up opportunities for further researchers to develop this method, especially at the elementary school level. The article targets primary school education managers and teachers.