In Human-Capital We Trust, on Developmentalism We Act: The Case of Indonesian Early Childhood Education Policy

Abstract

This chapter reviews the use and influence of human capital and developmental theories in Indonesian early childhood education (ECE) policy . As my colleague and I have mentioned elsewhere (Formen, The political landscape of early childhood education in Indonesia (Unpublished Master’s Thesis), Monash University, Melbourne, 2008; Formen and Nuttall, International Journal of Early Childhood, 46(1), 15–31, 2014) human capital and developmentalist thoughts, in addition to religion, are the two major Indonesian ECE policy rationales. Notwithstanding its massive repercussions in the policy documents, these two discourses and theoretical frameworks, as the rest of this piece shows, have been used differently. While developmentalism is used as both a policy justification and practical reference, human capital thoughts seem to occupy the macro policy documents, and have become blurred across more micro, practical directives. If the economic future benefit is one of the reasons for the provision of ECE, it should practically promote to its beneficiary (children) the values, knowledge, and skills, necessary for their economic survival and success.