Indonesia Mengajar: An investment in hope

Abstract

Indonesia Mengajar (IM), or Indonesia Teaches, is a movement that began in 2009 with the aim of addressing teacher shortage in schools across Indonesia and developing future leaders by sending them to live in remote parts of the country (Indonesia Mengajar in Indonesia Mengajar: Sejarah, 2015a. https://indonesiamengajar.org/tentang-indonesia-mengajar/sejarah/ ; Indonesia Mengajar: Tentang pengajar muda, 2015b. https://indonesiamengajar.org/tentang-pengajar-muda/jejak-pengajar-muda/ ; Indonesia Mengajar: Visi dan misi, 2015c. https://indonesiamengajar.org/tentang-indonesia-mengajar/visi-dan-misi/ ). To date, IM has sent more than 671 high-achieving young candidates to serve as schoolteachers and mobilize local education stakeholders in remote communities around Indonesia (Gabrillin in Hasilkan 671 pengajar muda dalam 5 tahun, Indonesia Mengajar gelar syukuran, 2016a. http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2016/01/31/13090031/Hasilkan.671.Pengajar.Muda.dalam.5.Tahun.Indonesia.Mengajar.Gelar.Syukuran?utm_source=WP&utm_medium=box&utm_campaign=Ktkwp ). The first aim of the study is to provide readers with background knowledge of IM, including its history, theory of action and key operational features. The second aim of the study is to understand the process of transformation in the attitudes and perspectives of local stakeholders using hope theory (Snyder et al. in J Pers Soc Psychol 60(4):570–585, 1991) as the theoretical framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with local education stakeholders at the IM-organized local sustainability forum held in November, 2015. Structural and descriptive coding was used to organize the qualitative data thematically. Participants reported that IM played a significant and positive role in igniting their will and showing them possible ways to create educational change in their respective communities. They reported a transformation in their attitudes and perspectives about their children’s education—from feelings of hopelessness to hopefulness. Consistent with hope theory, findings demonstrate the importance of investing in the will and the ways at both the individual and communal level. Hope is found to be a necessary investment that must be made alongside investments in infrastructure, instructors and materials to create sustainable educational improvement.