Photo illustration: Mukti Mulyana
This article is part of the Teacher's Note series on teaching experience as a beginning teacher.
Time passes by so quickly. I have been working in this school for nearly five months—a school I chose when I signed up as a prospective civil servant in 2018. Although it has only been for a short while, I feel that I have gained a lot of experience.
Honestly, what I hoped for was far from the reality [I’m in now]. I used to imagine [that I would be] teaching in a school with good facilities and pleasant colleagues. As it turned out, my experience did not match my expectation.
Nevertheless, this is the challenge I have to live up to. Although the reality is not as good as I expected, I am not discouraged from becoming a professional teacher. In fact, the challenges that exist spur me to continue to work and be more enthusiastic about living this profession.
Being a teacher is a positive thing for me. This profession makes my parents proud. I am also happy that I can assist students in learning.
Appointed as the School Operator
My daily life at school today is not much different from before. I come to school before 7:00 in the morning to welcome students. Even though I'm a civil servant candidate, I don't want to be lazy at work. I always discipline myself.
I teach Grade 6. This is a challenge [for me] because I had never taught Grade 6 before. I took the assignment with full confidence that I could do it. There is no giving up before I try.
Now, I’m starting to feel comfortable with my job. I believe that everything done sincerely will feel more enjoyable.
In addition to teaching Grade 6, I have an additional role as the school operator. I was given the responsibility to manage Dapodik, the Ministry of Education’s education data centre.
I was confused at first because it was my first time using the Dapodik application. I had many questions and asked fellow teachers from other schools for help. A school operator’s job at the beginning of a semester is quite heavy because they have to validate teachers’ data while adding new student’s data.
It is hard to perform the homeroom teacher role while taking on additional duties as a school operator. On top of that, I attended the basic training for prospective civil servants in Semarang. My tasks keep piling up. However, I see them as responsibilities that I must carry out. I am grateful that I am still healthy enough to do them all properly.
Still Adapting
My interactions with my fellow teachers are quite good, although I tend to be more reserved at this new school. I am still adapting to the work environment and getting to know my colleagues’ characters. Based on my observations, the teachers in this school have not been a unit. It’s evident from every activity at the school, where the teachers do not help each other.
As a beginning teacher, I want to be able to bring about changes for the better. I will use the knowledge I obtained from the Teacher Professional Education (PPG) programme and the prospective civil servant training in my new workplace.
I want to keep working and innovating in learning to advance the quality of schools and lead students to achieve their dreams. I am determined to always be passionate about being a young teacher responsible for their duties.
I hope that in this new school, colleagues can work in harmony to advance the school.
*This Note was written by TA, a primary school teacher in Central Java.
**All articles published in the Teachers' Notes are the views of the authors. They have been edited for popular writing purposes and do not represent the views of RISE Programme in Indonesia or RISE's funders.
