A study of professional connectedness and isolation in the learning lives of remote and peri-urban primary school teachers in Indonesia

This research explores the under-researched question of how teachers in remote and peri-urban primary schools in Indonesia learn in contexts that represent a continuum between professional isolation and connectedness, and what helps and impedes their learning. It investigates the sources and sites of teachers’ learning, what motivates them to continuously learn, and their pedagogical responses to the learning opportunities in which they participate.

My research draws on a number of theories related to teacher learning and knowledge such as formal and informal learning, socio-cultural theories of learning, and Islamic beliefs of profane and sacred knowledge. It also considers the importance of individual and social aspects of learning, including learning from other people and professional or religious communities.

This study employs a qualitative two-case study design, drawing on ethnographic approaches. The main data collection involves in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers working in remote and peri-urban primary schools in Indonesia. There were two schools in each area, and the 15 teachers were drawn from four schools altogether. I was an insider in both the remote and peri-urban settings because I share a religion and nationality with my key informants and speak the same language. However, I was an outsider because, unlike my research participants, I am a university lecturer and not a primary school teacher. I am also a doctoral research student. In summary, my field relations and the data that I gathered grew from an insider and outsider positionality.

Findings indicated that teachers’ learning is not only motivated by commitment to professional growth such as through a deepening of subject knowledge and a widening of pedagogical skills, but also by dedication to their belief system through fulfilling their Islamic duties. Teachers are engaged in individual learning through reflection. They are also engaged in social learning such as by learning from and with other people (e.g. other teachers at school and School Cluster Working Group, their husbands, and other members of their families), learning from their Islamic faith, learning from the communities, and learning from social artefacts (e.g. Al-Qur’an and Al-Hadith, academic and course textbooks, and Internet resources). Teachers in remote and peri-urban primary schools in Indonesia derive various benefits from their learning, such as for their students, their practice, the school, and the community. My analysis found that teachers reported four types of uses from their professional learning (PL) in their practice and overall growth: major adaptation, minor adaptation, deferred use, and rejection.

The research has the potential to inform PL policy development in Indonesia, especially in developing more targeted, differentiated policies, programmes and opportunities catering to the PL needs and conditions of primary teachers in remote and peri-urban locations. My research makes a conceptual contribution to knowledge through the development of a typology of PL, which provides a useful framework for synthesising the similarities and differences in PL contexts and opportunities of remote and peri-urban schools in my study.

Despite their commitment to PL, teachers face various impediments to PL such as remote locations, financial means, and unavailability of PL programmes. As a result, teachers face persistent unresolved pedagogical challenges, such as in teaching multigrade classes. I argue that without government commitment and investment, these challenges remain unresolved and the learning of these teachers and the students they teach, particularly in remote locations, continue to suffer.