TEACHER BELIEFS ABOUT SCIENCE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A CURRICULUM REFORM IN PAGARALAM, INDONESIA Eka Lamar Syari, Patricia Morrell
The University of Queensland
Abstract
In Indonesia, issues related to the national curriculum reform are crucial since the national curriculum has a substantial role in guiding the implementation of the formal education system across the country. The present study identified that a lack of support in mediating changes of science teacher beliefs as intended by the new curriculum (Curriculum 2013/C13) could be a fundamental problem resulting in ineffectiveness and inefficiency of the implementation of the curriculum reform in Indonesia. Mixed method research had been conducted to investigate the existing pattern of science teacher beliefs and to gain a deeper understanding of how teacher beliefs influence the teaching practices under the implementation of C13. The results show inconsistency between the quantitative result (total BARSTL score and sub-score) showing an average indicative of highly reformed beliefs and the qualitative result identifying superficial and barely matched beliefs with beliefs for implementing C13. Nonetheless, the discussion in this study revealed that such inconsistency might indicate the process of belief change and a realization of teachers^ autonomy. Furthermore, this study provides some implications for understanding the changing process of science teacher beliefs as well as offering some suggestions for the teacher learning programs and narrowing the gap between the national curriculum as education policy and its functions as a tool for teaching practices.
