The Perception of English Teachers at Public Junior High Schools in Malang on the Implementation of School-Based Curriculum (SBC)

ABSTRACT Sulistiani, Endang. 2009. The Perception of English Teachers at Public Junior High Schools in Malang on the Implementation of School-Based Curriculum (SBC). Thesis, English Language Education, Faculty of Letters, State University of Malang. Advisor: Dra. Sri Widayati, M.Ed. Key words: Implementation, English, School-Based Curriculum (SBC), Public Junior High Schools in Malang. This study is aimed at describing the implementation of SBC at public junior high schools in Malang. To be more specific, this study was focused on the English teachers' perception on the implementation of SBC, teachers' problems in implementing SBC, and how the teachers solve the problems. The research design of this study is descriptive since this study is designed to obtain information concerning the current condition of the subjects taken and directed toward determining the nature of situation as it existed at the time of the study. This study was conducted at six public junior high schools in Malang; they are SMPN 1 Malang, SMPN 4 Malang, SMPN 9 Malang, SMPN 13 Malang, SMPN 15 Malang, and SMPN 24 Malang. One English teacher was randomly chosen from each school as a subject. It means that there were six English teachers from whom the data were obtained. The instruments used in this study were interview and questionnaire. Then, the result of the interview and the questionnaire were analyzed and reported descriptively. The findings of this study are as follows. First, four of the English teachers have good understanding about SBC and two others do not although they had already joined some trainings and workshops about SBC. Second, in general, the English teachers have good perception on the implementation of SBC. Five of them think that SBC is better than the previous curriculums. The positive points of SBC mentioned by the English teachers are (1) there is freedom and more opportunities for the schools to develop their own curriculum, (2) the implementation of SBC can be matched with the location and the condition of the school, and the students' ability, (3) it refers to the improvement of faith, potential, intelligence, interest, and ability of the students and it fits the local and national development demand, (4) in SBC, teachers are given authority and freedom to select the materials in accordance to the situation and the location of the schools, and (5) it has principles that are relevant to life, integral and continuing, long life education, and balance between national and regional interest. The negative point of SBC mentioned by a teacher is that in SBC there is no fixed material to be taught from the government so that the teacher is getting confused in deciding what materials to be taught. Third, most of the English teachers face some problems in implementing SBC. Their problems are generally related to time management, classroom management, sources of material for listening, and evaluation. The teachers do some efforts to solve their problems, such as by asking a help to the school counselor or curriculum division at school, using various and interesting method and media, cooperating with other teachers in finding sources of material for listening, and giving a remedial teaching and retest for the students whose scores are under the minimum score. Based on the conclusions, some suggestions are given to the English teachers, the policy makers (Depdiknas and school headmasters), MGMP (Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran), the teacher training college, and the other researchers. The English teachers are expected to improve their understanding about SBC that can be done through joining some trainings and workshops about SBC, reading some documents related to SBC, and sharing information with other teachers. They are also expected to join some trainings and workshops about the teaching of English including the methods, materials, and media so that they can improve their teaching. By knowing the result of this study, the policy makers and MGMP (Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran) are expected to identify and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the implementation of SBC in the field. Therefore, they can make some betterment in SBC. Moreover, they are supposed to cooperate in maximazing the teachers' roles on the implementation of SBC. Next, the teacher training college is expected to conduct more trainings and workshops to improve teachers' understanding about SBC so that they can optimize their roles on the implementation of SBC. At last, for other researchers, they are expected to investigate other aspects of the implementation of SBC, such as how is the students' achievement using SBC compared with the achievement in the previous curriculums.