The long term impact of an english language teacher training program on teachers’ practices in Madrasah Tsanawiyah in Indonesia

The long term impact of an english language teacher training program on teachers’ practices in Madrasah Tsanawiyah in Indonesia

In recent years, Indonesia looks toward the challenge of elevating the quality of education in the most disadvantaged schools, especially in the Islamic school sector. This study investigates the successful implementation of a teacher training program called English Language Training for Islamic Schools (ELTIS). ELTIS was an AusAid funded program run between 2007 and 2010 to improve the quality of the teaching of English in marginalised schools based on the introduction of a more learner centred communicative language teaching methods. This inquiry seeks to contribute to an understanding of how English language training and ELT professional development benefitted teachers of English at Islamic secondary school (Madrasah Tsanawiyah) with regard to their sustained language pedagogy.

This qualitative research employs a narrative approach as a tool for researching and exploring teachers’ lived experience especially to examine their perception toward the training and their professional development. Eight teachers from three districts in East Java province were purposely selected based on recommendations from the ELTIS-related authority to be participants in this research. The other participants in this research were two master trainers, one district trainer, one regional coordinator, one team leader, two school principals, and 17 teachers from two teacher support groups in two different districts. There were 34 participants altogether.

The research findings showed teachers’ paradigm shift in teaching English after following the ELTIS cascade training model. Their improvement on teaching capabilities was evident in their teaching performances. Their success in implementing the ELTIS approach is influenced by their understanding of the characteristics of effective classroom pedagogic practice. The research findings also indicated that the teachers were aware of maintaining students’ motivation in learning English in their socio-cultural condition by building students’ self-esteem and self-confidence, giving rewards and positive feedback. This study suggests deeper insights into the sustainable practice which involves a lot of stake holders in the rural society. The grassroots support is an important factor in sustaining language pedagogy in the rural areas of Indonesia.

This study recommends future research to consider the key elements of a sustained impact through program dissemination in teacher support groups called Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran (MGMP).