Saat ini, di Indonesia masih banyak orang yang memuja dan menginginkan agar tes standardisasi seperti Ujian Nasional tetap diberlakukan meski masih terdapat banyak kekurangan yang ditemukan baik di dalam filosofi dasar maupun tataran pelaksanaan operasionalnya.
Hal serupa juga terjadi di Amerika Serikat, yang sejak tahun 2001 (masa George W Bush) menerapkan "No Child Left Behind Act" yang merupakan reformasi bidang pendidikan yang berbasis standar. Act atau UU tersebut mensyaratkan negara-negara bagian untuk mengembangkan asesmen terhadap sejumlah kemampuan dasar bagi seluruh siswa di tingkatan-tingkatan tertentu.
Pelaksanaan asesmen itu parahnya diperlukan bila negara-negara bagian ingin mendapatkan pendanaan federal untuk sekolah. UU itu tidak menyatakan tentang standar pencapaian nasional, tetapi standar itu disiapkan oleh masing-masing negara bagian.
Pada postingan ini, aku hanya ingin menyebarluaskan orasi dari aktor Matt Damon, yang tergabung dalam gerakan "Save Our Schools" yang sempat melakukan aksi damai di dekat Gedung Putih pada Juli 2011 untuk memprotes kebijakan pendidikan pemerintahan AS yang masih berfokus pada tes terstandardisasi. Orasi ini diambil dari laman www.washingtonpost.com edisi 30 Juli 2011.
"I was raised by a teacher. My mother is a professor of early childhood education. And from the time I went to kindergarten through my senior year in high school, I went to public schools. I wouldn’t trade that education and experience for anything.
"I had incredible teachers. As I look at my life today, the things I value most about myself — my imagination, my love of acting, my passion for writing, my love of learning, my curiosity — all come from how I was parented and taught.
"And none of these qualities that I’ve just mentioned — none of these qualities that I prize so deeply, that have brought me so much joy, that have brought me so much professional success — none of these qualities that make me who I am ... can be tested.
"I said before that I had incredible teachers. And that’s true. But it’s more than that. My teachers were EMPOWERED to teach me. Their time wasn’t taken up with a bunch of test prep — this silly drill and kill nonsense that any serious person knows doesn’t promote real learning. No, my teachers were free to approach me and every other kid in that classroom like an individual puzzle. They took so much care in figuring out who we were and how to best make the lessons resonate with each of us. They were empowered to unlock our potential. They were allowed to be teachers.
"Now don’t get me wrong. I did have a brush with standardized tests at one point. I remember because my mom went to the principal’s office and said, ‘My kid ain’t taking that. It’s stupid, it won’t tell you anything and it’ll just make him nervous.’ That was in the ’70s when you could talk like that.
"I shudder to think that these tests are being used today to control where funding goes.
"I don’t know where I would be today if my teachers’ job security was based on how I performed on some standardized test. If their very survival as teachers was based on whether I actually fell in love with the process of learning but rather if I could fill in the right bubble on a test. If they had to spend most of their time desperately drilling us and less time encouraging creativity and original ideas; less time knowing who we were, seeing our strengths and helping us realize our talents.
"I honestly don’t know where I’d be today if that was the type of education I had. I sure as hell wouldn’t be here. I do know that."
NUFF SAID.. :)
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