Cultural Genetics as An Educational Enrichment Program

Abstraksi

Background The United Nations recognizes culture as key for world development and sustainability within the heart of the framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which is related among others to education, environmental issues, and inclusive societies. Moreover, recently culture also becomes focus issue in shaping the foundation of the development of Indonesia in the future, as reflected in the outcomes of the Indonesian Culture Congress 2018 (Kongres Kebudayaan Indonesia). Obviously, culture is inherently attached to the people of Indonesia since they were born. From this point of view, cultural approach has apparently a unique yet adequate tool for Indonesian people in encouraging them to improve their overall quality of life. Accessing the pathway to improve the quality of human capital in Indonesia is by apprehending the cultural values as an educational enricher. Yet, how culture affords to enrich education and extend the improvement of the quality of human capital is also a big challenge to resolve. For this reason, conclusive involution is needed of what culture is in a wide-range of scope delineated via multidisciplinary approaches. Methods Many researchers recognize the dynamic linkages between culture and genes in the evolutionary progresses of human species in shaping human cognition. Few theoretical perspectives in this field actually offer a framework for the understanding of such linkage. The authors argue that Cultural Genetics (CG) framework has such potential, and can unite discrete fields across social and sciences and be benefit for the quality improvement of human capital. Sartika (2018b) remarks that CG-framework is a wholistic approach of genetics study that involves cultural roots and cultural knowledge construed from the environmental-affected threshold, which encapsulating the concatenation between genetic, the environment as well as the societies in order to maintain sustainability of life in harmony with nature. Cultivating cultural genetics as a pathway for educational enrichment is what this paper is all about. CG-framework offers a method to identify the cultural roots of each individual and vast societies from different region in Indonesia. To our knowledge having understanding cultural roots enables human to achieve its higher potential capacity in many aspects of life. Thus, knowing the cultural roots is a prerequisite in improving the quality of human capital by any means. For our pilot study, the authors have chosen to conduct a survey called the "Who You Are Research Program Phase 1" based on CG-framework. This program is targeted firstly for students at various universities in Indonesia employing cross-sectional survey methods. To the authors, such target respondent is crucial to be surveyed because this generation will lead the next generation in the near future bearing the mission to manifest the above said sustainable development agenda. Results The initial survey above resulted in two important references. Firstly, that students having higher awareness on their cultural background have a clearer picture or ideas for what they going to do in the future in comparison to students who are less aware of their cultural background. Secondly, that physical anthropology, races, even ethnicity are seemingly no longer appropriate methods to identify the differences in human societies, which may lead to the existence of misunderstanding perception and racial misjudgment in the communities. Using the CG-framework methods, the authors discover that having the same physical anthropology is not necessarily have the same cultural roots. Thus, based on the above initial results, the authors herewith recommend continuation of the "Who You Are Research Program Phase 1" to more universities in Indonesia in particular. That is in order to reach more students in increasing the awareness of their own potential by recognizing their own cultural roots, which is to be expected in leading them to improve the quality of life and state of sustainability in the future. Conclusions Using CG-framework as a method of increasing student awareness of their own potential is one of the pathways to enrich education and extend the improvement of the quality of human capital by apprehension of their own cultural roots. Cultural roots cannot be created, cannot be made and cannot be denied, to be a threshold of long and vast interconnection between environmental-affected threshold, genetic inheritance, familial background, and societies order, which encapsulating individual’s identity. To the authors, without the apprehension of self-identity delineated from own cultural roots, it is inconceivable that human could improve the quality of human capital toward sustainability state in any aspects of life. Obviously, culture through CG-framework affords to serve as a platform for educational enrichment program by means of comprehensive yet fundamental way in order to support concisely the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals related Indonesian Culture Congress’ outcomes.