Implementing Classroom-Based Action Research in a Remote and Disadvantaged Context in Indonesia: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstraksi

Despite almost a decade since the introduction as a professional learning model for teachers in Indonesia, the growth of Classroom-Based Action Research (CBAR) is very limited. The CBAR process in Indonesia has relied heavily on one-off-top-down and non-school based professional development. This paper attempts to present the findings of a study conducted in the Eastern Flores regency of the East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. This study aimed to explore the challenges of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers in their attempt to implement CBAR in this context. The study involved eight EFL teachers at one public secondary school in the above context who worked with the researcher to attempt to implement a school-based approach to CBAR. This paper draws on Foucault’s notion of governmentality where CBAR is viewed as a government’s progressive initiative to upgrade teachers’ quality. Foucault’s notions of governmentality, power relations, discourses, and technology of the self are used to frame the analysis to develop an understanding of how CBAR was socially constructed in this particular social context and how it impacted on the implementation of CBAR. Drawing on multiple data sources including: meetings, sharing sessions, group discussions and interviews; workshop sessions and classroom visits; and reflective journals and field notes, the study identified that implementation of CBAR in remote areas of Indonesia requires new understandings of professional learning to be shared by all stakeholders. The assumptions and expectations that CBAR is pedagogically innovative and that the need for critical reflection is theoretically sound are difficult ...