Does teacher educational background matter? Toward description teacher expertise in Sukma Bangsa Schools

A. Introduction

Does teacher educational background matter? Education background is part of teacher expertise prototype that will support of teacher performance in the classroom. Based on Ghazali research (2012) there is significant relations between teacher educational backgrounds and teacher professionalism. I argue that the background is one of indicators teacher appraisal through as teacher expertise in specific fields. Apparently, teachers Sukma Bangsa schools came from different educational backgrounds. Some teachers came from education background faculties and some came from non educational background faculties.
However teacher expertise not only has a cognitive approach in their performance but also how they do well-organized knowledge to face the problems. Ropo (2004) states, teachers as experts are professionals whose works are accomplished in a social situation in which they are typically alone with their student. The concept of an expert teacher and expertise in teaching is relevant for the current political discussion on the quality of education or teacher education.
Actually, school still faced the problems that the teacher could not teach and fulfill school expectation. The problem is teachers from educational and non education background cannot satisfy the needs of student in the learning process. For example, there is a teacher from an education background cannot deliver the lesson even she or he has ability pedagogy and the other teachers from non education background have strength in contents and the ability to deliver the contents or the lesson. Is it something wrong with the teacher background? Or the other problems that restricted to develop the performance of student to filling student’s needs?. It needs much effort with abundant responsible to gain achievement with better identity of the student. The paper is organized as follows; first I want to discuss teacher’s training and education. Second, the paper describes teacher expertise in the Sukma Bangsa School. Finally, the whole contents of this paper will be summarized at the end of this text.

B. Teacher’s Training and Education

Teacher training plays an important role in preparing teachers to be an expert teacher. Center For Teaching Quality (CTQ, n.d.), mentions teacher training has given a result of required skills in teacher actions of teacher’s field such as preparation for study plan. Also they mention that a good teacher was formed by reinforcement of teacher training. The teachers need to develop their skill to build natural ability. Hammond, Wei, & Andree (August, 2010) point out they focus on teachers professional developing program to increase their professionalism and to raise their abilities to solve the problem that they face in school context. As Zeichner (2006), conclude the teacher education programs have the purpose to constitute teacher expertise. Therefore teacher training will support a teacher to be better in education area.
Teacher educations are supported by evaluation and supervision. The data had shown the best performance in appraisal sheet. Based on the data, it will help the planning what the foundation to develop teacher performance in education. In the other words, the Commission of UNESCO has put greater emphasis on one of the four pillars that it proposes and describes as the foundations of education: learning to live together, learning to know, learning to do and learning to be (Delors et al., 1996). Therefore, teacher and student never stop learning to give strength that pillar in education with capacity building in teacher’s training.
Teacher’s training is one of the ways to develop teacher capacity building in education. Nowadays, school faced with a diversity of skill levels of teachers. For instance, some the teacher who has education background could not viable to teach the student. On the contrary teacher who came from non educational background could deliver the knowledge well to the students; even they did not have ability pedagogy. Moreover, some the teacher has strength in contents, but they did not have ability to deliver the lesson. Because the lack of ability, they need to evaluate and supervision. Not only school evaluates them, but they supposed to evaluate themselves.
It does not matter where the teacher came from as long as the teacher has committed to develop their ability become as expert teacher. In the same way, minister of education program opened the access to teacher coming from non educational background has an opportunity, equality to get matriculation and certification as a teacher. They can teach in education institutions like teacher came from an education background (Permindikbud, 2013). The management of schools possesses the program to elevate knowledge the same beings school in the future. The Sukma bangsa school believes in their ability will be fluent in their specific field. Consequently, the teacher who worked in the Sukma Bangsa School has competence as expert teacher.
In spite of that teacher get methodology of teaching from internal like school and external such as the matriculation, course, seminar, etc., if they could not really understand their identity as a teacher, it is hard saying they are expert teacher. There is no intrinsic motivation to raise the knowledge in their effort. No matter what background teacher came from as long as they can be expertly as a teacher, students can gain their goals in their life. Finally the students grow up with their own characteristic identity with support from the willingness teacher. Next Teacher expertise never stacks in one step to enrich knowledge, and they will expanse their insight and quality of knowledge as expert did.

C. Teacher Expertise in Sukma Bangsa School
Sukma Foundation has already helped the teacher to enrich knowledge of the teachers. In particular Director, Education of some schools, Mr. Baedowi et. all gave some trainings for the teachers during some period after the establishment of schools.There were applied strategic methods of learning such quantum learning, quantum teaching, training Kesukmaan, management base of conflict, school culture etc by foundation. The strategic methods could help the teacher to support them and could develop the way teaching with students. It is one of factors could increase teacher education capacity become an expert teacher.
Teacher expertise is a teacher who has academic skill, pedagogy, and experience a few years in their specific field and has the ability to handle characteristics of task situation. Rope (2004) pointed out that, Experts seem to possess better-organized and more specific knowledge structures that they can access almost intuitively in the problem situation. Therefore, the performance of teacher expertise well interpreter for a whole condition.
In Sukma Bangsa School, there are two types of teacher such as non educational background from non educational faculties and educational background teacher from educational faculties. Data shown the number of teacher has worked in Sukma Bangsa Lhokseumawe around eight teachers from non educational backgrounds and 35 teachers from educational backgrounds. Sukma Bangsa Bireuen have 20 teachers from non educational backgrounds and 23 teachers from educational backgrounds. In Sukma Bangsa Pidie have ten teachers from non educational background and 19 teachers from educational background. According the data, for those teachers who did go educational faculties, school has provided them with training capacity development. Based on our experience is very full to compensate teacher from educational backgrounds.
The teacher expertise always puts the student on main priority in the Sukma Bangsa School. However Baedowi et all. (2005, 4) states,

“As we know, there are several expertise that a person can have in managing education, among others; to act with broader, to question difficult problems in a good attitude, and to accept failure as motivation for future success. All these are the attitudes that are needed in learning organizations and community”.

Additionally, they mentioned working as expertise can help Sukma Bangsa School face pressures and dilemmas in managing their education (Baidowi et all., 2005). According the statement, the foundation emphasized several expertise would have fostered the student to lessen their psychology problems especially in education after post-tsunami disaster In the other word, Amy (2003), mentions, studies of expertise in teaching mostly took the form of novice-expert comparisons. They drew on studies of teachers' mental processes in planning and decision-making, which were seen as a link between thought and action, and were heavily influenced by an information processing model of the mind in cognitive psychology (see Calderhead, 1996).(PP 22-41).
The teacher expertise has a main role in complicated process which has the problem solved in a difficult situation. In particular the teacher with background, education or non education who worked in the Sukma Bangsa School is no matter as long as they got acknowledge in training by foundation of school and government. Moreover the educational background is not restricted to work in the Sukma Bangsa School as long as the teacher always has a desire to develop of their capacity as an expert performance.

D. Conclusion

This essay discussed about education background becomes a matter of developing expert teacher in Sukma Bangsa School.
Does a matter with educational background of teacher?
In my opinion, education background is not the main barrier for the teacher who has a willingness to deliver the lessons. For instance school cannot avoid the situation of lack the teacher that's needed to fulfill the student’s needs at school especially in the classroom. The enhancement of knowledge should insist on the teacher efforts who has a desire to become teacher expertise. However All elements who worked in education sector take it into consideration for developing teacher education become as teacher expertise. Consequently, the teachers got opportunity to reinforce their capacity of knowledge by school and government program such as teacher training.
The educational background of the teachers are not an obstacle for them to teach students, as long as they have the commitment to take it as a challenge to become an expert in their specific field. All supporting from the environment will not influence them if the teacher can take it as an opportunity to develop their identity as an expert teacher. It needs hard effort for better changing performance as a professional teacher. Even though the teachers came from education and non education background are not the barrier of teachers become an experts. Thus, it depends on sincerity and willingness of the teacher. A teacher has big efforts to put student on priority in learning process at school.

E. Reference

Amy, B. M. Tsui. (2003). Understanding expertise in teaching : case studies of second language teachersm Cambridge. New York : Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Baedowi, A., Fachruddin, F., Alam, S., Panggabean, R. S., Hasanah, A., Burhanudin, J.,….. Amal, A. T. (2005). Blueprint, Sukma Bangsa School. Jakarta: Sukma Foundation.

Delors, J., Mufti, I. A., Amagi, I., Carneiro, R., Chung, F., Geremek, B.,….Nanzhao, Z. (1996). Learning the Treasure Within, Education for the 21th Century. New York : UNESCO.

Depdiknas R.I. (2005). UUGD RI No. 14 Tahun 2005 , Jakarta: Depdiknas.

Depdiknas R.I. (2013). Permendikbud 87/2013, Jakarta: Depdiknas.

Ghazali, A. (2016). “Pengaruh Latar Belakang Pendidikan dan Pengalaman Mengajar Terhadap Profesionalisme Guru SMK Kompetensi Keahlian Teknik Audio-Video Se Kota Yogyakarta” (The Effect of Background Education and Teaching Experience toward Teacher Professionalism Competency Vocational Technical Skills Audio - Video Se Yogyakarta). Yogyakarta : University Yogyakarta. Retrieved from http://eprints.uny.ac.id/19668/

Hammond, D. L., Wei, C. R., & Andree, A. (2010). How High-Achieving Countries Develop Great Teachers, Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education ~ Research Brief, Retrieved from https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/how-high-achieving-countries-develop-great-teachers.pdf

Ropo, E. (2004). Teaching expertise. In Boshuizen, Bromme & Gruber (Eds.) Professional Learning: Gaps and Transitions on the Way from Novice to Expert. Kluwer Academic Pub.

The TeacherSolutions Teacher Prep Team (CTQ, n.d). TEACHING 2030: Leveraging Teacher
Preparation 2.0. Center For Teaching Quality. Retrieved from http://www.teachingquality.org/sites/ default/files/TEACHING_2030_Leveraging_Teacher_Preparation.pdf

Zeichner, K. (2006). Different Conceptions of Teacher Expertise and Teacher Education in the USA

and Teacher Education in the USA. Education Research and Perspectives. 33(2), Retrieved from http://www.erpjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ERPV33-2_Zeichner-K.-2006.-Different-conceptions-of-teacher-expertise-.pdf http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/education-degrees-and-teachers-pay/?_r=0 Date : 9 Mei 2016