Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association

The 14th PECERA Annual Conference, Seoul, Korea

“Indonesia 2045” and early childhood sector

Implications and response

Ali Formen
Lecturer, Dept. Early Childhood Teacher Education,
Assistant to Semarang State University Vice-President for Academic Affairs

Hardjono
Dean, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Semarang State University

This is to certify that this paper was presented at the

14th PECERA Annual Conference in Seoul,
Korea 3 – 6 July 2013

___________________________________

“Indonesia 2045” and early childhood sector: Implications and response

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 Ali Formen
Assistant to the Semarang State University Vice-President for Academic Affairs

Hardjono
Dean, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Semarang State University

What will Indonesia look like in 2045, when the country will reach its century-age?
Observers, strategists, economists, educationists and politicians have tried to sketch
Indonesia’s future. The government has also created an official discourse: that 2045
Indonesia is a nation of strong economy, stable and modern democracy, and thriving
civilization (Yudhoyono, 2011). The past yet has taught us that the future is always
mysterious and future forecasts always move between optimism and pessimism. We
learn from history that all sorts of hopes and optimisms, even the brightest, might
simply transmute into darkness, when it has no drive to make it true. Similarly, any
pessimism, even the most poisonous, can be neutralized, if we have the right dose of
its antidote. There are many reasons, however, for today’s Indonesians to be
pessimistic: social inequality, rampant corruption, and severe democratic transition.
The fact that Indonesia has been a stopover, some even say the ‘breeding ground’, of
violent religious ideologies is another reason to count All these are more than enough
to change Indonesians’ concern: from ‘what will Indonesia look like in 2045’ to ‘will
we find Indonesia in 2045’. Cognizant that education is the national development
enabler and that Indonesian education is nationalistic in nature (Sirozi, 2004; Spring,
2002; 2004), my paper believes that the “Indonesia 2045” discourse has a huge
impact on the current preschool sector. Furthermore, for preschool is believed as one
of key determinants of a country future (Noble, 2005), drawing on Inayatullah’s
(2006) “future triangle”, my paper analyzes some forecasts of Indonesia’s future; and,
concludes that the realization of 2045 optimism necessitates preschool sector
transformation: curriculum reform and teacher education improvement.

Keywords: future studies ‘Indonesia 2045’, preschool curriculum, teacher education,

Introduction
What will and should a century-old nation-state ideally look like? Will it be a prosperous
democracy or an extraordinary strong government? Or, it is a nation without any of these
characteristics? And given the belief in the connection between education and
development, what can early childhood education contribute to support national
development? Departing from these questions, the present paper describes Indonesia’s
future “scenario” and discusses what early childhood education may contribute to the
country national development agenda. Considering the plurality of future scenarios
available in the field, this paper focuses its discussion only on the newest future jargon:
Indonesia 2045. This jargon is purposefully chosen given its official nature—promoted by
government leaders and bodies (Direktorat Jenderal PAUDNI, 2011; Yudhoyono, 2011;
2012a; 2012b) and reproduced by politicians (for example Bakrie, 2012; 2013). With this
position, and seen from a public policy perspective, Indonesia 2045 will soon be a new
policy justification. This for example was clearly apparent when it was addressed to be
the grand topic of the last Seventh Indonesian National Education Convention 2012.
Before further discussing Indonesia 2045, for an introductory and comparative purpose,

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however, some available future scenarios will be briefly touched.

Indonesia: a country of multi-futures

What will Indonesia look like in the future, and most especially when it reaches its
century-age? This is of course an important question as such an age reflects the strength
and ability for a country to survive. Moreover, traditionally speaking in many cultures a
century-age is often associated with messianic imagination: expectation of the birth of a
reformer and the coming of a new era. Messianic touch of Indonesia’s future scenario is
evident mainly through the use of the term ‘golden’, culturally symbolizes nobility and
prosperity, such as “golden Indonesian generation” (generasi Indonesia emas) or simply
“golden Indonesia” (Indonesia emas) (Direktorat Jenderal PAUDNI, 2011; Nuh, 2011).
The use of the phrase is mostly associated to the centennial commemoration of Indonesian
independence in 2045. This however does not apply for ESQ-165 activists; for them the
golden Indonesia is referred and should be achieved in 2020 as it is expressed in their
vision: “the golden Indonesia 2020” (ESQ News, 2012).

Who actually is the first one to introduce the phrase Indonesia 2045 is not really clear—
no matter that the phrase is now often quoted. Towards the end of 2011, the former
President Professor Habibie for example was noted to use the phrase in his lecture at
Bandung Institute of Technology. President Yudhoyono also used the same phrase in his
2011 speech. Regardless this situation, the phrase has now become a new jargon and
mantra, most especially amongst the Indonesian education authorities. It has now gained
more popularity along with the Ministry of Education and Culture campaign new 2013
national curriculum.

Regardless its current popularity, Indonesia 2045 is in fact not the sole Indonesia’s future
scenario, which is also legally and officially accepted. In addition to Indonesia 2045,
there is also the Vision of Indonesia 2030 (Yayasan Indonesia Forum, 2007), which is
highly appreciated by the government (Yudhoyono, 2007). The plurality of Indonesia’s
future does not stop here, for there is Indonesia 2025, as it is reflected through and in the
Indonesian Law No. 17 Year 2007 on National Long Term Development Plan 2005-2025
(Bappenas, 2007). As plural as the terms and time to name the visions, what idealized in
and by each vision is also different.

Emphasizing more on individual and society, the ESQ-165 movement calls the year 2020
as the period for Indonesia to be free from moral crises and all “national components have
the golden heart [that is by] ...applying the seven basic values, which includes honesty,
vision, responsibility, discipline, cooperation, justice, and care”—emphasis by the author.
The Law No. 17 envisions 2025 Indonesia as “independent, progressive, just, and
prosperous”. Departing from the education sector, Nuh (2011) states that there is no
foundation for the birth of the 2045 golden generation which is stronger than “character
education” (pendidikan karakter). Apart of the differences in their emphases and the
projected year, these visions and jargons however speak the same message: a new era of
Indonesia, an imagined future. What, then, is the future as it is framed by and in the vision
of Indonesia 2045; the following sections are devoted to elaborate this issue.

Indonesia 2045: weaving the future

There are some projections and forecasts for Indonesia’s future in 2045 available in the

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field (for example Bakrie, 2012; Tanjung, 2011a; 2011b; Yudhoyono, 2011; 2012b), but
unfortunately they are limited in number and uneasy for the public to access. These
projections, as this paper has mentioned elsewhere, are jargonistic in nature and speak
only limited topics and sectors. Of these projections, that of Yudhoyono (2011) seems to
be the most comprehensive. This to a large extent is plausible considering that Indonesia
2045 is a newly introduced vision, and in fact the legal framework on which most
Indonesian public policy-makers rely is Indonesia 2025.
The face of Indonesia in 2045 is confirmed generally by Yudhoyono (2012b). In
his capacity as the Indonesian President, he said in his 2012 state official speech, “we are
committed, that in 2045…to developing strong and just economy, stable and quality
democracy, and thriving, progressive as well as excellent national civilization”—
emphases by the authors. As if responding this speech, the Chairman of Golkar Party and
Yudhoyono’s political counterpart, Aburizal Bakrie said in the same year:

"in the next three decades...Indonesia will celebrate the Proclamation of

August 17 for the hundredth time. It would be a tragedy if the celebration
should be commemorated in the situation where Indonesia would not have
moved from the present condition. We…hope that all Indonesians who
will commemorate such a historical day (their number will be around 300
million at that time) would be grateful to the past generations…for
inheriting…a great nation, a nation that is prosperous and…highly
developed, [as well as a nation] of proud achievement and honorable
reputation” (Bakrie, 2012)—emphases by the authors.

Both Yudhoyono and Bakrie seem to offer an optimistic perspective on

Indonesia’s future. For them, Indonesia 2045 is a nation-state with strong, justice-
backboned economic prosperity, and stable and high quality democracy. Moreover, for
them, Indonesia 2045 is a high-developed nation with civilizational superiority. It is of
course beyond the reach of this limited paper to justify or verify such optimism.
What, then, is to be done for such optimism of Indonesia 2045 to come true? Both
Yudhoyono and Bakrie unfortunately give only general answers. For Yudhoyono, there is
no better precondition for the realization of the optimism of Indonesia 2045 other than
“hard work”. Approximately a year before his 2012 State Address, he wrote:

“in 2045…Indonesia will be a century old…we will be a very different

nation than the one founded…in 1945…If we are lucky, the generation of
2045 will have strength of character. But we should not rely on being lucky.
We should rely on working hard…if we work hard…not only…the
Generation of 2045 match the strength and spirit of the Generation of
1945…they…surpass the expectations of their elders” (Yudhoyono, 2011:
47)—emphases by the authors.

Even though does not mention “hard work”, Bakrie shares the same perspective
with Yudhoyono. This is evident in his statement that "to achieve all that [Indonesia
2045], many things need to be prepared and taken seriously from now on". More
specifically, Bakrie (2012) calls the "quality of education" especially higher education as
a fundamental variable that will determine Indonesia’s face in 2045.
Regardless the general nature of both Yudhoyono and Bakrie’s future recipes, they
speak approximately the same message: that the imagined future will not come true unless
adequate preparation is available. And, that achieving the imagined future is a matter of

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transforming and moving the present. To put it simply we can say that one can make any
future forecast, prediction, or expectation, but whether or not they eventually come true is
not an easy task. In this case, the leading futurist James Canton (2007, p. 5) says in his
seminal Extreme Future that future forecasting need solid identification of “the tracks and
patterns and that lead to change”. So, what are; (1) the tracks and patterns that may lead
the present Indonesia to the imagined Indonesia 2045; and, (2) the preparation, or “hard
work” in Yudhoyono’s language, that Indonesian early childhood sector need to do in
order to support such transformation. The second question is impossible to discuss unless
the answers for the first question are formulated; and for the purpose of discussing the
first question, the following section will first outline Sohail Inayatullah’s (2008) approach
to future studies, to which this paper theoretically relies.

Sohail Inayatullah’s future studies

Sohail Inayatullah is a Professor based at the Graduate Institute of Futures Studies,
Tamkang University, Taiwan and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of
the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Australia. Like many other futurists, ranging from
Alvin Toffler, John Naisbitt, James Canton, to George Friedman, Inayatullah through his
works also provides to his audiences some future scenarios. But totally different from his
futurist colleagues, and this is in the authors point of view is his greatest strength,
Inayatullah does not only present to his audiences and readers of his works some future
scenarios but also how he has come to such scenarios. All futurist writers of course use
the scientific thinking, but Inayatullah is the one who has successfully changed the
“future”, which was previously a pop topic, into a new field of academic, scientific study.
To find his name in and through academic search engine is much easier than other
futurists’. In addition to this, for the context of this paper and compared to other futurists,
Inayatullah also wrote a number of works whose main topic is education (Inayatullah,
2006; Inayatullah, Bussey, & Milojević, 2006).

According to Inayatullah there are six basic concepts within futures thinking. They
include “the used future, the disowned future, alternative futures, alignment, models of
social change, and uses of the future” (Inayatullah, 2008, pp. 5-6). The first concept refers
to an imagined goal, which is simply borrowed or purchased from others. A city mayor
for example makes a plan to build his or her city by simply adopting his senior colleagues’
ones. In fact his seniors have now realized that the way they built their city was wrong. In
the contexts of this paper, we can say for example, the decision to rely our practice merely
on the western, Eurocentric developmental psychologies. In fact, the proponents of these
perspectives have now turned to the newer paradigms.

The second concept, the disowned future, refers to a situation in which one put most of
his or her focus on specific thing, including potentialities, while at the same time neglect
the others. Inayatullah gives an example of a busy executive who focus his or her life on
the achievement and gives only limited time to his or her children. Later, he or she tried to
give more time to his or her children, but it has been too late. For the context of our early
childhood education, we can take an example of a childcare center, which takes children
self-independence or foreign language as the focus of their development while at the same
time pushes away cooperation between them and local language. When the teachers
eventually realize refine their practice, no more time could be available as the children
might soon reach their school age.

The third concept, alternative futures, emphasizes the importance of thinking of future

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alternatives and that alternative is not single. “Alternative futures thinking” says
Inayatullah (2008, p. 5) “reminds us that while we cannot predict a particular future
always accurately, by focusing on a range of alternatives, we can better prepare for
uncertainty, indeed, to some extent embrace uncertainty”. For the context of this paper,
we can mention the government-directed curriculum development as an example. In the
past, curriculum development in Indonesia is highly top-down; and this has impeded early
childhood teachers to develop their lesson-planning skills. Consequently, no adequate
change took place at the centers even though the curriculum development model has
changed into the bottom up one. This is due to the lack of o ability to think of alternatives.

The fourth concept is alignment. This refers to the need to align our day-to-day practice
with the imagined ideals. Often we create a vision of a childcare or kindergarten, but what
we promote through our routines and daily practice has nothing to do with the
achievement of that vision. “Thus the vision fails, because everyone knows the vision is
there for show so as to appear to look modern”, says Inayatullah (2008, p. 6). For example,
it is not difficult to find teacher at the centers who favors special child simply because he
is a boy or she is a girl, or because she or he is smart, in fact the center’s very vision is to
promote justice.

The fifth concept, models of social change, refers to our belief and perspective on change.
Are we a sort of people that change is a positive thing or conversely a negative thing? Are
we a group of people who see that change is something necessary or we are a group of
people who see the change as a disturbance.

The last concept is the use of the future. This is about how to use future thinking and
understanding to improve and transform the present situation, to help early childhood
center better their decision and practice to be more relevant to the imagined future. The
future for example necessitates better acquisition of information literacy and global
citizenship; this necessitates teachers’ skills improvement to teach and promote both to
their children.

In addition to the six basic concepts, Inayatullah (2008, p. 7) proposes the six pillars or
future studies, which include mapping, anticipation, timing, deepening, creating
alternatives, and transforming. Of these six, only the first pillar, mapping, will be
highlighted this section, as it is the key to read Indonesia 2045, that is by mapping the
“past, present, and future” (Inayatullah, 2008, p. 8). To map the future Inayatullah
proposes what he calls “future triangle”, which consists of four main elements: pull of the
future, push of the present, and the weight of history.

The pull of future refers to the image of the future we have at present. In the case of this
paper this may refer to the Indonesia 2045 as defined by for example Yudhoyono
(2011)—a nation of strong, just economy, stable and mature democracy, and thriving

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civilization. The push of present refers to the current factual trends that will drive our
future, such as demographic trends, green metrics, social cohesion and so on. Along with
the pull and the push however is the weights, which are “the barriers to the change we
wish to see” (Inayatullah, 2008, p. 8). These are all things that may prevent Indonesia
2045 from becoming. A proper analysis of the interaction of these elements will help us to
develop a “plausible future”. Such analysis also helps us to measure whether or not our
daily practices are in line with the imagined future.

Indonesia 2045 and Future Triangle: optimism and paradox

This paper stand on the notion that education is a vehicle to “create hope” (Buchert, 2002,
p. 6); and with stand in mind it believes that education is also a vehicle to create, in
Inayatullah’s languange a “plausible future”. Thus, if Indonesia 2045 is the imagined
future, so this paper believes, education in general and early childhood education in
particular will make it a plausible future. How then early childhood sector can play such a
decisive, ambitious role.

Before discussing this problem, this section will first read Indonesia 2045 under the lens
of Inayatullah future triangle. This is fundamental; for creating future and initiating
change are not only a matter of creating a vision and imagination but more crucially also a
matter of recognition and reflection, of the strengths, of the weaknesses, of possibilities
and impossibilities. "The first step we can take toward changing reality [and] waking up
from the nightmare” so the critical curriculum thinker William F. Pinar reminds, “is
acknowledging that we are indeed living a nightmare" (Pinar, 2004, p. 5).

Seen from the concept of the pull of the future, we can say that Indonesia 2045 is a
discourse of optimism. The future imagination that will pull the present day Indonesia is
clearly jargonized in the works of Yudhoyono (2011; 2012), Bakrie (2012; 2013)
mentioned in the previous sections. So, the imagined Indonesia as a nation and country
with strong and just economy, stable and mature democracy, and thriving civilization, all
these are the ideals and imagination that pulls the present day Indonesia. To what extent,
however, the present day Indonesia is inline with such energy. To discuss this we need to
assess the push and the weights that the present day Indonesia is faced with.

According to Inayatullah the push of the present comes from the factual to the trends that
will drive change. In this case we, can mention at least two trending development in
Indonesia, the demographic development and economic growth. It is projected that the
country will benefit from the so-called demographic bonus in 2045. This is due the fact
that at present young people dominate the national population. Following the
improvement in the life expectancy due to the improvement of access to health, and better
access to education, this young generation will soon be the productive workforce in the
future. At the same time, rationalization of marriage and family development is trending
resulted in the limitation of the number of children per family, which consequently
lessening the dependency rate per family.

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 Demographic projection

It is predicted that in the year 2045 the total population of Indonesia will reach 353
million. This is of course more than a big population, which can precipitate any social
vulnerability unless proper treatment is available. The country GDP nominal per capita is
predicted to be USD 46,900. This projected economic performance is another pull of the
future, that it will be a plausible future only if the current young are well-equipped with
knowledge and skills necessary for them to be economically productive people.

Indonesia economic performance projection 2010-2045 (Tanjung, 2011b; 2011a)

In addition to the above quantitative trend there are still some beliefs available in the field
that may act as the present driving forces to the future. Many for example have been
questioning, in response the rise of separatism, immature decentralization of public
administration, and interregional disparities: will Indonesia survive? In response to this
question, Indonesian observer Don Emmerson (2000) convincingly says that "Indonesia,
then, will survive" (Emmerson, 2000: 106). Emmerson is not alone; another observer
Harvey (2002, p. 45) also believes that "Indonesia is unlikely to fall apart". Apart of this
believe, however, both Emmerson and Harvey insert a message, that such a good prospect

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can only happen only if the country government can effectively control their territories.

Another belief that will be the push of the present is eloquently elaborated in Wanandi’s
(2002), Indonesia: a failed state?. The fact that Indonesia has survived from the harsh,
multi-years crises is of course combined by negative labeling by the international
communities is awesome, and certainly is a “miracle”. Such a miracle according to
Wanandi (2002, p. 145) cannot be separated from Indonesians character of “resilience and
patience”.

In contrast to the above pull of the future and push of the present, however, there are some
paradox, or the weights according to Inayatullah and the nightmares according to Pinar,
that may be the barriers to the realization of the optimism Indoensia 2045. Towards the
last 67th commemoration of independence, for example, such optimism was almost ruined
following the release of Failed States Index 2012. The report put Indonesia on the 63rd
rank of 177 countries (Fund for Peace, 2012), meaning that the country is in an “alarming”
situation or according to Indonesian analyst Azyumardi Azra (2012), “being on the edge
of failed state”. The impact of the 1997 crisis is also a factor considered disturbing
optimism the future of Indonesia.

In addition the above weights there are also some reports that mentions pessimism about
Indonesia’s future. In some parts of his The Next 100 Years: A forecast for the 21st
Century, George Friedman (2009) specifically mentions Indonesia. At least there are two
issues he highlights in his work: the economic issues and global security. For him, the
post-1997 Indonesia is never really recovered (Friedman, 2009, p. 96), regardless the
country current situation is bettering and even amongts the “emerging powers”
(Yudhoyono, 2012a). Moreover, Friedman says that Indonesia has not yet been free from
the threats of such extremist groups as al-Qaeda. Friedman (2009: 32) says:

“al-Qaeda’s goal was not simply to conduct an attack that would

demonstrate America’s weakness…Revealing America’s
weakness…would undermine government in the Islamic world…in
countries like…Pakistan, and Indonesia. Al-Qaeda wanted to overthrow
these governments because… it could not achieve its goals unless it had
control of a nation state” —emphases by the authors.

Friedman warning is more than worthy to be taken into account given the extremist
groups are still effectively recruit new members. They probably will not go beyond
Friedman's predictions, but whatever violence they do is almost certainly a stumbling
block to Indonesia’s national security and stability. For those who work in education
sector, Friedman reminder also needs to get more attention, given the clandestine
organizations generally make the young, productive age group as their cadres; in fact by
2020 this age group will dominate (52%) the demographic structure of Indonesian
population (Tanjung, 2011b). More importantly, education sector need to be alerted
considering the fact that education institutions are not the immune sites from operation
and regenartion of such clandestine groups (Bergen & Pandey, 2006; Formen & Nugroho,
2009). The failure to manage the risks of this groups is of course brings about the negative
consequences that will ruin the development achievement.

In addition to the above scenarios and predictions, a number of scenarios has also been
simulated by social activists and young scholars workshop Indonesia in The Future of

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Indonesia hosted the 2014 Beyond S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies,
Singapore (Sebastian & Lakshman, 2009). Under the supervision of future studies experts,
of them was Sohail Inayatullah, these young activists developed a number of future
scenarios Indonesia. The post-2014 Indonesia in their opinion will be colored by the
challenges associated with population growth, food shortages and the threat of energy
sources, climate change impacts, and the lack of ability to control the homeland territory
and resources.

Table 1. Skenario Indonesia pasca 2014

Indonesia Future beyond 2014

• Population of • Shortages of • Impact of climate • Illegal logging,
250 million in energy sources change worsen illegal mining,
the next 10 years • Homeland oil along with rampant illegal fishing by
• Food shortages production deforestation foreign sailors in
• Overpopulation decrease • Clean energy to Indonesian
of big cities and • More serious lessen pollution marine territories
the increase of efforts to build risks and climate • Weak control of
crimes energy source change impacts, law territories
• Baby-boom independence enforcement and • Need more
• More population reforestation efforts to
growth control improve
controlling
ability over the
country
territories
Source: Sebastian & Laksmana (2009: 8), adapted.

In addition to the above scenario, a number of challenges also surfaced in the workshop.
Horizontal conflict and the threat of separatism are two issues highlighted. Possible threat
of separatism is likely to continue to decline, especially after the commitment of Helsinki
between Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement. But this is not the case for the
horizontal conflicts, as shown in studies Fahardian (2005), about interfaith relations in
Papua, and the conflicts involving Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in Madura, which had never
happened.

Indonesia 2045 and early childhood sector: a need for transformation

There are of course many lessons that Indonesian early childhood education can learn
from the above future scenarios. Before touching this problem, the following is worth-
noted. First, the possibility of the presence of unexpected effects of the future scenarios,
especially thise which position Indonesia as disadvantaged, as part of the problem (for
example scenario of Friedman, 2009). A future scenario is needed for adoption and
adaptation of the present (Inayatullah, 2008). But it is not impossible people internalize
and naturalize a bad, unjust scenario. This must be prevented, and the world of education
has a moral and intellectual responsibility to it. Secondly, regardless of the challenges to
which the country is faced, Indonesia still has a future, as it is indicated by the fact that
the people of the country have successfully survived from the long crises.

This paper holds that the recommendation of Emmerson (2000) and Harvey (2002) and
Wanandi’s (2002) reflection concerning the conditions of present-day Indonesia and its
prospects in the future provide many lessons for the early childhood sectors. Yet given the

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limit that this paper has to set, the discussion will be focused only on two main ideas: the
early childhood curriculum and early childhood teacher education.

Early childhood curriculum

Indonesia has long-established tradition of early childhood education. It had existed and
been practiced even prior to the birth of the modern Indonesia. Suyanto (2003) notes that
in the past, it was a common practice for parents to send their young children to their
colleagues’ family to live together with them. This deliberated familial separation was
believed to be an effective way for children to gain better self-independence, knowledge,
and practical skills, which might be difficult for them to acquire if they live with their
own, nucleus family. Another practice is nyantrik, in which a child was sent to a guru’s or
a high profile figure’s family and lives with them as a semi-member of the family. Later,
the birth of pesantren, Islamic traditional boarding school, gave a new color to the
practice of nyantrik, in which children collectively live and learn to a kiai, a Muslim guru.
The practice of nyantrik has now eroded. Yet now, along with the modernization of
pesantren, it has also found its latest metamorphosis in the forms of full-day schools and
Islamic boarding-houses, which combine traditional learning and modern schooling
system. In some cases, this is parallel to what Boyd (1966, p. 1) almost classically said on
Western educatio that “the training and education of the young for the business of life is
one of the most ancient concern of mankind”.

As it happens in many countries, Indonesian early childhood education curriculum is

mainly based on the Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) philosophy. Formen
(2008) says that the philosophy is the official hitch-hiker of the international aids for
Indonesian early childhood education development. According to Indonesian regulation,
early childhood services cover young children from the birth to the age of six. Until the
early 2000s the service was mainly delivered through kindergarten program. Yet
following the enactment of the 2003 education bill, the programs have been varied, which
include centers like playgroup and nursery.

At a glance there is no problems with the current practice of Indonesian early childhood
education. As it is pointed above, the country early childhood curriculum follows the most
common philosophy: DAP. However, a deeper look into the practice will soon reveal
some problems especially when it is seen under the Indonesia’s future scenarios. The
following sections are devoted to discuss three issues, which in according to the authors’
perspective are important bases for early childhood curriculum reform.

Early childhood education as the site for nationalism

Indonesian education is by and large both nationalist and religious in nature (Sirozi, 2004;
Spring, 2004). Given this nature, education is valued as the cradle where the religious and
at the same time loyal, nationalist young generation grows up. Yet, the author previous
study has come to a conclusion that early childhood curriculum put more emphases on the
religious nature whilst at the same time provide no rooms for nationalism (Formen, 2008;
2011).
Given the nationalist nature of Indonesian education, it is surprising that no room is
devoted to nationalism in the Kindergarten Curriculum 2004 document. This can be
traced through the absence of such vocabularies that formally and popularly symbolizes
nationalism as ‘country’ (negara) or ‘nation’ (bangsa) throughout the learning outcome
indicators. Even no mention of the word ‘Pancasila’ (the Five Principles), Indonesia’s

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official ideology is made. The term ‘Indonesian language’ (bahasa Indonesia) is only
once across document but unfortunately in the part that might significantly influence the
teacher practice. In fact, language, in addition to its key role for knowledge acquisition, is
the most powerful symbolic aspect of national identity.
Nationalism is also unfortunately absent in the national standard document, The Minister
of National Education Regulation No. 58 of 2009 on the Standard of Early Childhood
Education (Board of National Education Standard, 2009). Indeed, many have argued that
in addition to the economic decline, the greatest challenges for Indonesia to manage is the
crises of national identity and the threat of social disintegration (Darusman, 1999). If
neither commitment to nor call for the revival of nationalism is made in these documents
we must then wonder: what do they really mean by the ‘transitional nature’ of Indonesia?
Early childhood education as theory and research-informed practice
It is highly recommended that learning in early childhood setting take the form of theme-
based instruction. This is also the common practice of early childhood education in
Indonesia. Generally speaking there are eleven popular themes in Indonesian early
childhood education, which are distributed through out the academic year. Ideally, the
theme for learning is chosen and decided together by the children and the teachers. In fact,
it is a common practice in Indonesia that the teachers decide the theme arbitrarily.
Another problem with the day-to-day instructional practice is related to the emphases of
the learning outcomes. Given the developmentalist nature of Indonesian early childhood
curriculum, emphases are focused mostly on the psycho-developmental achievement. In
fact children achievement reach beyond the psycho-developmental boundaries.
Furthermore, more focus on psycho-developmental achievement has impeded teachers to
develop their theme and contents of instruction. Children need to learn many things,
which are not only developed, based on their teachers common sense. The future needs
for generations with strong ability of scientific endeavor as well as critical and systematic
thinking, and to promote this ability they cannot rely on merely on their common sense.
Consequently their teacher, also, must teach in a way, which is theoretically sound and
research-informed.
Early childhood education as socially relevant practice
Another important point to make here is related to the problem of relevance: what is the
social relevance of early childhood education. Studies have profoundly highlighted the
social benefit of early childhood education. But, to what extent the day-to-day practice of
early childhood education in line with this notion is still a big question.

Up until now, it seems, early childhood education in Indonesia is a conservative site, a

site where the social practices is conserved. In fact, there are many social practices, which
are no longer relevant for the future. The current practice for example highly appreciates
self-independence. In fact the future needs more collaboration. The current learning
practice is mostly based on modeling basis, where the children imitate the model their
teacher provide. In fact the future need children of rich initiatives.

Early childhood teacher education

Teacher preparation and education, including in-service professional development, is the
most fundamental aspect of education development. In other words there is no better way

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to improve education sector relevance for national development other than teacher quality
improvement. An education reform formulae says “the quality of an education system
cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” (Barber & Mourshed, 2007, pp. 16, 40). So, this
is could be the most appropriate derivate of what Yudhoyono (2011) calls elsewhere in
this paper “hard work”.

Early childhood teacher education and preparation in Indonesia is mainly conducted

through two lines: the pre-service teacher education and in-service professional
development. Both lines are mainly conducted through university-based programs.
According to the government regulation (GOI, 2005) an early childhood teacher must
have a minimum qualification of bachelor of education or four-year diploma. Since 2007,
the government has also launched in-service professional development through remedial
training; completion of this program leads to teacher professional certification.

As for the early childhood curriculum, the early childhood teacher education curriculum is
also developmentalist in-nature, reflecting the physical-motor, cognitive, linguistic,
emotional, and social aspects of child’s development. The total study loads for teacher
education program is minimum 144 credits, which can be finished from 7 to 14 semesters.
Generally speaking, the curriculum contents are technical, even though there is at least
two research components. This has prevented the teacher candidates from equipping
themselves with strong reflective tradition.

Reflecting on Inayatullah future studies and the future scenarios discussed in pervious
sections, this paper sees at least two main strategic issues that can be the bases for early
childhood teacher education.

Indonesia 2045: innovation economy

2045 Indonesia is imagined as a country with strong and just economy, stable democracy
and thriving civilization. To achieve this ideal, entrepreneurship is a necessary condition.
Entrepreneurship should be promoted as the new spirit of life and tradition through and in
education system. And considering that teacher is the main education actor, such spirit
must also be integrated into their preparation, education, and professional development
program. Through so doing, teachers and education institution will be a breeding ground
of entrepreneurs. In Yudhoyono’s (2011) calculation 2045 Indonesia will need at least 4%
of its population as entrepreneurs. Of course further comprehensive study is needed in
order to formulate what entrepreneurship values should be promoted through early
childhood centers and how to promoted it to the young children.

The threats of national disintegration, global insecurity and curriculum development

Even though many future scenarios highlight the positive trend of Indonesia’s future,
national disintegration and global insecurity cannot be simply neglected. Indonesia’s
transitional nature, strategic geography, multi-ethnical societies, as well as its position as
the biggest Muslim country have made it possible to face that challenges. For this reason,
the promotion of values and characters necessary to support democratic transition,
national stability, and the development global citizenship awareness is also important.
These are necessary content to be included into the early childhood teacher education in
addition to entrepreneurship. We have to make sure that teachers must have and equip
themselves with the abilities that will enable them to teach justice, tolerance, and care. In
this case Indonesian early childhood sector should remember Hill-Jackson and Lewis’
(2010, p. 77) proposal which says amongst others that “only those with dispositions of

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social justice should teach”. In line with this idea and in addition to early childhood
teacher education curriculum reform, there also need to be auditing teachers’ ideology.
We have to make sure that there will not be teachers who teach values that contradict and
violate national characters such as intolerance or racism in their classes.

Concluding remarks
It is this paper contention that that education is one of the key factors that will determine
the face of Indonesia in 2045. Unfortunately this vision is not yet effectively propagated
amongst and to the early childhood sector. In fact if we believe in the notion that early
childhood is the golden period of life, we have also to believe that this phase is the best
period for children to learn. This paper believe that there is no learning and instructional
agent better than a teacher. Thus, if Indonesia 2045 is really a plausible future, it goes
without saying that the country teachers must ideally be the front-liners to promote such
vision. Without this, it is not impossible that a grand narrative like Indonesia 2045 is no
more than a dead text.

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