Fostering social solidarity and nationalism through encounters in artistic events
By Mochtar Buchori
On April 19, 2006, my office held a discussion about education for nationalism. The participants were asked to concentrate their ideas on a phenomenon my office finds alarming, i.e. the weakening of the sense of nationalism among the young generation. Someone from my office think that these days many smart and critical young people, between 30-35 years of age, particularly display this phenomenon. They are very cynical about the country’s present conditions, and very pessimistic about the future of the country. Many of them even think that Indonesia is already a failed state. What do we do about this situation? Shall we just stay idle, and let things take its own course? Or is there anything we can do that could probably turn things around?
The broad consensus reached was that his phenomenon reflects a precarious condition of the nation, and that something must be done if we do not want to witness the demise of this nation. This “something” can be found in education. This does not mean that our present situation is entirely the result of cumulative failures in our education. Most of the participants thought actually that it is the political system –the government, the parliament, the political parties, at the local and national levels—that is particularly responsible for the present chaotic conditions.
We realize at the same time that it is impossible for any non-political group to do something that will significantly affect the political course of the country. But we feel, nevertheless, that there is something we can still do in education to generate a cultural force that will eventually, and hopefully, take this nation out of the present crises. This belief has probably come from the fact that the participants of this discussion were persons who have affiliations with a variety of educational institutions: pesantrens, modern Islamic elite schools, Catholic schools, ordinary “secular” schools, schools for students with special talents for arts, and “alternative education” institutions that provide education to poor children.
We discussed three questions. One, Is there a real effort in the system that attempts to cultivate within the minds of children the sense of nationalism? Two, Is education for nationalism in any way affected by social status and religious affiliation? Three, Can an educational event be organized that will narrow the gap between students from the economically privileged and those from the underprivileged class?
The opinions expressed in discussing the first question were rather gloomy and not too encouraging. The participants said in general that our schools today put so much emphasis on accumulation of knowledge, and pay so little attention to things that are not directly related to acquiring knowledge as an intellectual instrument to achieve pragmatic ends. And if nationalism is discussed at all it is usually discussed in a formal and rhetorical way. Presented in this manner discussions about nationalism seldom elicit feelings of nationhood among students.
At one point the discussion touched upon the problem of balancing instruction that imparts internationalism on the one hand and instruction that imparts nationalism on the other. The question was asked whether in international schools for Indonesian children measures are taken to ensure that students get a balanced sense of internationalism and nationalism. This branched out into a discussion about whether children from underprivileged institutions exhibit greater sense of nationalism than children from privileged schools.
The picture that emerged from this discussion was very interesting. One participant with very broad experience in organizing alternative education for street children stated that in his view street children do not exhibit stronger sense of nationalism than children from privileged schools. Both groups of children are showing deficiencies in their understanding and appreciation of nationalism. Rich children have no strong interest for anything national. Their entire interest is focused on “making it” at the international level. Children coming from the economically handicapped, are too preoccupied with “life survival” at the gang level. The right sense of nationalism will never enter into their mind as long as they are still walking around with a “gang mentality”. Education toward nationalism is thus a problem that still needs further exploration in schools both for the rich and for the poor.
The discussion about whether the conduct of education for nationalism may be affected by religious atmosphere that prevails within an educational institution examines particularly situations that exist in the pesantrens. The question asked was whether pesantrens –Islamic boarding schools—which puts such a great emphasis on the concept of “umah” and brotherhood among muslims may not be tempted to regard education for nationalism as unimportant and irrelevant. Again, the information that came out of this discussion was very revealing. There were three participants with vast experience in pesantren education. They explained that It depends on the kind of the pesantren, and on the kind of Islamic scholarship pursued by the Kyai or the principal cleric. In modern pesantrens nationalism is never overlooked. Nationalism and internationalism are never conceptually divorced. But in conservative pesantrens where the library is never renewed, restocked, or supplied with new literature, where new ways in Islamic thinking have never been introduced and discussed, there is the possibility that the idea of nationalism is sacrificed to promote a strong sense of universal Moslem brotherhood.
At this point a participant raised the question whether we should not look into the role played by parents and other adults around school children to identify factors that may encourage or thwart the growth of the sense of nationalism among children. Suddenly the discussion became very lively. We realized at that moment that it is primarily through education within the family that children become interested in nationalism or indifferent about it. After all, education toward nationalism is education about values, and when it comes to value education, it is the home and the family that lay down the primary pillars.
Thus what can we do about it? One participant experienced in managing a broad network of institutions for alternative education suggested that an educational event be organized where children coming from both privileged and underprivileged schools assemble and exchange experience. This might open the doors toward communication among school children from different social classes. The ideal medium for this kind of event is arts: music, dances, drawings, plays, and other modes of artistic expressions. Arts can be cultivated at any level of social existence. Arts can be found among the poor and among the rich. Through this kind of educational event children from both rich and poor schools will learn to appreciate beauty expressed in different formats. They will learn that the essence of beauty is honesty in expressing ideas and feelings.
Will such an event ever take place in Jakarta? It will not be easy to bring this idea into reality, but my the participants in this discussion seemed determined to carry out this idea. Not every body will participate. But one elite school and one alternative school will be enough for a start. Let us just wait.
