T

he situation of teachers can be likened to drivers and driving instructors; driving instructors are all drivers but not all drivers are or could be driving instructors.

Drivers become instructors because there is a need for such work and they either feel that they have the passion for instructing or circumstances compel them to opt for the job. Whichever is the case, they all have the skill in driving and their skill precedes their profession as instructors. Drivers become driving instructors, not the other way round. The decision to become a driving instructor is in the hands of the individual driver.

The case of pre-service teacher training in Indonesia, however, is the opposite. Teacher training in general and the training of English teachers in particular has been intentionally or unintentionally reversed. Teacher candidates are educated first to be instructors. Their proficiency in English comes later. At best, both come in the same package. Their English proficiency and teaching skills are dealt with together.

The fact that it takes a teacher-education institution at least four years to educate teachers indicates this.

In contrast, we at non-formal schools (outside the pre-service teacher education) spend no more than three months to train English teachers. And yet, their quality is better than those graduating from any teacher-education institution in Indonesia. The reason for this proven quality is because we follow the driver-turned-instructor pattern above.

The teacher-training system'€™s method of educating future teachers not only denies the natural way of one becoming a teacher but also contains inherent flaws. Naturally, all adults have the potential or traits to become teachers. It is just that we don'€™t realize and cherish them.

But before one becomes a teacher, one must have the '€œthing'€ to be taught. And this '€œthing'€ precedes the need and urge to become a teacher. This is to say that it is the skill at something that comes before the need for the teaching job and the urge to become a teacher emerges.

Training anyone to be a teacher as conducted by the teacher-training system in this country means opening the profession'€™s doors to everyone without necessarily noticing the urge and need for the job in them. Teacher education, therefore, is a one-sided training course imposed on teacher candidates. No wonder that so many of its graduates choose not to proceed to teaching.

This denial leads us to another setback. Teacher-training institutions have become a temporary '€œhideout'€ for senior high school graduates for various reasons or purposes. Among the reasons are failing to be accepted in their chosen majors or universities, waiting for another year to try their luck, avoiding being ridiculed by classmates, following friends and so on. In the end, teacher training turns out to be a waste of time, money and energy both on the part of the students and the institution.

There are several flaws in the way the system educates future teachers. First, the quality of the teachers it produces is mediocre. Unlike the driving instructors mentioned above who are all skillful drivers, English teachers will be unskillful users or speakers of English because of the fact that they do not come with the necessary skills.

Facts about English teachers at formal schools in this country support this. It is public knowledge that many of them cannot converse for five minutes in English. The fact that English is taught through mixed language, English and Indonesian, at schools is rooted in this lack of skill. So is the use of explanation and translation in their teaching. When explanation fails, they can simply and easily resort to translation.

Second, unlike the drivers-turned-driving instructors mentioned above, teachers who are produced in this way will not automatically become teachers. And if they do, they will become half-ready or half-ripened as their training comprises half teaching skill and half English proficiency enhancement.

The facts about graduates of pre-service teacher education vividly prove this. It has been noted that not all of them end up teaching. And if they do, they are the second-class graduates or the remainders. The better, if not the best, ones choose other promising professions.

This is to say that those who become teachers are the mediocre, if not the worst, graduates. Worse, teaching often becomes their last option or is pursued half-heartedly.

All in all, the teacher-training system in this country has been established and cherished in an illusion and run in a state of denial. It maintains the illusion that it is capable of producing quality teachers but denies the way such teachers are supposed to be educated, and worse, it takes the nation along in its illusion and denial.

Whether we recognize it or not, we are all victims of this illusion and denial. A victim in the spotlight is the Indonesian students who suffer from a decline in English proficiency as noted by the English Proficiency Index (EPI) and reported in the media recently (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 6, 2015). The question is how long will we remain silent after having been victimized?