TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Switching the plot: Children, instead of adults, doing the reading aloud
Adults reading aloud is great for many reasons and in any language because kids learn about the world of books – authors, stories, about words, grammar and all the worlds in the stories.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Feeding minds: Children read books at Warna-Warni Reading Park in Tambora, West Jakarta, on May 21, 2024. The government has listed 177 literary works to be utilized as reference materials for teachers nationwide to promote reading habits. (Antara/Sulthony Hasanuddin)
T
he plan by the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry to include 177 literary works as reference materials for teachers nationwide as part of the Sastra Masuk Kurikulum (Literature Entering the Curriculum) program has received a warm welcome as this initiative aims to trigger interest in reading, cultivate empathy and enhance students’ creativity and critical thinking.
However, this plan is not without criticism (The Jakarta Post editorial, June 8, 2024). The polemics indicate that the proponents as well as the critics of the plan seem to focus on the “what” of the program.
While there is a shared understanding of the “why” of the Literature Entering the Curriculum plan, for any curriculum to be effective, the plan should include the “what” and the “how” in the design and implementation.
This article focuses on how the ministry can implement the plan effectively in classrooms as well as at home and offers insights into the learning processes.
Normally, when children and adults share books at home, the adults read aloud from the book while the children listen and maybe discuss the book. We will call that way of reading aloud Adults Read Aloud (ARA).
ARA is great for many reasons and in any language because kids learn about the world of books – authors, stories, about words, grammar and all the worlds in the stories. This method paves the way for adults and kids to bond, and kids and books to bond.
But, there is another way to do this reading aloud with books, another way for kids, adults and books to bond. It is not the main way, but it is a good way. We will call it Kids Read Aloud (KRA). Before explaining the benefits of KRA, a few words of caution.
