On Thursday, 19 July 2018, the English Education Master’s Program (EEMP) of Sanata Dharma University welcomed four guests from University of Illinois. In Kadarman Room, Prof. Matthew S. Winters, Leonardus Sudibyo, Ph.D., Christian Heck, and Eleanor Wiley, kindly shared their experiences of visiting a number of schools in Yogyakarta and their impression towards our Indonesian education system.



Moderated by Paulus Kuswandono, Ph.D from Sanata Dharma University, the discussion turned to be fluid rather than rigid where everyone in the room was able to share and give response to the discussion freely. The topics of the discussion moves naturally from one to another, covering many interesting issues including bullying, motivation, competition, student-centred learning, and many others. Of course, some issues related to education and curriculum; how our schools in Indonesia conduct our education programs and how they differ from how American conduct theirs and why occupied a big portion in the sharing session.

Some lecturers of EEMP, Concillianus Laos Mbato, Ed.D., Markus Budiraharjo, Ed.D,  Barli Bram, Ph.D., and Dr. Retno Muljani also joined the discussion by giving broader perspectives and providing highlighting Indonesian context. They offered some explanation and layered some ideas why the phenomena happened. Eleven students from the EEMP also happily shared their opinion and experiences about the discussed topics. Undoubtedly, this sharing moment became a good place for cultural exchange that opened broader view for everyone.



After a coffee-break, the discussion was then continued in a form of FGD (Focussed Group Discussion). Three small groups were formed and anyone were able share anything related to education. In these small groups, the already lively discussion turned to be livelier. Everyone got chances to talk, ask questions, and give responses.

The discussion even continued over lunch we had together. At this point, everyone could talk and discuss anything, even those topics that are not really related to education. Topics about superstition, our plans, dreams were yielded in this discussion. Unfortunately, because of the time limitation, the discussion which lasted for about four hours was officially ended right after lunch time.