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Teaching Controversial History

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Teaching Controversial History Institutionen för pedagogik, didaktik och utbildningsstudier Department of Education Teaching Controversial History Indonesian High School History Teachers’ Narratives about Teaching Post-Independence Indonesian Communism Stephen Pratama Master’s thesis in Sociology of Education Nr 14 Abstract The sociological tools of Margaret Somers are employed to dissect Indonesian high school history teachers’ narratives about teaching controversial history of post-independence Indonesian communism. Twelve semi-structured interviews form a qualitative foundation to generate analysis on history teachers’ stories about what enables the entanglement of alternative narratives of Indonesian communism in their teachings. This current study explores how various stories of Indonesian communism influence the teachers’ standpoints on it. Moreover, the study highlights the socio-historical context of how their standpoints were formed. Empirical findings in this study suggest that the teachers draw on different narratives that navigate them to teach alternative versions, in order to counterbalance the mainstream story of Indonesian communism in school textbooks and the history curriculum. However, for some teachers, it is more challenging to teach a subject on Indonesian communism in line with their standpoints. The ease and challenges in teaching controversial history vary since each teacher is embedded in different relationships. Therefore, the social context of their teachings is also discussed. Supervisor: Mette Ginnerskov-Dahlberg Examiner: Mikael Börjesson Defended: June 3rd, 2020. Stephen Pratama: Teaching Controversial History Acknowledgement This thesis is a very long academic journey which had started long before I began my master’s studies. Many thanks to Fransisca Ria Susanti, Kimura Tamba, John Roosa and Satriono Prio Utomo who directly or indirectly inspired me to write this topic since early 2017. Many thanks to people who assist me in executing this research, starting from finding literatures until contacting the twelve history teachers. They are Fadlan Khaerul Anam, Luqman Hakim, Tsabit Azinar Ahmad, Lidya Napitupulu, Nur Iman Subono, Paula Hendrix, Baskara Wardaya, Grace Leksana, Rennie Roos, Kartika Pratiwi, Siswa Santoso and Geoffrey Robinson. Many thanks to all history teachers for their willingness to participate in this research. Without you all, there is no master’s thesis! I am grateful to know people who encourage me to pursue a higher level of education and execute this research project. Many thanks to Iwan Gardono, Gemintang Mallaranggeng, Vernandha Vannya, Perdana Putri, Ghivo Pratama, Rahardika Utama, Indera Pattinasarany, Meuthia Gannie-Rochman and Muhammad Fajar. I will never forget my superb supervisor, Mette. Thank you so much for giving me abundant support to finish this thesis. Without your extra support beyond your working time, I will not be able to finish this thesis. Many thanks for introducing me to Somers and being strict as I requested from the very beginning. It is an honour to be supervised by a great scholar. Also, I want to thank your husband, Josef, for his help in the very last minute to reformulate my research questions! This thesis will be in trouble without those who proofread my text. Many thanks to Johanna McElwee, Philippa Heywood, Alvin Steviro, Belicia Ranti and Johannes Hovfander! The Oscar goes to you guys! Lastly, I thank my parents for their endless support in every aspect of my life. Without my parents, my life would be miserable. 3 Content 1. Introduction ________________________________________________ 7 2. Regime Change, Narratives of Indonesian Communism and History Education 9 2.1 Standardisation of History in the New Order Era _________________________ 9 2.1.1 The Birth and Dominance of the Narrative of Indonesian Communism as a National Threat _________________________________________ 9 2.1.2 History Education and Propaganda ___________________________ 11 2.2 Changes and Continuities in the Post-New Order Era ____________________ 12 2.2.1 Spreading and Suppressing Alternative Narratives _________________ 13 2.2.2 An Overview of History Education in Post-Soeharto Indonesia ________ 14 3. Prior Studies on Orienting Factors and Challenges in Teaching Alternative Narratives ______________________________________________ 17 3.1 The Influence of Lived Experiences _________________________________ 17 3.2 Obstacles Encountered by Teachers ________________________________ 18 3.3 Formulating the Research Agenda on Indonesian High School History Teachers __ 20 4. Narrative and Relational Approach: The Sociological Toolbox of Margaret Somers _________________________________________________ 21 4.1 The Basic Premise _____________________________________________ 21 4.2 Main Characteristics and Multiple Layers of Narrative ____________________ 22 4.3 The Link between Narrative, Identity and Relationality ___________________ 22 4.4 Researching Indonesian High School History Teachers with Narrative and Relational Approach ________________________________________________ 23 5. The Research Questions _______________________________________ 25 6. Building the Study on Qualitative Interviews ________________________ 26 6.1 The Interlocutors _____________________________________________ 26 6.2 Practicing Narrative Inquiry through Semi-structured Interviews ____________ 27 6.3 Executing the Interviews ________________________________________ 28 6.4 Analysing the Interviews ________________________________________ 29 6.5 Ethical Considerations _________________________________________ 30 7. Introducing the Twelve Indonesian High School History Teachers Interviewed 31 7.1 Daliyah ____________________________________________________ 31 7.2 Francisia ___________________________________________________ 31 7.3 David _____________________________________________________ 31 7.4 Immanuel __________________________________________________ 32 7.5 Robert ____________________________________________________ 32 7.6 Troy ______________________________________________________ 32 7.7 Filbert _____________________________________________________ 33 7.8 Nanda _____________________________________________________ 33 7.9 Andrew ____________________________________________________ 33 7.10 Sally _____________________________________________________ 34 7.11 Harry _____________________________________________________ 34 7.12 Maria ____________________________________________________ 34 8. Exploring the Narratives of the Twelve Indonesian High School History Teachers ______________________________________________________ 35 8.1 Contradiction in Teaching _______________________________________ 36 Stephen Pratama: Teaching Controversial History 8.1.1 Teaching History of the Communist Rebellion in 1948 ______________ 36 8.1.2 Teaching Controversial History of the Event in 1965 ________________ 38 8.2. Opposing the New Order Narrative ________________________________ 42 8.3 Being Critical of the New Order Narrative ____________________________ 49 8.4 “An Open-Minded Person” ______________________________________ 51 8.5 A Story of Self Transformation ____________________________________ 52 8.5.1 The Revelation of Family’s Story as a Starting Point ________________ 53 8.5.2 Acquiring Alternative Narratives in University ___________________ 55 8.6 Discussion__________________________________________________ 60 9. The Ups and Downs in Teaching Controversial History of Post-Independence Indonesian Communism ____________________________________ 63 9.1 Worrying about Repercussions of Teaching Controversial History ____________ 63 9.2 Constrained by the Standardised History Examination ___________________ 65 9.3 Trying to Be Careful ___________________________________________ 67 9.4 Perceived as Proponents of Indonesian Communism _____________________ 70 9.5 Stories of the Ease in Teaching Controversial History_____________________ 74 9.6 Discussion __________________________________________________ 78 10. On the Possibility of Teaching Controversial History of Post-Independence Indonesian Communism ____________________________________ 80 10.1 Navigated by Multi-layered Narratives ______________________________ 80 10.2 The Social Context of Teaching ___________________________________ 81 References __________________________________________________ 82 6 1. Introduction Communism had existed in Indonesia long before Indonesia proclaimed independence1. After Indonesia gained independence in 1945, there were particularly two events happened in 1948 and 1965, which are associated with Indonesian communism2. According to Adam (2007: vii), the history of both events is controversial. The term controversial refers to the existence of competing narratives about both events, especially about the status and involvement of the communists (Ahmad 2016: 1-3, 30). Nevertheless, for approximately three decades, one version dominated the others (Meckelburg 2013: 38). The narrative of communist rebellion in 1948 and 1965 and the threat posed by the communists to the nation, did become – during the so-called New Order era (1966-98) – an official narrative (Budiawan 2000: 36; Sugiyama 2011: 25)3. This official narrative is now mostly known as the New Order narrative of Indonesian communism as a national threat. Alternative narratives of the course of events in 1948 and 1965, however, began to flourish after the fall of the New Order regime in the mid-1998. As indicated by Budiawan (2000: 38) and Sugiyama (2011: 25), the principal theme of those alternative
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