Literacy in development discourse and practice: Comparative studies in Indonesia By Jenny F. Zhang A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education and the Designated Emphasis in Global Metropolitan Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Laura Sterponi, Chair Professor You-tien Hsing Professor P. David Pearson Professor Sylvia Tiwon Fall 2020 © 2020 Jenny F. Zhang All rights reserved Abstract Literacy in development discourse and practice: Comparative studies in Indonesia by Jenny F. Zhang Doctor of Philosophy in Education and the Designated Emphasis in Global Metropolitan Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Laura Sterponi, Chair This dissertation study investigates the complexities of the relationship between literacy and international development in Indonesia. I focus on the Literacy Boost program from the international non-governmental organization Save the Children, and I explore how the program was differentially implemented and received in two sites: mega-metropolitan Jakarta, and Belu Regency, a largely rural region in Eastern Indonesia. Drawing on thirteen months of ethnographic research conducted between 2016-2017, I identify both intended and unintended outcomes of the Literacy Boost program. I highlight the tension between the core Literacy Boost program components, standards, and practices, and the program’s heterogenous manifestations in the two sites. I find that in each site, Literacy Boost had to confront systemic challenges at schools before and while implementing literacy programming. Whereas in Jakarta, Literacy Boost focused on issues related to school-based management, in Belu, it focused on banning corporal punishment in classrooms. Thus, Literacy Boost produced different short- and long-term impacts across the two sites, none entirely predictable nor coincidental. My analysis discerns how these distinct trajectories of development unfolded and were experienced by an array of Literacy Boost stakeholders. Furthermore, I explore how Literacy Boost programming was shaped by the exigencies of international development practice, including evaluation requirements and time constraints. These shared constraints notwithstanding, I show how in each site Literacy Boost was modulated by the distinct linguistic context, infrastructure and accessibility, and local notions of progress and development. In demonstrating how a literacy intervention has been taken up in situated contexts of teaching and learning, this dissertation contributes to the understanding of how international development processes succeed and falter across geographic, linguistic, and cultural contexts. 1 Table of contents Abbreviations and Indonesian Terms .................................................................................. iii List of Figures and Tables ...................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction: “Reading makes kids smart and healthy, and God wills it” ........................ 1 Background of the study......................................................................................................... 3 Literacy and reading cultures in Indonesia ........................................................................ 3 Indonesian development and education ................................................................................. 8 An introduction to Literacy Boost ........................................................................................ 11 Literacy assessment ......................................................................................................... 13 Teacher training ............................................................................................................... 13 Community Engagement ................................................................................................. 14 Research Methodology......................................................................................................... 14 A basis for comparison .................................................................................................... 14 Data collection and analysis............................................................................................. 17 Researcher positionality ................................................................................................... 22 Summary of chapters............................................................................................................ 24 Chapter 1. The Literacy Boost Assessment: Defining and evaluating literacy ................ 26 Background .......................................................................................................................... 26 Defining literacy .................................................................................................................. 27 The Literacy Boost Assessment: content validity ................................................................. 29 Alphabetic Knowledge..................................................................................................... 30 Vocabulary ....................................................................................................................... 31 Reading Fluency .............................................................................................................. 33 Reading Comprehension .................................................................................................. 34 Recommendations: New directions for the Literacy Boost assessment .......................... 36 Contexts of Testing ............................................................................................................... 38 Creating the assessment ................................................................................................... 39 The testing environment and the “interactional substrate” .............................................. 40 Discussion and concluding thoughts ................................................................................... 44 Chapter 2. Speaking up: Literacy Boost’s attempt to democratize participation ........... 47 A sense of place .................................................................................................................... 48 Uncertainty ....................................................................................................................... 51 Decentralization, corruption, and notions of choice ........................................................... 58 Decentralization and schooling ........................................................................................ 59 The choice to teach .......................................................................................................... 61 Choosing a school ............................................................................................................ 63 Literacy Boost’s entry into SD Sarjana and the Community Action Cycle (CAC) .............. 67 i Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 77 Chapter 3. Positive discipline and corporal punishment ................................................... 80 Theoretical grounding and background .............................................................................. 81 Corporal control in Indonesian schools ........................................................................... 82 Corporal punishment and classroom discipline in Belu ...................................................... 84 Positive discipline and the rights of the child .................................................................. 86 Where the ambivalence lies ............................................................................................. 91 Self-disciplining in Jakarta .................................................................................................. 93 A model school ................................................................................................................ 94 Layers of monitoring........................................................................................................ 97 Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 98 Chapter 4. One minute, one century: Literacy Boost’s temporal horizons .................... 100 Theoretical grounding and methodology ........................................................................... 101 Speeds of development .................................................................................................. 103 The conjunctural moment of intervention .......................................................................... 104 The Implementer’s Timelines ............................................................................................. 106 Belu Time: Slow and Fast .................................................................................................. 108 Donors’ Timelines .............................................................................................................. 110 Discussion: The rate, speed, and