Why Bali?
And why is teaching English so important?

In Bali, the public schools have anywhere between 2 to ­4 hours of class per day, 6 days a week. The groups take shifts, either in the morning, or in the afternoon. Compared to the standard educational system in the West, the curriculum is extremely basic, and ­on its own­ not enough to provide a solid base to build on and create a problem solving mind necessary to provide a stable future for the children and next generations. Teachers more often use the rote learning methods, instead of creative and meaningful learning. Rote learning is a memorization technique based on repetition. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the more one repeats it. Creative and meaningful learning focusses more on making learning relevant to learners and students; enabling them to take ownership of learning experiences.

A day in a student’s life in Indonesia is rather boring. Students are expected to come to school early in the morning, at around 7-8 AM, and remain at school until the afternoon, around 1-2 PM. That’s 6 hours of sitting still! Students get two breaks: one in the morning (9-10 PM) and another for lunch. In the classroom, the usual method of instruction is reminiscent of Enlightenment education: communication is mostly one-way, with the teacher explaining the lesson while students take notes. Creative learning or learning through action is often kept to a minimum, even in primary education. During class, students are often discouraged to ask questions or present a critical remark towards the teacher. This is ingrained in Eastern culture, where the teacher is a figure of authority who must be respected. The act of asking a question is deemed as an act of disrespect as if the teacher fails to answer, it may cause the teacher to “lose face”. Also, to question the teacher would also bring embarrassment to the student, implying that the student was unable to comprehend the teacher’s explanation, equally leading to “losing face”. As such, emphasis is put on memorization and the ability to answer questions “by the book”, not on critical or creative thinking. The end goal of any class is to pass the standardized exams held at the end of every semester. Standardized tests are almost always multiple-choice, like the SAT; essay-based questions are more common at university level.

So, that’s a very brief overview on how the Indonesian education system is. It is mostly concentrated on passing standardized tests, and puts very little emphasis on nurturing critical thinking faculties or creative arts. As such, we strive to provide opportunities for the students to “take a breather” and indulge in the creative arts in our classes.

The curriculum in public schools does include English language, starting at Junior High School however, as explained, the education is very basic. Since Bali has become more and more dependent on tourism, the English language is extremely important for everyone on the island. Even having a very basic knowledge of English can make the difference between living in serious poverty (no job, or extremely low wage) and working in a minimum wage sector (and of course much better than that).

At VP Bali we encourage our students not only to develop a basic knowledge of English, but also the confidence and creativity to use the language in their daily life and in their future jobs. For more information about our Teaching Program, please have a look here: “Teaching English at VP Bali”