Four Decades of Teacher Professional Development in Indonesia: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

This text discusses the ineffectiveness of teacher professional development (TPD) programs in Indonesia over the past four decades. It highlights the limited subject knowledge and inadequate pedagogical skills of teachers, as well as the low learning levels of Indonesian students. The text explores the different TPD initiatives implemented, their technical shortcomings, and the lack of essential features. It emphasizes the need for integration of TPD with school improvement initiatives and suggests reorienting the education system, establishing measurable teaching competence standards, and implementing a performance-based system for schools and teachers to enhance the effectiveness of TPD.