Indonesia Vocational High School Science Teachers’ Priorities Regarding 21st Century Learning Skills in Their Science Classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine vocational high school science teachers’ instructional prioritizing the 21st Century Skills mandated in the Indonesian National Curriculum 2013 revision. The Indonesian government implemented this curriculum in 2017 to support students’ career readiness, which was inadequately addressed in previous curriculum documents. Survey data was obtained from the population of vocational high school science teachers in the city of Pontianak, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia. The study contrasted the prioritizing of 21st Century Skills objectives with previous curriculum objectives, in order to determine if teachers give priority to current curriculum requirements or are still focusing on previous requirements. The study furthermore examined whether teacher demographic data are associated with their teaching priorities. Results indicate teachers do prioritize the 21st Century Learning Skills over previous curriculum objectives. Novice teachers report higher priority on communication skills and male teachers give higher priority to problem solving. Future research includes determining how these priorities translate into classroom practice.

Keywords

• 21st century learning skills; science content; scientific process; teaching priority; quantitative study