Challenges and Strategic Issues Related to Teacher Education Problems

Challenges and Strategic Issues Related to Teacher Education Problems One important component in the world of education is having quality stakeholders. Especially those who directly or indirectly provide services and services to the next generation of the nation. One of the important roles in the world of education is teachers as educators and School Administration Staff as supporting staff. Both of these professions have a great responsibility in overcoming problems in schools. If teachers have a large area in teaching directly with students, School Administration Staff have the opportunity to work indirectly. School Administration Staff not only serve students but also serve internal and external parties, so that the scope of their services is wider than teachers. The great role of teachers and School Administration Staff is very much needed in organizing schools. However, strategic issues still often occur regarding these two important professions. Strategic issues are situations that need to be considered in carrying out planning because they have a major impact that can affect the course of an organizing effort. Igor Ansoff (1980), provides an understanding of strategic issues as developments that occur inside and outside the organization that have a major impact on the ability of an agency/company to meet its goals. Meanwhile, according to Jane Dutton (1980), defines the concept of strategic issues as a development that has the potential to influence organizational strategy. Becoming an educator encounters many problems and challenges in carrying out their work. Here are some strategic issues faced by teachers: 1) Inequality in the Distribution of Educators or Teachers One of the factors of the problem of equal education in Indonesia is the lack of educators in remote areas or commonly called 3T (Outermost, Frontier, and Disadvantaged). In addition to the lack of educators in remote areas, teacher competence and qualifications tend to be low. The inequality of teachers is very clear when looking at the comparison ratio between urban and remote areas. In fact, teachers in urban schools often teach more than one subject, this also occurs in remote areas where teachers teach more than one or even two subjects. Young teachers who dedicate themselves to remote areas face many obstacles. One of them is the lack of access to education and health facilities in remote areas. Teaching in the 3T area is indeed impressive, but survival needs to be thought through more carefully. 2) The Need to Improve Teachers' Professionalism In UUGD Article 2 paragraph 1 states that teachers are professional workers. Followed by article 4 which explains that the position of teachers as professional workers functions to increase the dignity and role of teachers as educational personnel in order to improve the quality of national education. From the explanation of the UUGD, it can be concluded that teachers need to have professional competence through professional education and teachers are required to have a minimum academic qualification of D4 and S1. While in the current situation, teachers can still be found who do not meet the qualification requirements. In the conditions of the continuity of online learning, there are still teachers who are negligent in their responsibilities when teaching. This is found in indicating assignments sent by students, assessing activities, overcoming difficulties and learning abilities that tend to be low. Indications of assignments that often copy and paste, leave assignments, and plagiarism are forms of negligence in facing responsibilities in the classroom. Furthermore, teachers who are less able to manage learning in managing time and learning strategies. Teachers are still often found who forget their obligations from scheduled learning hours and underestimate learning strategies that should be transparent with students. 3) The Need to Improve Technology-Based Teacher Competence Improving the quality of education starts from the front line, namely teachers. Teachers have a close relationship with the learning process and direct interaction with students. Teachers have one of the main tasks to create a pleasant but conducive learning atmosphere. The learning approach still uses the same method and tends to make students passive. Most teachers still use classical learning methods such as, students are expected to sit, be quiet, listen, read, take notes, memorize, without any effort to do other more challenging methods. Therefore, the learning atmosphere in the classroom will become boring and make students less motivated to learn. An alternative method that teachers can do is to utilize Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the learning process. Learning using ICT can make it easier for teachers and students to take the opportunity to learn dynamically and interactively. The low ability of teachers to operate ICT in learning is a new challenge that must be developed immediately. 4) Unequal Priority of Teacher Welfare One way to appreciate and value teacher dedication is to provide salaries or wages. By providing salaries, teacher welfare will also increase. However, teacher salaries in Indonesia are still relatively low. Especially for honorary teachers. There are many cases that question the welfare of honorary teachers. The reason is that there are several cases that have been raised regarding honorary teachers who only receive a salary of IDR 300,000.00 even though the working hours given are no different from PNS teachers. If we look at the demands of teachers to become professional individuals, then compared to the facilities and welfare obtained, it still needs to be improved. Here are some strategic issues of School Administrative Personnel (TAS) a) The Need to Improve Achievement Behavior Especially in the Field of ICT School Administrative Personnel need training and development in order to maintain and improve the quality, expertise, and skills in carrying out the tasks assigned. One of the abilities that a School Administrative Personnel must have is the utilization of ICT. Seeing the increasingly sophisticated technological advances, there are many new things about ICT management that need to be learned by School Administrative Personnel. Adding new abilities so that they do not only have old abilities that make it difficult to develop. Therefore, School Administrative Personnel must be able to adapt to advances in the curriculum and ICT. That way, the work carried out will be easier to handle. The desire to continue to progress or achieve is needed for the positive performance of School Administrative Personnel. b) Prioritizing Consistency of Service and Professionalism School Administrative Personnel operate to serve internal parties, namely students, teachers, and school staff as well as external parties, namely, guardians, outsiders who have needs. Therefore, performance in serving is very important for a School Administrative Personnel. They must show a professional attitude and must be consistent. Sometimes there are still School Administrative Personnel who neglect their duties. Such as leaving the workplace without permission, thereby slowing down operations.