Implementation Of Curriculum Innovation

IMPLEMENTATION OF CURRICULUM INNOVATION A. Implementation of Innovation and Speed of Adoption Implementation is an important stage for curriculum innovation. In line with the explanation of Rogers (1983) who explained that the innovation decision process is a process that is passed by individuals (or other decision-making units) which begins with first recognizing the existence of innovation, then forming an attitude towards innovation, making a decision to accept or reject innovation, implementing new ideas and affirming the decision (Z. Arifin, 2011: 306). Therefore, Nicholls (1983)0 explained six important requirements that can help the success of curriculum innovation implementation activities, namely as follows. 1) Teachers must fully understand the innovation. 2) Teachers have knowledge related to the planning process, skills and abilities to develop and implement innovation. 3) Innovation assessment criteria must have been prepared in advance. 4) Rejection of innovation has been taken into account when the innovation begins to be implemented. 5) Knowledge and attention are needed during the innovation implementation process. 6) Effective communication channels must be established that are used by all involved in the innovation (Z. Arifin, 2011: 306). Meanwhile, the speed of adoption is the relative speed at which an innovation is obtained through members of a social system group. Another explanation states that the speed of adoption is a numerical measure of the steps of the adoption curve for an innovation (Z. Arifin, 2011: 307). If understood further, simply the speed of adoption is a measure or level of speed at which an innovation or policy can be accepted and also implemented by an individual. Because each individual has a different level of acceptance or adaptation speed and is carried out at different times. The things that need to be considered when measuring the speed of an innovation are; 1) Stable balance related to social structure or function, 2) Dynamic balance related to changes in the social system with the system's ability to overcome it, 3) Imbalance that occurs due to the speed of change is so fast that it cannot be followed by the social system (Z. Arifin, 2011: 310). B. Curriculum Innovation in Indonesia Curriculum innovation in Indonesia is based on three things, namely a) the vision, mission and objectives of national education set by the government through Law No. 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System, b) the purpose of curriculum innovation is to improve the existing education system to make it better so that its benefits are felt by the education community itself, and c) as an effort to find solutions to problems. In the development of the education system in Indonesia, there have been various efforts to innovate the curriculum and learning such as changes in curriculum objectives, curriculum restructuring, adjustments to materials and time, reorientation of approaches and learning strategies. Zainal A. (2011: 310-311) explains that there are several considerations for the need for curriculum innovation in Indonesia, namely as follows. 1) Relevance, namely there is still a mismatch between the curriculum used and the needs in the field. 2) The quality of education in Indonesia is very low. 3) The problem of equality, the development of education in Indonesia to date is still uneven. 4) The problem of effectiveness and efficiency of education. effectiveness is related to the effectiveness of curriculum implementation, both curriculum structure, methodology, evaluation, teachers, supervisors and other instrumental inputs. Efficiency issues related to curriculum management, limited funds and power demand an efficient and integrated curriculum management system, both vertically and horizontally integrated/efficient regarding the time aspect, namely the use of time in each subject. Therefore, to overcome this problem, efforts are needed that become new breakthroughs through deep thinking and a progressive approach in the form of curriculum innovation. With this action, it is hoped that there will be an increase in the quality of education both now and in the future. New ideas as a result of rethinking must be able to solve problems that cannot be solved by traditional or commercial methods. After the form of curriculum innovation exists and is implemented in a real situation, it is necessary to pay attention to several factors related to education, namely the following. 1. The teacher factor (educator) who is the spearhead in curriculum development is a party that is very influential in the learning process. The expertise and authority of teachers greatly determine the effectiveness of the curriculum, both in school and outside of school. Therefore, teachers have the main and first role both as educators, mentors, teachers, trainers, implementers, and as curriculum innovators (Z. Arifin, 2011: 312). 2. Student factors, as the main object in the curriculum, especially in the learning process, students play a very dominant role. Students determine learning success through the use of intelligence, motor skills, experience, willingness and commitment that arise within themselves without any coercion. This happens when students are involved in the curriculum innovation process. Students need to be introduced and involved in curriculum innovation so that they not only accept and implement innovation but also reduce resistance (Z. Arifin, 2011: 312). 3. Learning program factors and their devices, are guidelines in implementing the curriculum in schools. Learning programs are an inseparable part of the curriculum as a system. This factor must be considered because the results of curriculum innovation are ultimately compiled into learning programs (Z. Arifin, 2011: 312). 4. Facility factors including facilities and infrastructure cannot be ignored in the implementation of curriculum innovation. Facilities are things that also influence the continuity of an innovation that will be implemented. Without facilities, the implementation of curriculum innovation is certain not to run well. Facilities (especially learning facilities) are very essential in making changes and updates to the curriculum. In the implementation of curriculum innovation, facility factors must absolutely be considered (Z. Arifin, 2011: 312). 5. Social environmental factors of the community are directly or indirectly intentionally or unintentionally involved in curriculum innovation. Basically, the goal of curriculum innovation is to change society for the better, especially the community where the students come from. Without involving the surrounding community, curriculum innovation will certainly be disrupted, and can even be destructive. Many curriculum innovation activities that are not supported by the community result in the implementation of innovation being halted. Community involvement in curriculum innovation will actually help innovators and implementers of innovation in implementing educational innovation (Z. Arifin, 2011: 313).