This study is intended to understand teaching quality of English student teachers when they conduct their teaching practicum. Teaching quality is conceptualized based on the principles of effective teaching resulted by teacher effectiveness studies. Thes


 

 

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Indonesia’s Local Content Curriculum (LCC) Initiative: 
Decentralization and Perspectives from High School 
Classrooms in Banten  

 
MICHAEL SEAN YOUNG

1
   

Abstract  

This study asked how, and in what ways the local content curriculum (LCC) initiative 
was being implemented in response to decentralization reforms in Banten, Indonesia. 
A discussion of the background of decentralization and LCC policy and their 
implementation builds a framework for understanding the development of the LCC. 
Specific attention is given to school-based teams and curriculum development in 
relation to Indonesian decentralization policy (macro level) and the LCC as a proxy 
for the policy at the micro level. The ethnographic case study investigated nine 
lecturers and 25 students at a university faculty of teacher training and education 
program, and 16 LCC senior secondary teachers in five high schools. Data were 
collected through primary interviews, follow- up conversations, and classroom 
participant-observations. The study was a sustained, ten-month long immersion in 
the school communities in order to yield data adequate to answer the research 
questions. The discussion and findings provide extensive and diverse evidence of 
dynamic responses to LCC policy changes, as lecturers and teachers were well 
informed about and engaged in the implementation of LCC courses. Implications of 
findings are discussed. 

 
Keywords 
Decentralization of education, local content curriculum, Indonesian education  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
1. Assistant Professor, the College of the Marshall Islands; myoung@cmi.edu  

mailto:myoung@cmi.edu


 

 

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Introduction 
 
Since the 1990‟s, and significantly since 1998 with the end of the Suharto presidency, 

Indonesia has moved from a highly centralized education system to an increasingly 
decentralized one, with policy reforms and initiatives intending to improve educational 
quality and relevance by strengthening regional, district and school autonomy, and capacities. 
Law No. 22 of 1999 on “Local Government” devolved authority and responsibilities for 
local governments in numerous sectors beginning January 1

st
, 2001, with the exception of 

security and defense, foreign policy, monetary and fiscal matters, justice and religious affairs 
(Usman, 2005). The reforms encourage greater regional and local control politically and 
financially, including such areas as teacher recruitment and training (Behrman, Deolalikar, & 
Soon, 2002; Purwadi & Muljoatmadjo, 2000; Sadiman, 2006), adoption of competency-based 
curriculum standards (Utomo, 2005) and local-level curriculum development (Bjork, 2005).  

Indonesia‟s educational system is responding to these dramatic societal changes and 
demands, and to the concurrent influences of globalization and localization, with 
decentralization reforms including increased curricular and instructional autonomy, higher 
teacher qualification standards and improved teacher training. Addressing the “harmony 
between local and global cultures” and “implementation of regional autonomy” in practice, 
English and local content curriculum (LCC) are required subjects in junior and senior 
secondary schools, and in some elementary schools, indicative of pragmatic efforts to meet 
the nation‟s educational needs at and from the local level. The requirement of English at the 
secondary level can be viewed as representative of global aspirations for Indonesian 
education, while the local content curriculum reflects the nation‟s commitment to an 
appreciation of local and regional variations. Local content curriculum (LCC); also known as 
muatan lokal or (MULOK) represent major components of decentralization policy (kebijakan 
decentralisasi), and are undergirded by the principles of democracy, autonomy, and 
self-motivation for learning. Bjork (2003), in a study of junior secondary schools (SLP/ 
SLTP; grades 7-9) in East Java, found that deeply rooted school cultures and sociopolitical 
contexts exert a powerful influence on teachers‟ perceptions and behaviors. He concludes 
there are three major aspects impeding the implementation of the LCC initiative and changes 
in curriculum and pedagogy: “civil service culture, incentives and rewards, and center-local 
relations,” and of these factors, Bjork‟s (2005) phenomena of “civil service culture” and 
center-local relations affecting teacher autonomy and adaptation, and how these impact 
teacher training, will likely relate to the perceptions of the professors and student-teachers in 
this study. 

The problem with the implementation of the LCC, as a significant and symbolic 
component of decentralization reform initiated in 1994 (Bjork, 2005; Sadiman, 2006) is that 
even if provided with support such as training and resources, there are deeper issues 
concerning past social norms and expectations regarding authority-subordinate relationships. 
It is not unusual for people to base their understandings, attitudes and actions upon their 
past experiences and exigent social realities; in actuality we could consider this the norm. 
Bjork (2005) observes that teachers may need convincing through tangible benefits such as 
financial incentives and assured job security (in cases of non-permanent, non-civil service 



 

 

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teachers). Utomo (2005) questioned Bahasa Indonesia teachers‟ responses to the CBC. One 
question left unclear in this regard is “How do secondary teachers of other subjects respond 
to the challenges of creating, developing and successfully implementing LCC in schools?”  

Like many countries in Southeast Asia, the Republic of Indonesia has pursued 
decentralization reforms like the LCC concurrently with efforts to increase and improve 
English as a common language in business, government, at higher education levels, and as a 
medium of instruction in some senior secondary schools. Additionally, all students study 
Bahasa Indonesia, as well as communicating in over 200 local dialects, primarily the regional 
languages of Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese. Bahasa Indonesia is the national language, and 
Arabic and diverse local languages are spoken throughout Indonesia. For the province of 
Banten, the location of this study, the main local languages are Sundanese and Javanese. A 
question arises from this hypothetical construct: Is local-language instruction—or even 
English— incorporated into the local content curriculum subject matter? Which preferences 
tend to take precedence, and if so to what degree? The answers certainly would impact the 
preparation of teachers of these subjects, and at the time of the study, no previous research 
on this subject in Indonesia could be found. 

The graphic representations of Bjork (2005) illustrate the forces of the state, namely 
the education policy of the ministry of national education, the parental sector, and student 
influences, mediated by the teachers‟ values about education. Note that Bjork (2005) does 
not consider extra-national or global forces. He contends that in the Indonesian system, the 
role of the state is much greater than in other countries, due to historical bureaucratic 
customs. Thus, even with sound and coordinated structural decentralization policies in place, 
as opposed to unsupported and inconsistent efforts across the 34 provinces, change is slow 
to occur. Better understanding the scope of this problem requires analysis that moves from 
critique of decentralization theory and national policy to their affects in a unique institutional 
context, to schools and the lives of teachers and students. In the pursuit and development of 
new knowledge about how teachers respond to a new national educational policy, this study 
critically reviews the most closely related and current research with the rationale of learning 
how educators respond in this specific context regarding increased levels of teacher 
autonomy and decision-making as embodied in the local context curriculum initiative. Anen 
(1992) recommended “improving cooperation and coordination between teacher training 
institutions and provincial offices of education” (p. xv) and the findings of this study provide 
specific data on, and knowledge of, this educational need. 

 
Literature Review 

 
Decentralization of education theory 
 
The concept of decentralization involves the delegation of authority and 

responsibilities from the core of a central government or an organization outward to the 
more local level (for example, to provinces) or to departments. Benefits and challenges of 
decentralization will be discussed here. The list of countries pursuing decentralization 
reforms during the past 20 years is long, and includes a majority of developing nations 
(Malik, 2007). Decentralization of educational systems has been a global trend for decades, 



 

 

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and is “one of the most important phenomena to have affected educational planning in the 
last 15 years” (McGinn & Welsh, 1999). The reasons for this are complex; while rationales 
and assumptions vary from nation to nation, there are commonly recurring themes. They 
include diverse factors such as international economic pressures, governments ostensibly and 
genuinely encouraging the promotion of political democratization, global and local groups 
(often in solidarity) demanding greater voice (Duncan, 2007) and research demonstrating 
that decentralization can improve government, organizational and institutional efficiency. 
Degrees of centralization or decentralization of educational systems differ according to these 
diverse factors unique to each country‟s government, economy, history, religions, and 
culture, however, and the central debate for education systems frequently revolves around 
distribution of power, loci of control, and decision making (Bray, 1999; McGinn & Welsh, 
1999; Weiler, 1990). It is important to remember decentralization is not an end unto 
itself—it is a means for providing better education more effectively and equitably. 

Specific reasons beyond the merely political for decentralizing educational systems 
include improving the relevance and appropriateness of curriculum, increasing retention and 
graduation rates of students, addressing disparities in the quality of education for 
marginalized communities, and improving student achievement. Assumptions and claims are 
made that decentralization can improve efficiency of systems by encouraging the 
identification of problems and needs and the most appropriate responses at the local level, 
related to, for example, teacher distribution and payment, accountability, provision of 
curriculum, and maintenance of school materials and facilities. Many of these responses are 
given as reasons and rationales for decentralization in Indonesia, as described in the next 
section, but are these claims valid?  

Definitions and typologies of centralization and decentralization of education 
systems are generally similar, with diverging interpretations and modifications. Rondinelli 
(1981) was one of the first to describe three forms of decentralization: deconcentration, 
delegation, and devolution. He later added privatization as a fourth form (Rondinelli et al., 
1984). According to Rondinelli (1981), decentralization is the “transfer or delegation of legal 
and political authority to plan, make decisions, and manage public functions, from the 
central government and its agencies to field organizations of those agencies, subordinate 
units of government, semi-autonomous public corporations, area-wide or regional 
development authorities; functional authorities, autonomous local governments, or 
non-governmental organizations.” 

Exceptions and modifications to this definition have been advanced. According to 
McGinn and Welsh (1999), “decentralization is about shifts in the location of those who 
govern, about transfers of authority from those in one location or level vis-à-vis education 
organizations, to those in another level,” including four possible locations of authority: 1) 
the central government; 2) provincial, state or regional governing bodies; 3) municipal, 
county or district governments; and 4) schools. These levels and locations can be combined 
and overlaid with each of Rondinelli‟s (1981) three forms for the analysis of any given 
system. Rondinelli‟s (1981) three degrees of decentralization are (1) deconcentration is the 
process through which a central authority establishes field units or branch offices, staffing 
them with its own officers. Thus, personnel of the ministry of education may all work in the 
same central building, but more likely some of them would be posted out to provinces and 



 

 

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districts, (2) delegation implies a stronger degree of decision making power at the local level. 
Nevertheless, powers in a delegated system still basically rest with the central authority, 
which has chosen to “lend” them to the local one.  The powers can be withdrawn without 
resort to legislation, and (3) devolution is the most extreme of these three forms of territorial 
decentralization. Powers are formally held at sub-national levels, the officers of which do not 
need to seek higher-level approval for their actions. The subnational officers may choose to 
inform the center of their decisions, but the role of the center is chiefly confined to 
collection and exchange of information.  

To interpret and summarize Bray‟s (1999) definitions above; deconcentration is the 
distribution of centralized government offices across geographical, or territorial, areas. 
Delegation implies the transfer of authority and decision-making to separate governmental 
units that remain responsible to the central government. Devolution is the strongest form of 
decentralization, transferring decision-making and authority over fiscal resources to regional 
and local governing bodies. For the case of Indonesia, the theme of “unique contexts 
influencing results” and that of “new problems always arising” make logical sense and are 
likely to apply.  

However, for Indonesia, which until recently was highly centralized, the context is 
quite different, and moving toward the center of a continuum of 
centralization-decentralization holds great promise. Indonesia‟s multiple desired outcomes 
seem to uniformly conform with many of the potential benefits of decentralization if the 
pitfalls discussed thus far can be avoided. The local content curriculum can be viewed as a 
fundamental embodiment of educational decentralization policy (macro-level) moving 
forward in Indonesian schools at the micro-level.  

 
Decentralization in Indonesia 
 
The current movement which has been encouraged through globalization and 

democratization, and in the interests of “Unity in Diversity,” has sought to promote the 
localization of educational methods and curricula for communities and schools. As 
mentioned in the introduction, legislation from the Indonesian Ministry of National 
Education (MONE, 1994) specifically prescribes certain proportions of curriculum and 
instructional method be developed from and at local levels; this is the local content 
curriculum (Bjork, 2003).  

Jalal (2006) describes the general features of decentralization of government 
management in Indonesia as 1.) a transfer of authority of educational policies from central 
government, entailing the delegation of discretion over educational policy and money needed 
to finance these responsibilities, and 2.) shifting various educational decisions from 
government to people, or stakeholders, directly implementing and benefiting from these 
educational decisions. That areas such as setting standard competencies, national curriculum, 
evaluation calendar and evaluation instruments are retained at the central level is 
corroborated by Sadiman and Pudjiastuti (2006). Jalal (2006) traces the federal origins of 
education policy to the fourth amendment of the 1945 constitution, article 31:2, which states 
that every citizen is entitled to an education and that every citizen should enroll in basic 
education and the government should finance it. After conducting a limited study on the 



 

 

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progress of a school based management pilot program, Jalal concluded, as do Sadiman and 
Pudjiastuti (2006), that these efforts must be sustained over time and require buy-in from all 
stakeholders, especially school leaders such as principals, teachers, communities, and parents. 

Sadiman and Pudjiastuti (2006) observe that since the 2001 beginnings of 
decentralized government management of education, progress has been made towards the 
goals of improving teaching qualifications and performance and creating more conducive 
learning environments in schools by making schools more autonomous, democratic, diverse 
and participatory at the community level. However, they echo the sentiments of Yulaelawati 
(2005), Bjork (2003, 2005), and others from within the educational leadership of Indonesia 
that the instruction in schools is isolated from social and physical experiences in the lives of 
students, the learning processes are routine, and school administrators are not monitoring 
and evaluating classroom activities adequately.  

The “National Education Reform in Indonesia: milestones and strategies for the 
reform process” reported by Yulaelawati (2007) gives an up-to-date summary address of the 
general goals and direction of the decentralization program and current strategies to promote 
its advancement for improving the quality of teachers and schools. As follows, Yulaelawati 
(2007) emphasizes the role that the LCC plays within the framework of the CBC for 
promoting diversity and unity simultaneously, and the need to maximize the use of existing 
educational resources by decentralizing aspects of school management at the district and 
local levels.  

Duncan (2007) asserts that the efforts of decentralization have yielded unevenly 
distributed results for urban and rural regions and people with minority demographic and 
socio-economic backgrounds, and it cannot be completely successful without mollifying 
these social inequities. In contrast to this, a much more recent study by the World Bank 
demonstrated that decentralization is working in Indonesia (Teo, 2007). The study of LCC 
development in response to decentralization is recommended as an extension of the work of 
Bjork (2003, 2005) and Utomo (2005).  
 

Local Content Curriculum 
 
As mentioned previously, local content curriculum (LCC) is a major component and 

“flagship” of Indonesia‟s current decentralization reform movement which has sought to 
promote the localization of educational methods and curricula for communities and schools 
(Bjork, 2003, 2005). As mentioned in the introduction, local content curriculum legislation 
from the Indonesian Ministry of National Education (MONE, 1994) specifically prescribes 
certain proportions of curriculum and instructional methods to be developed from and at 
local levels (Bjork, 2003).  

The LCC actually predated Indonesia Federal Law No. 22 of 1999 on local 
government, which stated “The authority to implement and manage education shall be 
transferred from the national government, i.e., the Ministry of National Education (MONE, 
which had replaced the Ministry of Education and Culture, or MOEC) to local 
district/municipal governments (Purwadi & Muljoatmodjo, 2000). The purpose is to make 
national standards and subject matter more relevant to students in their regions and 
localities. It is hoped this will make the study of CBC standards more engaging and 



 

 

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interesting; thus promoting achievement and promoting the retention and progress of 
students from grade level to grade level. The LCC is a separate subject area and course in 
which students learn facts and concepts derived from their communities. Examples of this 
are cultural, as with the humanities, like art, crafts, architecture, theater and fashion; 
historical, such as significant events and inhabitants of their area, geographical, as with maps, 
rivers, mountains, or the ocean; which leads to science— the types of resources and industry 
of their area; and linguistics, as with local dialects.  

The following are some examples conveyed by Bjork (2005). He defined four 
characteristics of the revised LCC of 1994 including: (1) it consists of different subjects, (2) it 
has a share of up to 20 percent of the curriculum, (3) it is relevant to the needs of the local 
community and the world of work, and (4) it is developed at the local level under the 
responsibility of the Regional Offices of the MOEC/MONE in accordance with the 
availability of resources, regional and local development criteria, and employment 
opportunities. 

These primary characteristics of the program currently remain intact. Furthermore, 
Bjork (2005) summarizes the goals of the LCC as to: delegate authority to the localities, 
reduce the percentage of students exiting the system, provide vocational training, create 
tighter links between curricula and local conditions, increase community involvement in the 
schools, and improve the instructional process (Bjork, 2005). In order for teachers to 
effectively change the use of curriculum and instruction in the classrooms, they would need 
“to transform themselves from deliverers of a curriculum prepared by experts in the capital 
to autonomous educators who used their creativity and intelligence to enliven instruction for 
their students” (Bjork, 2005, p. 37). In order for genuine devolution of authority to take 
place, the knowledge, methods, and attitudes of teachers would need to change, including 
greater knowledge of subjects and course objectives, and greater autonomy and 
responsibility in teaching.  

However, in the study of the implementation of LCC in junior secondary schools in 
East Java, Bjork (2003) found that deeply rooted school cultures and sociopolitical contexts 
exert a powerful influence on teachers‟ perceptions and behaviors, and he concluded there 
are three major aspects impeding the implementation of the LCC initiative and changes in 
curriculum and pedagogy; “civil service culture, incentives and rewards, and center-local 
relations” (p. 202).  
       The problem with the implementation of the LCC, a significant and symbolic 
component of decentralization reform initiated in 2001 (Bjork, 2005; Sadiman & Pudjiastuti, 
2006), is that even if provided with support such as training and resources, there are deeper 
issues concerning past social norms and expectations. It is not unusual for people to base 
their understandings, attitudes and actions upon their past experiences and exigent social 
realities; in actuality we could consider the norm. Bjork (2005) observes that teachers may 
need convincing through tangible benefits such as assured job security and financial 
incentives before adjusting their teaching when these changes radically differ from the status 
quo of past decades. For Bjork‟s (2003) visual representation of these multi-level tensions, 
and my proposed graphic adaptation of these for this study, see Figures 1 and 2.  
 



 

 

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Figure 1. Forces acting upon teachers

 
 
 
Figure 2. Forces in the Indonesian public school system 
 

 
 

Movements toward decentralization in various sectors of governments, particularly 
educational systems, during different periods of national development, have been a popular 
trend worldwide, with dramatic legislation-led progress made during the 1990‟s and into the 
new millennium. The apparent and obfuscated motives, political dynamics, and benefits or 
drawbacks of decentralization are contextually complex and require direct scrutiny beyond 
official statistics, document analysis and literature review; however these can provide the 
foundations for future quantitative and qualitative research. Decentralization in the 
Indonesian system can potentially have very positive effects. If the process truly involves the 
delegation of authority for spending, administration, and decision making to the states, a 
dubious issue in itself, then state-level initiatives can be made to improve the quality 
education at a local level. While Indonesia has made dramatic legislative-led decentralizing 
reforms to improve the overall state of education, the effects of these reforms must be 
questioned and critiqued at the provincial, district, and school levels to better understand if 
delegation of decision-making and spending are genuine, and to find if efficiency and quality 
of instruction and outcomes improve or worsen.                                                                                                                                                   

The final conclusion to be drawn on educational decentralization, or territorial 
devolution, in Indonesia, is that while some see local autonomy in education as more 



 

 

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efficient and responsive to local schooling needs, more democratic for school communities, 
and more encouraging of entrepreneurialism and cooperation between locales, opponents 
maintain that decentralization and greater local autonomy can foster local elitism and 
incompetence, lack of accountability, redundancy, financial waste and even corruption; and 
local diversity can lead to competition, antagonism, and confusion about educational 
outcomes. To further complicate decentralization theory discussed here, to what extent are 
global, state and local influences impacting teacher training and the implementation of policy 
reforms, and are global influences displacing or impinging upon state and local perspectives, 
ways and actions, or complementing and facilitating the interpretation and implementation 
of decentralization of education policies such as the local content curriculum? These specific 
assumptions followed from my inquiry: 1. That UB (University of Banten), and similar 
universities‟ programs, address issues of Indonesian educational policy, the CBC, and 
English and LCC instruction, including a.) pedagogy and methods, b.) curriculum and 
learning materials, and c.) administrative and professional conduct. 2. The assumption that 
development of LCC at the school level would be consistent from one school, or district, to 
the next, or that some system or model for developing LCC exists. 3. That there is a 
structural model or protocol that the LCC committees follow in developing LCC, regarding 
what local content curriculum should consist of. Is it comprised of regionally relevant 
subject areas such as tourism in Bali, agriculture in rural areas, or marine biology on the 
coast? Are local history, culture, and languages included? If “yes,” are other subjects such as 
computer literacy or English also incorporated? 

Specific reasons for decentralizing education systems include improving the 
relevance and appropriateness of curriculum, increasing retention and graduation rates of 
students, addressing disparities in the quality of education for marginalized communities, and 
improving student achievement (Bray, 1999; Hannaway & Carnoy, 1993; McGinn & Welsh, 
1999). Assumptions and claims are made that decentralization can improve efficiency of 
systems by encouraging the identification of problems and needs and the most appropriate 
responses at the local level, related to, for example, teacher distribution and payment, 
accountability, provision of curriculum, and maintenance of school materials and facilities. 
Many of these are given as reasons and rationales for decentralization in Indonesia, thus the 
explicit goals of the LCC are to 1) Delegate authority to localities, 2) Reduce the percentage 
of student exiting the system/provide vocational training, 3) Create tighter links between 
curricula and local conditions, 4) Increase community involvement in the schools and 5) 
Improve the instructional process (Bjork, 2005). 

Bjork‟s (2003, 2005) and other previous research (Anen, 1992; Utomo, 2005) suggest 
that teachers‟ habits impede reform at the local level, and that change and implementation of 
the CBC-KTSP, PAKEM and LCC reforms has been very slow to occur. In summary, how 
have decentralization policy reforms impacted teachers‟ and schools‟ development of the 
LCC? The graphic representations of Bjork (2005) illustrate the forces of the state, namely 
the education policy of the Ministry of National Education, the parental sector, and student 
influences, mediated by the teachers‟ values about education. Note that Bjork (2005) does 
not consider extra-national or global forces. He contends that in the Indonesian system, the 
role of the state is much greater than in other countries, due to historical bureaucratic 
customs. Thus, even with sound, coordinated structural decentralization policies in place, as 



 

 

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opposed to unsupported and inconsistent efforts across the 34 provinces, change is slow to 
occur.  

 
Methodology 
 
This study is inductive, in that there was no hypothesis to be tested, but rather 

knowledge to be gathered and processes to be explored. This is the rationale and purpose for 
the choice of a qualitative, ethnographic case study. As the primary research instrument, I 
used individual and focus group interviews, classroom and campus observation and analysis 
of written documents and cultural artifacts for data collection and analysis in this study. Nine 
lecturers and more than 25 students at the university Faculty of Teacher Training and 
Education program, for a total of more than 35 instructor and student participants were 
interviewed and observed in classrooms and at campus-wide activities. Additionally, 16 
English and LCC senior secondary teachers, and provincial and district English supervisors 
were interviewed. The lecturers varied in age from the late-twenties to the late-thirties; 
students ranged from 18 to 22. The population and sample are defined as a case study 
following Stake (1995) and Yin (1989).                                                                                                                                                                       

The present Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of the University of Banten 
in Serang, Banten, Indonesia originated in 1982, when a School of Teachers Training and 
Education (FKIP) was established. This study was conducted with the permission and 
authorization of the UB Rector and the principals of the five high schools. In all the senior 
high school classrooms I visited the students wore uniforms, with the boys in khaki or blue 
colored slacks and short-sleeve shirts, and the girls in long skirts and blouses. Many girls in 
the high schools wore jilbabs (head coverings); however, some did not.                                           

Data were collected through primary interviews, follow- up conversations, classroom 
participant-observations, and campus activities participant-observations. In order to yield 
data adequate to answer the research questions, a sustained, ten-month long immersion in 
the language and culture of the school communities was necessary to inductively seek out 
factors and patterns occurring in the processes of curriculum development and 
implementation of the classes. The data collected is descriptive, and concerned with and 
meanings for the participants (Bogden & Biklen, 1998).  Interviews conducted in English 
and partially in Bahasa Indonesia (with the help of a translator) which lasted from 40 to 60 
minutes each were utilized. The questions were thematic, open-ended, and sequenced with 
each participant responding in turn and listening to one another‟s responses in focus groups. 
To counter critiques that the ethnographic case-study approach is too reliant on subjective 
data, the researcher sought to establish credibility of collection and interpretation of the data 
through triangulation and member-checks. Lincoln and Guba (1985) proposed 
corresponding qualitative criteria for approaches paralleling quantitative criteria for 
evaluating qualitative research. For this study, transferability and credibility of participants 
bolsters validity, and dependability and confirmability support generalizability. The data 
collected and analyzed through interviews, field work observations on campus and in 
classrooms, and artifacts (student work, for example) was triangulated to ensure qualitative 
validity and reliability. Teachers and administrators from similar high school in a rural part of 
Banten were involved to strengthen reliability. The researcher‟s perceptions are 



 

 

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acknowledged as subjective at stages in the selection of data collected, and in the analyses of 
the data.                                                                                                 

During and after data collection, with the individual and focus group interviews with 
university lecturers and students, and senior high school teachers, the data was analyzed 
through a process of organizing and coding.  Interviews were transcribed, in detail, from 
the recorders to word documents as soon as possible following the interviews. This 
maximized accuracy of the literal spoken words and interpretations of meanings. The 
responses to thematic and open-ended questions, together with data from field notes and 
observations were then examined to find recurring themes and patterns, and these were 
matched with themes from the literature review and theoretical framework. This type of 
“line-by-line” and whole sentence or paragraph analysis is known as “open coding” (Miles & 
Huberman, 1994). After, and while, following the process of reflective memo-taking, 
organizing, coding and categorizing, and analyzing and interpreting, the researcher tried to 
be careful to triangulate the data from multiple perspectives in multiple situations through 
member checks, and to search for alternative or subtly imperceptible understandings. 

The guiding paradigms and methods are consistent with the ethical principles for 
researching participants or “human subjects,” including: Respect for persons, which includes 
the requirement of a voluntary informed consent process, beneficence, which entails an 
obligation to protect persons from harm by minimizing risks and maximizing benefits, and 
justice, which requires that selection of subjects be fair and equitable and that particular care 
be taken when working with populations whose status puts them in a vulnerable position. 

 
Findings and Discussion 

 
The local content curriculum (LCC) as a subject in elementary and public schools 

represents a part of Indonesia‟s commitment to decentralization and the localization of 
educational methods and curricula for communities and schools. As stated, the broad goals 
of the LCC are to; 1) delegate authority to localities, 2) reduce the percentage of students 
exiting the system/provide vocational training, 3) create tighter links between curricula and 
local conditions, 4) increase community involvement in the schools and 5) improve the 
instructional process (Bjork, 2005). The purpose is to make national CBC-KTSP standards 
and subject matter more relevant to students in their regions and localities, and to promote 
the retention and progress of students from grade level to grade level. The LCC is a separate 
subject area and course, and in some cases students learn facts and concepts derived from 
their communities, like art, crafts, architecture, theater and fashion, history, geography, 
science and linguistics, as with local dialects. The selection of topics and development of 
curriculum depends upon the types of resources and industry of the community and occurs 
at the school level. 

One fundamental aspect of my LCC research question was “What is the local 
content curriculum, and how does it reflect local influences on schooling in the context of 
decentralization?” More specifically, I also wanted to know if Social Studies, Indonesian or 
English Language, Pancasila

1
 and Civics, Religious Education, or other subject area teachers 

                                                 
Five inseparable and interrelated principles in the national philosophy of Indonesia. 



 

 

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provided training in university programs to develop and teach local content curriculum 
(LCC,) or if this was a separate major for student-teachers. The answer to this specific 
question is “no.” While the English education lecturers at the UB (University of Banten) 
demonstrated a great deal of knowledge about the local content curriculum subject area in 
schools, they explained to me that there is no program of study or courses to prepare 
teachers specifically to teach LCC at the elementary and secondary levels, at UB or any 
teacher training institutions in Indonesia. This section discusses the lecturers‟ knowledge and 
views of the LCC, and then ventures beyond the case of UB into four large public senior 
high schools in Serang and one public senior school in a rural village near Pandalayan, Banten. 

I discovered there is no major, and no course, for the local content curriculum at 
UB, or any other institutions that anyone knew of. This may indicate the government‟s 
intention to concentrate the development of LCC subjects at the K-12 school level. It is 
discussed, however, in the curriculum course (Atin) and courses directly related to 
second-language teaching (Rizal & John). Two purposes became to learn more about 
lecturers understanding of the development, design, and implementation of LCC, and to 
learn more about the actual development, design, and implementation of LCC at the 
secondary school level. Yudi described the relationship of the recently gained autonomy of 
Banten province in relation to English and the local content curriculum:  
 

“Before 2001 Banten was part of West Java and Bandung Sundanese…all is more 
decentralized now, like for the LCC schools can choose what language can be 
given…Under Suharto emphasis on Bahasa Indonesian was stronger…not such a 
need of English, especially in elementary schools. Now times are changing…English 
has now become part of LCC in some schools. When I ask experts … they say we 
lack English teachers. We need to make it an obligation or it will be a problem in 
elementary schools… and it is optional in some areas a lot…” 
 

Yudi explains that English is included as an LCC subject in response to school resources and 
the interests of students. The local content curriculum courses do not always reflect the 
“local” culture, industry and language, but rather, the decisions about the content of the 
courses are determined at the local level, to be relevant and desirable for the students. Often, 
though, the LCC course content does reflect local culture and industry, as will soon be 
discussed. Yudi also points out that the role of English as a course in the curriculum, and an 
LCC subject, seems to have increased during the transitions between four democratically 
elected presidents since Suharto, presidents B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati 
Sukarnoputri, and currently President Yudhoyono. 

Additionally, Rizal maintained a viewpoint heard frequently in and out of schools in 
Serang and around Banten: That Banten‟s heritage and traditions are a source of great pride 
for citizens here and not simply for deeply personal reasons of identity, but for welcoming 
visitors for business and tourism as well. Banten has been famous for its location on the 
Sunda Strait, an important shipping lane, and ports, and industry from Serang west to Cilegon 
and out to the coast. Regarding the inclusion of cultural and language courses in the LCC, he 
explained: “Banten province really pays attention to national heritage, for example, the 
Baduy—it‟s about empowering…their traditions, how they learn, they are prohibited from 



 

 

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going to school, but some can read and write…its fantastic…their symbol is the golok (like 
machete)…” Schools at the elementary level often include Sudanese or Javanese languages as 
LCC classes, and some classes I visited in the senior high schools were related to local 
industry, similar to vocational subjects. Schools often include local arts, crafts, and 
horticulture as LCC subjects. However, I also found global influences in LCC courses I 
visited, including foreign languages such as English, Arabic, Japanese and German, and in 
the more industrial/vocational classes. 

John described his views on the LCC in elementary and secondary schools: “First for 
the implementation of the LCC is the viability of time, second, is to consider the four to five 
subjects of national exam: Language, Math, Science, Social Science. The LCC may be viewed 
as contributing to these courses for the preparation of students.” The major subjects 
indicated by John are consistent in the CBC-KTSP standards, and the national EBTANAS 
test, for the entire country, and thus reflect state monitoring of the curriculum. The 
standards for English are also included with these, but with LCC courses, because they are 
created at the school level, standards can be adopted from national curriculum or developed 
originally. John continued:  
 

“English is now compulsory from the fourth grade in elementary school, since 2004, 
as EFL…and Sundanese, Javanese, and in Lampung, Lampungese are taught as part 
of the LCC classes… I believe it is different in each school…”  

 
John continued to explain the incorporation of English and local languages as LCC subjects 
in schools.  
 

“In dealing with local content curriculum especially in Banten and Serang, they 
provide also Sundanese language, and also Javanese with Bantenese accent, as 
LCC…also, I can show you, let‟s say in my province of Lampung, they also have a 
local content about Lampungese, the students learn about the Lampung language 
even starting from elementary school and until senior high school, and this is what 
proves for us as a really local content, because each province will be different local 
content especially about language, in Banten that would be Sundanese language, and  
Javanese language with Bantenese accent...They have Lampung language included as 
local content curriculum…Yes, and preserved and taught as local content…” 

 
Local languages are often included as local content curriculum courses, more commonly at 
the elementary level, but at the secondary level, foreign languages are included. Again, 
decisions about the content and development of LCC courses are made at the school level, 
under the supervision of school principals and teachers working as an LCC team. The 
primary purpose of the LCC curriculum courses is to provide students with stimulating and 
interesting subjects that will increase participation and retention of students, and not 
primarily to emphasize the “local.” Rather, many LCC courses I observed seemed to be what 
might be considered “elective” subjects, not necessarily focused on preservation of local 
customs and practices, but in response to global influences (as with languages) and practical 
economic and vocational subjects. 



 

 

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Enong is also very knowledgeable about the language situation in Indonesia in 
general, and as a subject in schools. She stated, “As I mentioned English and Mandarin 
Chinese were offered at my schools... What is important for the issue of language inclusion 
in the local content curriculum is that local languages and dialects are not necessarily 
included. Especially at the junior and senior secondary levels, foreign languages may be 
taught in the LCC courses. The inclusion of foreign languages as LCC subjects reflects the 
resources of schools and the interests in students according to the LCC‟s purposes. 

Instructors‟ and student-teachers‟ enthusiastically expressed their views on the 
inclusion of diverse languages in schools related to LCC, mainly that it is helpful and 
beneficial to provide students with courses of all kinds, including local culture, crafts, 
industry and language that the students themselves want to take and study. These lecturers 
and students are very interested in learning English, and highly motivated in their studies, 
but they also shared a love for learning language in general, and unanimously agreed that 
learning local languages should be encouraged, as well as studying other foreign languages. 
Local languages are studied as part of the LCC, especially in elementary schools, the study of 
local languages such as Javanese, Sundanese, or Lampungese seems to give way to the study 
of foreign languages at the junior and senior high school levels. Because there is no formal 
training of LCC teachers in higher education teacher preparation programs such as UB, I 
sought access to five senior high schools in Serang and a rural village in Banten to learn more 
about LCC course design and implementation. 
 

Local content curriculum at five senior high schools in Banten 
 
A woman named Ibu Etin, who was an English teacher, offered to assist me with my 

study, and was extremely helpful in acquainting me with the principals and teachers at two of 
the largest and oldest public, academic senior high schools, and two large 
vocational-academic senior high schools in Serang. After writing formal letters requesting a 
visit to the schools, I met with each principal and offered my services as a workshop 
facilitator, and later lead workshops with teachers on effective English instruction and 
incorporation of English within other subjects. The principals were very supportive of my 
study, granting me permission to visit the English and LCC classes. I interviewed English 
and Local Content Curriculum teachers at these schools and visited and observed in many 
English and LCC classes.  
       The campuses and classrooms of all five of the senior high schools visited are very 
clean, well-maintained, and very beautifully landscaped. The rural high school was 
exceptionally beautiful, situated near a river and surrounded by rice fields. Classrooms in 
some of the four city high schools were air-conditioned, which was unusual. Examining the 
actual development, design, and implementation of LCC at the secondary school level, I 
interviewed teachers and observed classes at the five senior secondary schools, and found 
that for all LCC classes choices are made at the school level according to the expressed 
needs and desires of the students, the resources available (especially the knowledge and 
abilities of the prospective teacher) and the judgment of the principal, administrators and 
teachers involved with creating the class. 
 



 

 

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Selection and development of local content curriculum at the school level 
 
Senior high school number 1 (SMAN 1) is in the center of Serang, and it is Serang‟s 

oldest high school. I interviewed and observed Ibu Aiyda, an English teacher at Senior High 
School 1 and graduate of UB. Her senior English teacher, Ibu Ann, and then was introduced 
to Jon, an LCC teacher on April 28, 2009. Jon was very enthusiastic to meet Etin and I, and 
was passionate about teaching the LCC classes. He spoke some English, and Etin translated 
all he said in Indonesian. Jon is not only Geography and Art teacher by training, but also has 
backgrounds in “Tamanan,” or horticulture, and electronics. Jon explained that SMAN 1 
offered LCC courses in gardening/landscaping/horticulture in 10

th
 grade, and “Elektro” in 

11
th
 grade, and which was about all kinds of machines and appliances. Jon said that he was 

selected to teach these courses as part of the school LCC committee, with the principal‟s 
support, in response to students‟ interests. I asked Jon if he could explain exactly why these 
two courses were chosen and developed, and he said,  
 

“This city, Serang, and province of Banten, and the whole country of Indonesia, has a 
rich tradition of gardening. This class first started in 2002, and was included regularly 
since 2006. The country also has a need for knowledge and improvement of 
technology… How things work, especially all kinds of practical machines and 
electricity. So, Elektro was started in 2008.” Etin continued to translate Jon‟s 
understanding: “They say „Lokal‟ because it is developed locally, like „Tamanan‟ 
(gardening) at SMA 1. And other senior high schools might have different Muaton 
Lokal, depending on teachers that they have and the needs of their students. Maybe 
like Dagum-dagum, the traditional music.”  

 
Jon actually extended the rationale for these classes to the city‟s, province‟s and nation‟s past 
traditions and their future needs providing practical and enjoyable subjects for the students 
that appeals to their interests. These are the core purposes of the LCC courses. I asked if Jon 
could describe how the curriculum for the two classes was created, and he said, 
 

“The curriculum was partly based on Depdiknas “Life Skills” courses curriculum, 
but finally designed by the school team. The LCC committee also was thinking of 
the enjoyable and active learning lessons, in order to make the students feel free 
from the hard subjects. They like to study Mulok, the students; because it is skills… 
it‟s practical and fun… I like teaching these Mulok classes, and the students like 
taking them. Did you see the gardening in the (school) entrance? And in front of 
this class? Before they make this garden, they must make a plan… like a picture. 
Yes, they have to plan first, and get matierials. For “Elektro” class, they also must 
make plans. We do the wiring for the whole house, drawings and diagrams, and for 
appliances and electronics… And we use the electronic symbols, like for the electric 
currents…”  
 

Jon and the LCC committee‟s consideration of “enjoyable” and “active learning” lessons, 
overlaps the goals of the LCC with the PAKEM initiative for methods and instruction 



 

 

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demonstrating a strong understanding of the intentions and purposes of the decentralization 
reforms examined in this study. In the classes I visited I witnessed examples of these plans, 
drawings and diagrams, and they were impressive. The students were not simply relaxing and 
having fun in the classes; they were enthusiastic and working hard on their projects. Jon 
proudly offered me lesson plans and sample projects his students had done, and insisted I 
take some with me as artifacts. He showed us an experiment his students had done using a 
chemical to check the purity of water, and then invited us to the elektro class. On the way, 
Jon explained to Etin and I that other LCC courses were offered in foreign languages such as 
English, German, Japanese, and Mandarin, depending on the available teachers‟ abilities to 
teach them. In this sense, the LCC seems a venue for playing out local responses to global 
influences. I asked about computer or internet classes for the LCC and he said there is a 
separate IT course that students can take for this. 

The elektro class discussion was entirely in Indonesian, but the teacher began by 
saying “Hello Mr. Mike. Welcome to our class.” Pak Jon stood by in the front of the class 
guiding the questioning. Two male students were giving a Powerpoint presentation before a 
class full of students on the design and operation of a washing machine. Students asked 
questions about what to do if certain parts, like the belt, broke down, and what to do if the 
washer was not balanced and began shaking. A student asked whether hot or cold water 
should be used, and the students said they did not know, there was no difference. Pak Jon 
explained that clothes could be soaked first in hot water and that cool water was better if you 
are worried about colors bleeding. Pak Jon later explained that the students enjoy this class, 
because it‟s very practical and different than the other classes, and that‟s why it is offered. 
This is consistent with the LCC goals of relevance and interest for the students. Jon said that 
in this Elektro class, students talk about the over-all components of many common 
household machines, their power supply, purpose, design and function, and move from 
theory to actually taking apart the machines in class. They progress toward actually coming 
up with ideas for new products. Jon said, “This does not interfere with the other subjects. 
There is no homework in the MULOK course, and it‟s good for entrepreneurs, and 
innovative students to be able to create… they don‟t feel bored…” Stimulating interest and 
relevance for the students in the LCC courses is the second goal of the LCC policy, and the 
practical and relevant skills learned in this course directly related to the students‟ everyday 
lives in Serang, goals two and three of the policy. 

SMK 1 and 2 are urban, located in downtown Serang, and academic-vocational senior 
high schools. Senior high school 2 (SMK 2) Serang is attended primarily by boys and in 
addition to academic courses offers programs in operation of large industrial machines and 
motors. There were also electronics and computer LCC courses, as with the traditional 
industrial arts curriculum. The senior high school 1 (SMK 1) Serang is attended primarily by 
girls and besides academic courses offers programs in Hotel and Restaurant Hospitality and 
Information Technology. I observed classes in which students had prepared restaurant 
menus and were role-playing at serving a couple in a restaurant.  These lessons were 
entirely in Indonesian, and incorporated numerous elements of the PAKEM characteristics. 
The teacher explained to me that she had extensive training and background in this field, and 
offered to teach the classes as part of the LCC. She also said that many students specifically 
come to SMK 1 because they offer this program, and the school helps to place students in 



 

 

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internships and jobs at restaurants and hotels in Serang. During my stay at the Hotel Taman 
Sari there were four female students who served training internships there. These vocational 
skills are of great interest to the students studying at SMK 1, thus are consistent with goals 
one, two and three of LCC policy. The skills are also valuable to the students in the 
particular contexts of their city, and similar large cities in Indonesia, where they can be used 
in work and daily life, “creating tighter links between curricula and local conditions.” 

The senior high school 1 (SMK 1) Pandalayan is about 2 hours southeast of Serang, 
and west of Rangkasbitung, in a very rural region of Banten. The school sits to the east of a 
major river, and is surrounded by expansive fields and padis. I visited and inquired about the 
LCC classes here. The main LCC class deals with the making of shoes and sandals. The 
teacher of this course had experience designing and making shoes and sandals, and as with 
the other schools‟ LCC programs, the principal said the students there really enjoyed this 
class because it is considered “fun” and a break from the standard academic courses. The 
principal also showed me a large and carefully tended fish pond on the edge of the campus 
that students cared for as part of the LCC curriculum. The principal and students took a 
great deal of pride in the pond, and the footwear course as LCC courses, consistent with all 
five of the broad goals and purposes of the LCC policy. 

Senior high school 2 was the second major public senior high school I visited 
(SMAN 2, or Dua Sekolah Menenga Atas Negeri) on the south side of Serang. SMAN 2 is on a 
major highway going south from Serang to the city of Pandeglang. It sits on a hillside facing 
wide-open rice fields, and is expansive and beautifully laid out—also in a modified 
rectangular manner. Ibu Ica is an English teacher here and I visited her classes many times. 
Biotechnology, as an extension of Biology, Arabic, Japaanese and English are also offered as 
LCC subjects, and Pak Kato teaches English Conversation as an LCC course. When I asked 
if we could discuss his LCC course, Pak Kato replied, “Oh, Mulok, you mean?” LCC is an 
English acronym, and the LCC teachers I met with all refer to LCC as “Muaton Lokal,” or 
“Mulok.” English Conversation is taught as an LCC course at SMA 2 in both the “Social” 
and “Science” programs in the eleventh grade, with Kato teaching all students in the Social 
program and another English teacher, Ibu Li, teaching students in the Science concentration. 
Kato said English Conversation was developed as an LCC course since the previous school 
year, and when I asked who created the course, he replied, 
 

“It‟s not really „who‟ created it, but it‟s the needs of the school… We, all of the 
Mulok team agreed. We used to have „English Day,‟ but it was hard to manage all of 
the students with only two teachers. Ibu Li and me proposed English Conversation 
as a Mulok subject because Mulok must be different than the original English class. 
English class is for the sake of evaluation, (as with the national EPTANAS test) and 
English Mulok is more for the skills. That‟s the difference. So, I selected the 
material about something needed for daily life and communication… What we 
need, that‟s the key. Like going to eat, how you have to pay, how to give 
suggestions, how to invite people, etc…” 

 
I asked about the Mulok team‟s collaboration in actually deciding which subjects to include as 
LCC courses, and Kato said the present LCC courses were the one‟s selected and approved 



 

 

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by the team and the school principal, according to the student‟s “needs” and teachers‟ areas 
of expertise. “It‟s based on the school conditions,” he said. He further explained that pilot 
courses for tenth grade were “Sekolah Kategori Mandiri,” relating to schools and national 
independence, and reflecting both national and international influences on the development 
of LCC courses at SMA 2. I asked if students have a choice of which LCC course they 
would take in each grade, and he said “No, all students must take all three of the Mulok 
courses (in eleventh grade, for example) in a formal schedule” that rotates during the school 
year.  I asked why Pak Kato wanted to teach the LCC (Mulok) course and he again said “It‟s 
based on the school‟s need.” I asked why Pak Kato would want to volunteer to take on the 
extra work of developing and teaching English Conversation as an LCC course, and he 
explained that it‟s not really very much additional work. “I have been a civil servant teacher, 
so it is compulsory,” he said, meaning that he must be teaching a certain number of classes 
at the school, and the LCC English Conversation classes he teaches take the place of the 
regular English classes required for the students.  

He and Ibu Li, “consulted and discussed” together in developing the curriculum and 
materials for the LCC English Conversation course. “We give the concepts, then have 
students practice, and then we test, or evaluate, the students speaking and listening skills... 
The students‟ skill level really influences the methods… Some students really like it, and it 
does also help for the national exam (in English). I‟ve also found that female students seem 
to like it more…” He explained to me that the students are of very different abilities. Some 
have very limited English proficiency, but like the additional help of English as an LCC 
course, because they‟re required to take it as a regular course, and this gives them more 
practice. Other students who are more proficient in English like to take it as an LCC class 
because it is not that difficult and they enjoy it. 

In Pak Kato’s English Conversation classes, I observed that the materials were 
developed independently, with sections from textbooks, and the students were engaged in 
small group, pairs, and class-wide practice of the basic communicative skills in English. The 
selection of English as an LCC course is consistent with goals one and two of the LCC, to 
“delegate authority to localities,” empowering teachers and administrators at the school level 
in choosing a subject that students would have an interest in taking. It is unclear how goal 
three of the LCC, to “create tighter links between curricula and local conditions,” is served 
by including English as an LCC course. This shows that the five broad goals of the LCC may 
be potentially inconsistent, and must be negotiated at the local level. English as a foreign 
language, which I‟ve proposed to represent “global” influences, also (potentially) contributes 
to the students‟ performance on the national exam taken in the twelfth grade, showing that 
LCC courses can be selected and developed by schools in response to global and national 
influences.   
 

The LCC goals and practice: Comparing this study with Bjork’s  
 
Although local content curriculum is neither a major nor a course within the FKIP 

teacher training program, the English program lecturers and students are all familiar with the 
LCC as a subject, its origin and purpose. They also are aware that the course is developed at 
the school level, depending on the needs and interests of the students and the resources 



 

 

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available to each particular school, especially in regards to teacher expertise. The LCC classes 
I visited in the five senior high schools also reflected the understandings of lecturers and 
students at the UB FKIP program, as the courses were designed and developed by school 
teams lead by the school principal, and utilizing resources available and appealing to the 
interests of the students. The teachers interviewed and observed also were well aware of the 
purpose of the LCC classes, to retain and engage students, and to give them subjects that are 
interesting, enjoyable, and relevant to their lives. 

My findings at the UB FKIP, and from the senior high schools, substantiate and 
differ from Bjork‟s findings about the implementation of LCC in public schools. Compared 
with Bjork‟s (2005) junior secondary public school teachers in East Java, the UB lecturers‟ 
well-informed knowledge of the CBC‟s and LCC development and adaptable teaching styles 
depict a completely different outlook for Indonesian education, and the teachers in the 
senior high schools were well-informed on the purpose of the LCC and had developed 
interesting LCC courses.  The administrators and teachers coordinating the LCC at the 
senior high schools had developed and implemented these courses over the past four to five 
years, and were quite satisfied with these classes and students seemed to enjoy them very 
much. These differences from Bjork‟s (2005) findings may be related to the difference in 
time since the initiation of the LCC, and the difference of the location of these schools 
between the cities of Malang and Serang, and their proximity to Jakarta, and also to the 
difference between junior and senior high schools. Bjork (2005) found that private schools 
in Malang were more proactive and concerned with students‟ learning, and less affected by 
ritual practices and authority relationships. The faculty of the senior high schools I visited 
were appreciative of ritual customs like the morning flag ceremonies, and the formality of 
relationships, yet were also concerned with high-quality teaching and students‟ learning. 
 

The goals of the LCC reflected in practice  
 
Recalling the five “broad goals of the LCC” (Bjork, 2005, pp. 30-37) the first, “to 

delegate authority to localities,” is clearly taking place in the schools observed; principals and 
teachers worked together to design and implement LCC courses. The second, “to reduce the 
percentage of student exiting the system/provide vocational training” is difficult to measure, 
but some courses observed reflect both vocational and local attributes. The third, “to create 
tighter links between curricula and local conditions,” is occurring in the sense of local 
industry, vocations and traditions, such as with the horticulture and fish pond courses. The 
fourth, “to increase community involvement in the schools” was not directly examined in 
this study. The fifth goal, “to improve the instructional process,” is a broad goal that, in the 
stimulating of interest in school, integrating active learning methods, and in some cases 
supporting national curriculum objectives, is supported by these LCC courses. None of the 
broad goals of the LCC policy explicitly state that a goal is to represent local traditions like 
art, crafts, architecture, theater, fashion, music, and history in local content curriculum 
courses, but rather, to pursue the five broad goals. The purpose is to select and develop 
courses at the school level with subject matter more relevant to students in their regions and 
localities, promoting the retention and progress of students. The selection of topics and 
development of curriculum depends upon the types of resources and industry of the 



 

 

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community and occurs at the school level, and in the senior high schools also included 
courses in foreign languages including English, reflecting global influences upon the 
development of LCC curriculum. 

The many reasons given by university lecturers and students, and high school 
teachers, showed that English does represent global influences and aspirations, while in 
many ways the local content curriculum represents localization not only through language 
and cultural offerings, but horticultural, mechanical, industrial, and business influences in the 
communities. How can English become a subject in a Local Content Curriculum course? 
Due to the characteristics and purposes of the LCC explained previously: Student interest 
and resources available at the school level, as decided upon by principals and school LCC 
committees. The LCC also represents cooperation and collaborative involvement between 
teachers, administrators and communities, and for the participants in this study, an 
awareness and desire for teacher autonomy and participation in the implementation of 
decentralization policies. 

The LCC courses in these senior high schools reflect a mixture of local and global 
influences; however, in ways local desires are being shaped by global influences. It is not 
surprising that LCC courses in the SMK (academic-vocational) high schools supplement the 
fields and occupational trainings provided at these schools, and the fish pond and footwear 
course at the rural SMA Pandalayan also reflect local industries. The students in these classes 
also enjoyed taking them as a diversion from the regular academic classes. Foreign languages 
as LCC courses reflect global influences, and the interests of students and resources of the 
schools to include them. In the case of English, the LCC courses are also serving as 
supplemental to the required English classes, which are measured on the national 
EBTANAS test. In this way the influence of the state is, perhaps inadvertently, still present 
in the LCC curriculum. The main point is that the LCC courses are being autonomously 
developed by the school principals and teachers, according to available resources and 
students‟ interests. This is a major, positive conclusion of this study. 
 

Local content curriculum and decentralized education in Banten 
 
LCC as a subject is not a specific major or minor area of studies at this FKIP; 

however, lecturers and students are very familiar with its many dimensions. English and LCC 
teachers in the senior high schools also were knowledgeable and proactively incorporating 
the national curriculum standards and active learning methods in classes. Global, state and 
local influences were all evident in the backgrounds and dispositions of the lecturers, 
teachers and students, but in a complementary as opposed to competing way. Local culture, 
values, and ways of interrelating socially—the “local identity” of the people of Banten, has 
developed over centuries in western Java. The authoritarian central government‟s impact on 
Indonesian society endured from 1945 to 1998 under Presidents Sukarno and Suharto. 
Democratization and decentralization of education are ambitious national goals, and the 
state‟s reform policies explored in this study have great potential to improve the quality of 
education in Indonesia. This study explores how educators are responding at the local level 
as the state devolves more centralized control, and how global, state and local influences are 
affecting their understandings and approaches toward teaching.  



 

 

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Figure 3. Proposed theoretical model for teacher training in the context of educational decentralization in 

Indonesia in response to Bjork 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knowledge and instruction of the local content curriculum 

The local content curriculum (LCC) as a subject in elementary and public schools 
represents one aspect of Indonesia‟s commitment to decentralization and the localization of 
educational methods and curricula for communities and schools. The purpose is to make 
national CBC-KTSP standards and subject matter more relevant to students in their regions 
and localities, promoting the retention and progress of students from grade level to grade 
level. The LCC is a separate subject area and course, and in some cases, especially at the 
elementary level students as reported by lecturers, students and teachers, students learn facts 
and concepts derived from their communities, like art, crafts, architecture, theater and 
fashion, history, geography, science and linguistics, as with local dialects. The selection of 
topics and development of curriculum depends upon the types of resources and industry of 
the community and occurs at the school level. 

Education 
& English 
Students 

Education 
& English 
Lecturers 

Lecturers‟ & Students‟ 

Values towards School 

          

Forces of  
Localization-Local 
Content Curriculum 
(LCC) 

Influence of  the State 
CBC-KTSP & PAKEM 

Forces of 
Globalization-English 
Language 

Contemporary 
Decentralization   
Reform 

National History 
of  Centralization 



 

 

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Although local content curriculum is neither a major nor a course within the FKIP 
teacher training program, the English program lecturers and students are unanimously 
familiar with the LCC as a subject, its origin, purpose, development, design, and 
implementation. They also are aware that the course is developed at the school level, 
depending on the needs and interests of the students and the resources available to each 
particular school, especially in regards to teacher expertise. The LCC was discussed in the 
Curriculum course and courses directly related to second-language teaching.  Because the 
LCC is not significantly represented in the UB FKIP teacher training program, I felt it was 
necessary to visit public high schools in Banten. Examining the actual development, design, 
and implementation of LCC at the secondary school level, I found that all LCC classes 
choices are made at the school level according to the expressed needs and desires of the 
students, the resources available (especially the knowledge and abilities of the prospective 
teacher) and the judgment of the principal, administrators and teachers involved with 
creating the class. The many manifestations of LCC classes in the five high schools shows 
that, for this case, English is more commonly included as a LCC subject than local languages 
such as Javanese or Sundanese, along with other foreign languages. Local languages are more 
likely to be included in elementary schools, and local arts, crafts, sports and traditions were 
reported to be included in LCC courses in elementary schools. However, in the senior high 
schools I observed local customs were represented only in the form of means of earning a 
livelihood, such as in the LCC courses at the rural senior high school with horticulture, the 
fish pond and shoe and sandal-making classes. LCC classes I observed such as 
horticulture-landscaping and the fish pond are local traditions as well as means of earning of 
living. LCC courses in the urban senior high schools focused more on foreign languages and 
vocational/elective subjects, reflecting more global influences. English as a required subject 
and as a LCC course in some schools is a unifying common language within the nation, as 
well as internationally. 

The LCC goals and practice: Comparing and contrasting and Bjork’s study II 

My findings at the UB FKIP, and from the senior high schools, substantiate and 
differ from Bjork‟s findings. Compared with Bjork‟s (2005) junior secondary public school 
teachers in East Java during the 1990‟s, the UB lecturers‟ well-informed knowledge of the 
CBC-KTSP, PAKEM active learning methods, and LCC development and adaptable teaching 
styles depict a completely different outlook for Indonesian education. Bjork (2005) 
concluded that 

“Indonesia‟s long history of top-down authority structures, failed experiments with 
democratic rule, economic uncertainty, and emphasis on the schools‟ obligation to 
support national integration are preventing individuals at all levels of the system 
from altering their behavior. Teachers, in particular, are choosing not to adopt the 
role of the autonomous educator that government officials have designed for them. 
These influences, more than technical factors highlighted in macro assessments of 
the LCC, have impeded a redistribution of authority to the local level” (2005, p. 174). 



 

 

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Beyond the UB FKIP program, I found that the administrators and teachers coordinating 
the LCC at the senior high schools had developed and implemented these courses over four 
to five years, and were quite satisfied with these classes and students seemed to enjoy them 
very much. These differences from Bjork‟s (2005) findings may be related to the difference 
in time since the initiation of the LCC, which had just begun in the mid-nineties during 
Bjorks‟s (2005) study, and to the difference of the location of these schools between the 
cities of Malang and Serang, and their proximity to Jakarta, and also to the difference between 
junior and senior high schools. Although changes in behaviors and practices require changes 
in training and culture, I believe changes have been occurring over the past decade. Bjork 
(2005) found that private schools in Malang were more proactive and concerned with 
students‟ learning, and less affected by ritual practices and authority relationships. The 
faculty of the senior high schools I visited were appreciative of customs like the morning flag 
ceremonies, and the formality of relationships, yet were also concerned with high-quality 
teaching and students‟ learning.  

Hundreds of local languages and dialects are spoken throughout Indonesia, and in 
Banten the main local languages are Sundanese and Javanese. Local languages are taught in 
some schools as part of the LCC curriculum. Both local-language instruction, at the 
elementary level, and English instruction are incorporated into the LCC, and English is 
required in the junior and senior secondary schools I visited. All participants exhibited an 
inherent pride and appreciation for their local languages and traditions, and in some cases 
students did not fluently speak Indonesian languages other than the national language.  It is 
not surprising that the English lecturers, students and teachers expressed a proclivity for 
learning English; however I did not interview Bahasa Indonesia teachers, or teachers and 
students of other foreign languages. In some cases, English, Arabic, German, Chinese, 
Japanese, and other foreign languages are incorporated at Local Content Curriculum classes. 
This is both a limitation and would be an excellent area for future research. The many 
reasons given by university lecturers and students, and high school teachers, showed that 
English does represent global influences and aspirations, while in many ways the local 
content curriculum represents localization not only through language and cultural offerings, 
but horticultural, mechanical, industrial, and business influences in the communities. How 
can English become a subject in a local content curriculum course? Due to the 
characteristics and purposes of the LCC explained previously: Student interest and resources 
available at the school level, as decided upon by principals and school LCC committees. The 
LCC also represents cooperation and collaborative involvement between teachers, 
administrators and communities, and for the participants in this study, an awareness and 
desire for teacher autonomy and participation in the implementation of decentralization 
policies. 
 

Conclusion and Implications 

The lecturers, students, and teachers in this study demonstrated attitudes and actions 
that are positive and enthusiastic about the dialectal interplay between global and local 
influences, in negotiating local-state-global tensions in implementing the local content 
curriculum. The data collected and analyzed through interviews, field work observations on 



 

 

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campus and in classrooms, and artifacts (student work, for example) was triangulated to 
ensure qualitative validity and reliability. The lecturers, students and teachers expressed and 
showed positive perceptions of and progressive adaptation to the integration of the CBC‟s 
for the local content curriculum in the UB FKIP teacher training program and senior high 
schools. The forces of traditional ways of teaching and the forces of globalization are in a 
constant flux of transformation and simultaneously contribute to the maintenance and 
transformations of established practices into new practices for implementing 
decentralization of education policies as manifested in the LCC. If traditional patterns of 
behavior reflecting deference to authority and social-professional hierarchy are evident, then 
these participants are channeling those attitudes and behaviors to comply with the 
expectations accompanying the LCC educational policy examined in this study. 

If advocates of decentralization policy assume greater local autonomy promotes 
increased responsiveness to local needs, how can we predict what those local needs and 
preferences are? Examination of  Local Content Curriculum subjects at the  senior high 
schools revealed locally-determined preferences and globally-determined preferences, and 
showed both local and global influences on teachers as they respond to decentralization 
reforms in education, yet it seems that for these lecturers, teachers and students of English 
global influences are “filling the gaps” left with less government control, and through 
educational borrowing global pedagogical theory and research has caused a degree of 
convergence in the implementation of decentralization policies. Local needs are central to 
the implementation of the through integration of active learning methods and development 
of LCC courses, and they are determined at the school level, with collaboration of city and 
provincial education offices and colleges and universities. Lecturers,‟ students‟ and teachers‟ 
values toward learning and teaching are simultaneously adapting between highly-centralized 
school cultures remaining from the past and contemporary decentralization reforms (Figure 
3). I surmise the degrees of progress vary greatly from urban to rural schools, and among the 
different levels of schooling. The lecturers, teachers, administrators and students I worked 
with at UB and in Banten‟s senior high schools have made great progress in the 
implementation of educational policy reforms. John said, 
 

“The latest improvements are changing the paradigm…the old paradigm of teaching… 
the new regulations of government are improving salaries and compensation, and ask to 
improve the competence and qualifications for all teachers…like from a study 
background of S1 to S2… Since 2001 teachers in Banten…with improved salaries from 
government, more autonomy, will do more for the welfare and quality of teachers…it is 
more possible to respond more accurately from a local level…and more responsible to 
local schools and students…” 

 
The teachers and lecturers all demonstrated and modeled personal and collective efficacy, 
both important, and essential, in the exercise of human agency (Bandura, 1995). 
Furthermore, the history of centralized government and adherence to authority make the 
nurturance of autonomous behavior complicated, but not impossible. Bandura (1995) 
explains how, depending on established social beliefs and patterns, personal and collective 
interests must be continuously balanced under strong leadership and a sense of social 



 

 

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solidarity and purpose. In more collectivist societies where norms of cooperation and 
compliance with authority structures prevail, personal interests can be encouraged and 
directed toward the attainment of personal and collective goals.  

Asian communitarianism is characterized by community-oriented values such 
cooperation, maintenance of group harmony, cooperation, and a desire to “save face” in 
awkward situations (Tan & Ng, 2007; Zialcita, 1999). The LCC teachers demonstrated these 
attributes and “Asian communitarianism” in their teaching approaches, and the students 
learn these dispositions for their own study and for teaching younger students that I 
observed. Students show dispositions in and out of class that are more and less passive and 
assertive, but all students showed independence and a willingness to work hard. Many 
lecturers, teacher and students were familiar with the LCC curriculum due to their own 
educational experiences. Currently at the University of Banten; however, the integration of 
the components of decentralization examined in this study is extensive, relevant and vibrant. 
While state influence continues in the overall structure of the school system and the 
mandating of decentralization policies, global influences are having a significant impact on 
the lecturers, students and teachers in this study, while local concerns, except insofar as they 
relate to responding to opportunities created, or perceived to be created, by globalization 
remain intact and provide a cultural foundation in Bantenese society and schooling. 

The major challenge facing Indonesian education is the need for thousands of 
well-qualified teachers, including upgrading the qualifications and abilities of current 
teachers. Anen (1992), Bjork (2005), Sadiman (2006), Utomo (2005) and others recommend 
teacher training and incentives to improve teacher quality and instruction for the 
implementation of the CBC, like that of the LCC, but recognize there are deeper issues 
concerning past social norms and expectations. As changing people‟s knowledge, attitudes 
and practices takes time, it is not surprising that evidence of proactive responses to policies 
beginning mainly in 2001 have taken time to observe. Evidence from this study showed that 
there was extensive cooperation and collaboration between individuals and institutions at all 
levels within Banten province‟s education system. Cooperation and collaboration often 
extend beyond provincial boundaries to the national level. 

Finally, for recommendations and more on further research an important approach 
to understanding responses to educational decentralization that stems directly from the 
literature review would address fiscal control and management issues, such as the allotment 
of funds from the national and provincial level, to the school level, to better understand if 
fiscal and territorial devolution has resulted in greater local control of resources for schools 
and teachers, and how that control is working out. This could also be accompanied by 
research in the use of incentives such as compensation, job security and status since the era 
of decentralization reforms has begun, and asking how, if at all, things have changed and if 
these changes have an effect on teacher behaviors. 

 
Acknowledgments  

I would like to thank the IRJE Journal editors and anonymous reviewers for their 

help in improving my manuscript. 



 

 

IRJE | Vol. 3 | No. 1| Year 2019 |ISSN: 2580-5711 166  

 
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Biographical note 

 
MICHAEL SEAN YOUNG, Ph.D is a faculty member at the College of the 

Marshall Islands. He specializes in International and Comparative Education and earned his 
doctorate in this from Florida State University and masters in International and Intercultural 
Education from Florida International University. He has taught and researched in the fields 
of Education and English in the Philippines, Indonesia, the U.A.E., India, South Korea, and 
Saudi Arabia. He has a book published on education policy and teacher training in 
Indonesia.  
 

 

 

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