Prospective Teachers, Generic Skills, and Student Community Service

Program: A Case Study in the Indonesian Context

MUHAMMAD BASRI1*, SUPARMAN ARIF1, HERYANDI2, RISMA MARGARETHA SINAGA3

Faculty of Teacher Training and Education

University of Lampung, INDONESIA

University of Lampung, INDONESIA

program in particular. In other words, because empirical evidence in the literature has failed to recognise the

implementation of prospective teachers’ generic skills among communities, the question on this topic remains

open. Therefore, our purpose was to explore and describe prospective teachers’ generic skills when taking part

in a community service program. This study is qualitative in nature, with a total of 150 students consisting of

100 females (67%) and 50 males (33%) enrolled at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education in a public

university in Indonesia participating by adopting a questionnaire and audio-recorded interviews for data

collection. The data collected through questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the

information collected through the interviews was evaluated and interpreted using content analysis through

coding classification and theme or pattern identification, with the goal of providing thorough descriptive

interpretations of social phenomena. The findings reveal that the prospective teachers under investigation

Key-Words: - Community, education, teachers, social development, environment, social sciences

Received: April 6, 2021. Revised: November 12, 2021. Accepted: December 12, 2021. Published: January 9, 2022.

Numerous articles have been published in recent

years describing the generic and teaching skills of

future or prospective teachers. Prospective teachers

here refer to students taking a major in teacher

education with the aim of becoming a teacher in the

learning, but also the practical ones. In addition,

they should also be equipped with generic skills to

succeed whatever career may take them in the

future. In so doing, They will be more prepared for

literature suggest that generic skills are now widely

recognised as significant outcomes of university

that HEIs contribute to socio-economic

development through four major missions, including

human capital formation, knowledge base

construction, knowledge dissemination and

utilisation, and knowledge maintenance [8]. This, of

course, is in line with the role of HEIs to engage

with communities [3], [9]. Community service-

learning has been identified as an effective method

for instilling generic skills in students [10]. They

further emphasise that student community services

and educators have paid special attention to generic

skills, to our best knowledge, little is known about

how students acquire and apply these skills in real-

life situations outside of the classroom, among

communities through student community service

program in particular. In the classroom setting, for

example, separate courses have been taught to teach

generic skills or the generic skills have also been

trained and integrated within course subjects [11].

However, because empirical evidence in the

2.1 Prospective Teachers and Teacher

Training Program

Indonesia has adopted important policy reforms to

promote education over the last 15 years. A

constitutional mandate to spend 20% of the national

budget on education, decentralising some education

tasks to the district and school level, and enacting

developed in non-academic settings [6]. Thus,

learning and interacting with the environment are of

about obligations and opportunities for service, as

well as people in need of social services. In other

skills [35].

questionnaire consisted of nine statements aimed at

eliciting responses from prospective teachers

regarding their perceptions of how the community

service program aided in the development of their

generic skills. It was pilot-tested to check that the

directions and statements were concise, clear, and

intelligible [37]. Additionally, it was intended to

examine the questionnaire's design and

appropriateness for the participants, as well as to

ensure that it could accomplish the aim of the

questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive

statistics [39], while the information collected

through the interviews was evaluated and

interpreted using content analysis through coding

classification and theme or pattern identification

[40], with the goal of providing thorough descriptive

interpretations of social phenomena (Tesch 1991 as

cited in [41]. The coding classification or theme

pattern identification was based on generic skills

proposed by [2]. The collected data were then

addition to helping communities, prospective

teachers also carried out their work programs at

schools where they took part in the community

service program by teaching school students.

Regarding the generic skills during the

community service program, at the beginning, the

prospective teachers were asked about their views

4.1 Communication

In terms of communication, all prospective teachers

based, to the local people. We always try to

When there were a few people rejecting my work

program, I was finally able to negotiate with

them. My work program ran very successfully.

This was a fantastic experience. (Student 33)

I had a shy student at school. I had never

successfully asked her to perform. I came up to

her parents at night and talked about this to them.

They allowed me to have closer contact with

their child. I visited and motivated her every

performing in front of the class (Student 88).

4.2 Own Learning and Development

I should be professional and punctual. It is not

just about me; it is about other people. (Student

38)

When I was appointed to work on something I

never did before, and no one knew how to cope

with that, I independently found out by searching

on the Internet. This was a challenge, and I

4.5 Numeracy

In terms of numeracy skill, all prospective teachers

numeracy level. However, let’s say ‘by the force

I learnt Excel again. I recalled the formulas I had

forgotten. It turned out the application of

numbers plays an important role. (Student 19).

4.7 Problem Solving

Regarding problem solving skill, one of the most

essential aspects of human cognition, each

prospective teacher states that they have developed

their ability to identify and resolve problems, as

shown in the excerpts of translated statements

(emphasis added) below.

In terms of administrative work in the village,

my team and I provided the village apparatus

conditioning. It was amazing. (Student 72)

democratic participation and a commitment to it in

order to collaborate with others and develop

community understandings, which could lead to a

more sociocultural understanding of teaching as

community-oriented practice in the long run [47]. In

other words, they develop their areas of knowledge

and other important domains, e.g. ethical, social,

and personal domains [22], [28]–[31], which is in

line with HEIs' responsibilities in community

engagement [3], [9].

In addition, this has also resulted in the

development of a very meaningful and long-term

development, knowledge, skills, and attitudes, all of

which are considered required for employment in

today's workplace and society [48]. In other words,

the finding of this study is also in line with what is

stated [11], [15] that students must have generic

abilities in order to compete in society, education,

and the workforce once their formal education is

over since the field-specific abilities are insufficient

for occupational requirements [16], [17].

Looking at the finding of the current study, it is

finding that states studying and interacting with the

real environment are fundamental for students of

HEIs [6], [18].

enrolled at teacher training and education. When

quantitative data analyses. In doing so, we would be

able to conclude more valid findings and

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