Graduate Student Research Symposium 2026

This action research examines how the Guru Merdeka Belajar (GMB) program reimagines Montessori pedagogy through a collaborative approach in underserved communities of Indonesia, by turning a thousand years old global method into a locally owned, community-grown practice. Implemented with teachers in 4 pre-schools in Rote Ndao, GMB contextualized the Montessori classroom practice with Rote’s ecological knowledge and oral traditions.
Rather than transferring Montessori as a fixed global model, the program helped teachers to adjust Montessori apparatus into local materials, use bini (traditional chants) for early literacy teaching, and create project based learning that addressed real issues in the village.
Drawing on Southern Theory (Connell), and Decolonizing Education (Smith), while Learning from the other culturally-responsive curriculum creation in Indonesia (Sokola) this study tries to break the legalistic culture in Indonesia that positioned teachers as passive transmitters, and cultivating future teacher leadership where teachers emerge as innovators.