Becoming a Researcher, One Revision at a Time

Becoming a Researcher, One Revision at a Time
By Lakhaula Sahrotul Aulia
My thesis journey began around July 2025, when I started brainstorming what I wanted to study. Since the Indonesian government launched its climate change education guidelines at the end of 2024, I have been interested in exploring climate change education. However, I quickly learned that having an interesting idea was not enough. I needed to understand what had been studied, where the gaps were, and, most importantly, what could actually be investigated and measured.
This was when the literature review became both exciting and overwhelming. As I read, my conceptual and theoretical frameworks developed alongside each other, but my ideas kept changing. I explored misconceptions, reconsidered my variables, questioned how they should be measured, and even considered a mixed-methods approach before deciding to remain with a quantitative design. Conversations with several lecturers helped me see my research from different perspectives, but ultimately, I had to keep questioning my own choices. It took me ten revisions before I finally arrived at my final conceptual framework, each revision was accompanied by extensive literature review.
Looking back, determining my variables and figuring out how to measure them was probably the most challenging part of my thesis journey. A research idea can sound convincing in theory, but quantitative research requires those ideas to become measurable constructs. I often felt alone in this process because everyone was busy developing their own research.
Once my framework was finalized, however, the literature review became much easier to write because I had already read and organized so much. Even before having an official thesis supervisor, I was grateful that UIII lecturers were always open to discussion. That culture of intellectual generosity became an important part of my learning experience.
While many people felt relieved after the proposal seminar, those of us conducting quantitative research were entering another demanding stage: instrument adaptation. Finding a validated instrument was only the beginning. We still needed to translate it, conduct expert judgment, and pilot test it to ensure validity and reliability. I completed my expert judgment during the last week of Ramadan and remain deeply grateful to the experts who generously gave their time and expertise.
My instrument required two rounds of pilot testing. While some of my friends could proceed to their main data collection after one pilot, I had to revise several items and conduct another round. I felt left behind and had to postpone my main data collection by approximately two weeks. But I did it anyway. Throughout this process, A/Prof. Bambang was incredibly responsive whenever I reported my Rasch analysis, helping me move quickly to the next stage.
Then came data collection, which became another unexpected challenge. My study required participants from twelve universities, while I had almost no connections within PGPAUD or PIAUD departments because my own background was in science education. I was genuinely worried that I would not reach my required sample size.
So, I tried everything I could: asking friends for contacts, messaging student associations on Instagram, searching university websites, contacting lecturers through email, and eventually recruiting research assistants. I never expected to have sixteen research assistants across twelve universities. Together, they helped collect data from 521 participants. Considering my limited positionality and connections within the field, this remains one of the achievements I am most proud of.
After data collection, the challenges continued. I had to repeat my analyses several times because of small but consequential mistakes: entering the wrong table code in Winsteps, changing a Likert scale incorrectly, or forgetting to reverse-code an item. Sometimes, I had to start the analysis again from the beginning. It was incredibly frustrating. When I told Dr. Destina how overwhelmed I was, she advised me to step away and return with a fresh mind. So I stopped working for a day to cry, spent a couple of days doing almost nothing, and, admittedly, bothering my friends.
Strangely enough, when I returned, the analysis went much more smoothly. I learned that data analysis requires not only technical competence but also a clear mind. During this stage, Dr. Bambang provided crucial technical support, while Dr. Destina provided the moral support that kept me going. Both were essential to completing my thesis.
The final challenge was writing the discussion. By then, I was honestly tired of my own research. I already knew my results, so returning to the literature felt exhausting. Yet this stage reminded me why all those months of reading had mattered. I had organized my papers by theme, renamed them so they were easier to find, highlighted them, and carefully stored them in Zotero. Suddenly, finding the literature I needed was much easier. My past overthinking self had, in a way, made my future self's work easier.
More broadly, I realized that every course I took at UIII eventually led me to this thesis. What I learned about paradigms, methodology, measurement, analysis, and interpretation became part of how I designed and conducted my own research. The high standards maintained by UIII lecturers challenged me to take research seriously and gradually gave me confidence in my own abilities.
This thesis also helped me secure a job before I even graduated from my master's degree, and for that, I am especially grateful to Dr. Destina for supporting my research idea from the very beginning.
I came to UIII with very limited research skills. I leave having conceptualized, designed, conducted, analyzed, and written my own research. Of course, I did not do it entirely alone. I was supported by lecturers, experts, friends, research assistants, and an academic environment that challenged me to do better. But the research itself became mine: an idea I developed, a study I carried out, and a thesis I wrote.
And perhaps that is what makes this journey meaningful to me. Somewhere between ten conceptual frameworks, two pilot tests, sixteen research assistants, 521 participants, repeated analyses, frustration, tears, and far too much overthinking, I realized that I had become a researcher. A junior one, still, but one nonetheless.
Two Years, One Journey: Reflection on Learning, Sacrifice, and Growth at UIII
Two Years, One Journey: Reflection on Learning, Sacrifice, and Growth at UIII
by Sheu-Tijani Aminu Opeyemi
Batch 4 MA in Education @ Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia
The completion of master’s program marks an important milestone in my academic career. From the beginning, when I received the news of my admission to Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII) on a scholarship, I felt a mixture of nervousness, curiosity, and joy for the chance to continue my academic pursuit, after having taken a break from formal study for several years. This opportunity was particularly meaningful to me as it came after several earlier, unsuccessful efforts to secure a scholarship. My nervousness stemmed from uncertainty about what to expect, how to meet the expectations of my esteemed host university, how to navigate a new environment where I would learn alongside individuals from diverse contexts and backgrounds as well as the reality of leaving family behind for two years.
Upon arriving at UIII on 31 October 2024, I was eager to start my studies, interact with new colleagues and experience Indonesia’s culturally and religiously diverse environment. One of my first notable experiences was a sightseeing trip to Jakarta planned by my newly met course mates. This experience gradually eased my initial nervousness as I began to feel the geniality, hospitality and embracing nature of the host community particularly the Indonesian people.
Beyond this sightseeing experience, my encounters with amiable lecturers in my programme of study, the administrative staff of the faculty, and the wider university community created a profound and positive impression on me. Unlike my Bachelor experience, which was largely focused on coursework; my study at UIII introduced me to a more research-oriented approach to graduate education. The lecturers devotedly guided us towards becoming academic researchers by focusing our attention on academic writing, educational principles and theories and research methodologies. From the outset, courses in research writing, Wasatiyyah, qualitative and quantitative methods, psychology and philosophy of education broadened my understanding of education and strengthened my foundation for academic inquiry.
By the time I completed my first year, I had become increasingly appreciative of the rare opportunity to learn and grow academically in such an intellectually enriched setting. I was particularly inspired by the grace to learn from highly accomplished academicians many of whom had obtained their doctoral degrees from renowned universities abroad. Their diverse expertise, perspectives, and commitment to inclusive teaching significantly enriched my learning experience. The lectures were thoughtfully structured to accommodate our diverse backgrounds, allowing us to engage in discussions and exchange ideas through the lenses of different cultures and countries of origin. This experience taught me that diversity is not merely a feature of an international university; it is itself a valuable source of learning.
At this stage, even though I did not yet consider myself a scholarly contributor, I could evidently see and appreciate how my research knowledge and skills were developing in a gradual process. I became increasingly hopeful that, with continued learning, practice, and dedication, I would eventually be able to make meaningful contributions to knowledge production. I came to appreciate this development even more as I began considering an appropriate topic for my thesis. Initially the prospect of developing and completing a thesis seemed to be a considerable challenge and a source of pressure. However, the knowledge and skills I acquired through coursework in identifying research gaps, formulating research problems, systematically reviewing the literature, and applying the right research approaches positioned me to undertake the assignment with a greater sense of confidence. Together with the additional concentration courses I undertook alongside the core courses, this training enabled me to transform what initially seemed like a daunting task into a more manageable academic endeavour.
During this period, the university also provided me and some of my colleagues with the opportunity to apply our learning through an internship program in different academic institutions. I provided administrative and academic support to senior staff, which allowed me to connect some of the knowledge gained in the classroom with practical experiences within an educational institution. The experience further broadened my understanding of how academic and administrative responsibilities work together to support the effective functioning of educational institutions.
Beyond this academic experience, my time in Indonesia has also shaped my understanding of how hospitality, dedication, commitment, and institutional responsibility can contribute to organisational and national development. Observing how different units within the university worked together to ensure its smooth functioning gave me a deeper appreciation of cooperation and collective responsibility. The relationships and my daily interactions outside the academic setting offered a worthwhile experience. Personal observations and conversations with the people of Indonesia increased my appreciation of the country and its people. In many aspects I have felt welcomed and relaxed in Indonesia, and this has made it feel more like I have come here to build relationships and create memories in a real way, than just to study for a degree programme only. I am very thankful for the opportunity to experience this part of Indonesia life; I hope my relationship with Indonesia and the people will not stop after my graduation.
The two-year journey has not been easy, however. It was tough to be away from my family, my wife and four children for so long. These experiences have helped me to appreciate the wisdom that comes from the Qur'anic Guidance regarding family and dwellings, “Askinuhunna min haythu sakantum”— “Lodge them where you dwell” (Qur'an 65:6). The experience was a reminder to me how valuable family is and how much of a sacrifice it is to pursue knowledge.
In retrospect, I thank God for His grace and strength to get through to the end. I am equally grateful to UIII, my lecturers, colleagues, and host community for creating an environment where I felt safe, welcomed and supported. I found their kindness transforming what seemed a daunting journey to one of the most important of my academic and personal growth.
A journey of a thousand miles is said to begin with a single step. My experience at UIII was a journey of uncertainty that culminated in gratitude, growth, and a redefined purpose. I am leaving this programme not only with a master’s degree but also sound research skills, intellectual depths, and strong relationships. Most importantly, I take with me my renewed dedication to put what I learned into practice for the benefit of education and society.
An Investment That Paid Off: World-Class Education Close to Home

An Investment That Paid Off: World-Class Education Close to Home
August 7, 2026
By Atia Adjani | Photos: Achmad N. Jatnika
Depok — Is self-funding worth it at a university as young as Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII)? For Trimadona — Dona to her friends — the answer is unhesitating yes. As she nears the end of her Master of Arts in Education at UIII’s Faculty of Education.
“You’re not only paying for a degree,” she says. “You’re investing in an international academic environment, lifelong professional networks, outstanding mentorship, and personal growth that is difficult to find elsewhere for the same investment.”
It’s a confident answer, but it didn’t come easily. Dona held off on a master’s degree for more than twenty years after finishing her bachelor’s. “I don’t want to study just anywhere,” she explains. “I was waiting until I found a university and a faculty that truly met my expectations.” She first heard about UIII through friends in education advocacy, then got a closer look by attending its summer courses in 2022 and 2023. By the time she enrolled, it wasn’t a leap of faith, it was a place she already knew well.
Once classes started, what struck her most was how international the experience felt: “In every class, I studied alongside international students from many countries. The lecturers are another major strength. Many of them are internationally recognized scholars, yet they’re incredibly approachable and supportive,” a mix she calls genuinely rare.
Campus life did the rest. A shuttle connecting the dormitory to campus, a strong library, and mornings she looks forward to. Dona describes the campus as peaceful, green, and beautifully maintained. And she says she enjoys jogging around the grounds every morning before class.

For anyone who always dreamed of studying abroad, Dona thinks UIII gets close to that feeling, with advantage. “You can enjoy all of those advantages while remaining close to your family and staying connected to your professional network in Indonesia.”
Her message to hesitant applicants, especially working professionals no longer eligible for scholarships, is direct: don’t let cost stop you. Dona calls her time at FOE one of the best investments she’s made in herself. “You’re joining an international academic community, building networks across countries, and developing skills that will stay with you long after graduation.”
source: https://uiii.ac.id/an-investment-that-paid-off-world-class-education-close-to-home/
From a Course Assignment to Publication: My Experience with PISA 2022 Data
From a Course Assignment to Publication: My Experience with PISA 2022 Data
By Dwi Oktariani
When I entered the Graduate Seminar on Large-Scale Assessment course in the second semester of my doctoral study at the Faculty of Education, Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII), I never imagined that the final assignment from the course would lead me to a publication in a reputable international journal. The course, taught by Bambang Sumintono, Ph.D., was a continuation of Advanced Educational Assessment, which had previously started to introduce me to the world of assessment and education measurement.
My academic background is in performing arts education, especially dance. Before starting my doctoral study, most of my research and practice were closely connected to arts and communities. I teach traditional dance at Universitas Tanjungpura, work as an arts practitioner, do choreography and performances, and conduct research on indigenous communities in West Kalimantan. The research world that I knew was very close to people, movement, tradition, and cultural practices. Data involving thousands of respondents, statistical analysis, SPSS, and especially large-scale assessment felt like a world very far from me.
My more serious encounter with quantitative approaches actually began at UIII. In the assessment course, I started learning about the Rasch Model and how to use Winsteps software. I began to understand how the quality of an item is examined and how assessment can produce accountable information. This experience slowly broadened the way I viewed educational research and showed me that there were still many areas outside the field I had been working in that I needed to learn.
A more challenging journey began when PISA was introduced in the Graduate Seminar on Large-Scale Assessment course. For the midterm assignment, I critically examined large-scale assessment practices and began questioning the relatively limited position of the arts in that discussion. I then carried this interest into my final assignment. I wanted to know whether a dataset as large as PISA could actually “speak” about the arts. From this simple question, I started developing a study on gender differences in affective engagement, creativity belief through the arts, and Indonesian students’ participation in school-based arts activities using PISA 2022 data.
The process was much more difficult than I expected. I had never used SPSS before, let alone worked with large-scale secondary data. From the thousands of data available through the OECD, I chose the Indonesian data because of my own curiosity: what does PISA actually look like when we focus on Indonesian students? I started looking for the questions given to students, understanding the code for each item, identifying relevant variables, and selecting data that could be used in the study. At that stage, the more I searched, the more I felt that I did not know enough. I even visited the libraries at UPI and UNY to look for previous studies that connected PISA with arts education. However, I did not find any study that was exactly the same as what I wanted to do. I also studied the work of senior students who had used PISA data to understand how such data could be developed into an article for a Scopus-indexed journal.
The more I read, the broader the problem became, and the more difficult it was for me to keep the study focused. At the same time, the final assignment deadline was getting closer. I was tired, but stopping was not an option. In the end, I returned to something I understood best: the arts. I went through the PISA 2022 questions again and finally selected seven items related to affective engagement, creativity belief, and participation in visual arts, music, and theatre.
I also did not go through this learning process alone. My classmates became an important part of the journey. Munaya helped me a lot in learning how to do data cleaning, something that was completely new to me at the time. Mbak Nofi and Pak Umam kept encouraging me when I felt overwhelmed by the secondary data. In class, the lecturer also continued to show us different examples of academic articles that we could study as references when developing our final assignments. From this experience, I realized that learning at the doctoral level also grows through asking questions, trying, making mistakes, discussing, and helping one another.
Eventually, the final assignment was completed. The results showed that female students had higher affective engagement with the arts, while male students reported a higher frequency of participation in several school-based arts activities. For me, these findings were not only statistical results. I started to see how large-scale data could offer another perspective on issues in arts education that I had previously understood mainly through practice, observation, and field experience.

After the final grade was released, I did something that was actually quite spontaneous. I tried submitting the paper to Asian Education and Development Studies (AEDS), Emerald, a Scopus Q2 journal. I did not even make major changes. The manuscript I submitted was basically the final assignment from the course. It was also my first experience creating an Emerald account and trying the submission process to an international journal by myself.
When I received the news that the manuscript had passed the initial stage and entered the review process, I was actually confused about how I should react. I sent the review decision to the lecturer and asked what it meant because at that time I still did not fully understand how publication in a Scopus journal worked. He congratulated me and encouraged me to begin “navigating” the reviewer revisions. That phrase turned out to be quite an accurate description of what happened over almost the following year.
The review process became another learning space for me. At one stage, I was very happy when one reviewer gave a minor revision. However, in the next round, I was faced again with a major revision. The manuscript eventually went through several rounds of revision before it was accepted. Even near the end, issues related to consistency of terms, punctuation, number formatting, and proofreading still brought me back to another revision.
Part of this process took place during a very personal period in my life because I was going through childbirth. My concentration was certainly not always at its best. Strangely, however, I do not remember the revision process as an unpleasant experience. I actually enjoyed it. Every reviewer comment showed me a part of my own writing that I had not noticed before. A manuscript that I initially considered only a course assignment slowly became a much more mature piece of work.
The experience of being a single author also left its own impression on me. I handled the entire process myself, from submission, reading and responding to reviewer comments, reanalyzing the data when necessary, revising the manuscript, to communicating with the editorial team. There was freedom in it, but also full responsibility. That was exactly what made the experience enjoyable. I could directly see how my ability developed from one version of the manuscript to the next.
In the end, the article, “Gender Differences in Affective Engagement, Creativity Belief Through the Arts, and Participation in School-Based Arts Activities: Evidence from PISA 2022 Indonesia,” was accepted and published in Asian Education and Development Studies. I still love traditional dance, indigenous communities, and research that allows me to meet people directly and engage with their cultural practices. Learning about PISA and quantitative research simply gave me another way to look at arts education. I now understand that issues in the arts can be read through community stories and teachers’ experiences, but they can also be explored through thousands of student responses in an international dataset.
For this reason, I am very grateful to the lecturer, who, through the Graduate Seminar on Large-Scale Assessment course, opened a door to a research area that I had never imagined I would enter. Thank you for the publication examples, experiences, and encouragement that were always shared with us in class. I am also grateful to my classmates who became part of this learning process, especially Munaya, Mbak Nofi, and Pak Umam. This experience made me understand that a course assignment at the doctoral level does not have to end when a grade has been given. For me, perhaps this is the most valuable meaning of the journey: learning does not always make us feel more comfortable. Sometimes, learning takes us into unfamiliar territory, makes us feel many times that we do not know enough, and then slowly expands the boundaries of what we think we are capable of doing as researchers.
UIII Education Expert Highlights the Human Dimension of Sekolah Rakyat at National Photography Exhibition

UIII Education Expert Highlights the Human Dimension of Sekolah Rakyat at National Photography Exhibition
By Dadi Darmadi
Jakarta, 23 July 2026 – The transformative power of education and visual storytelling came together at the Photography Exhibition and Talkshow: “Belajar Tanpa Batas, Berkarya untuk Masa Depan” (Learning Without Limits, Creating for the Future), held at Galeri Cipta 1, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta. The event brought together education practitioners, photographers, journalists, students, and the wider public to explore how education policy and photography can jointly strengthen public understanding of Indonesia’s Sekolah Rakyat initiative.
Organized by the Indonesian Photography Association (AFI), MATA Photography Magazine, and PT Basik, the exhibition featured selected photographs portraying everyday life in Sekolah Rakyat, while the accompanying talkshow examined how visual narratives can communicate the values of inclusive, equitable, and high-quality education more effectively than statistics alone.
One of the featured speakers was R. Alpha Amirrachman, M.Phil., Ph.D., Head of Center for Quality Assurance and Deputy Director of Institute for Transformative Education and Society (ITES), Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII). He shared the panel with Arbain Rambey, a renowned Indonesian photographer and former senior photojournalist of Kompas, whose decades of experience have shaped visual journalism in Indonesia.
Speaking from an educational policy perspective, Dr. Amirrachman emphasized that Sekolah Rakyat should be understood not merely as a new school system, but as a long-term national investment in human development and social mobility.
“Education is the most sustainable instrument for breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty. The success of Sekolah Rakyat should therefore be measured not only by the number of schools established, but by how many children are able to transform their lives through quality learning opportunities.”
He explained that providing access alone is insufficient. Inclusive education requires ensuring that children are genuinely able to participate, learn, and complete their education regardless of their socioeconomic background.
According to Dr. Amirrachman, inclusivity does not mean lowering academic standards. Instead, it means providing different forms of support so that every learner has an equal opportunity to reach high standards of educational achievement.
He further noted that the concept of educational quality extends beyond classrooms and physical facilities. High-quality education should cultivate literacy, numeracy, critical thinking, character, creativity, emotional well-being, and lifelong learning skills while creating a safe and supportive learning environment.
During the discussion, Dr. Amirrachman also highlighted the broader objectives of Sekolah Rakyat as one of the strategic initiatives supporting President Prabowo Subianto’s national development agenda. He argued that the program represents an important effort to ensure that children from disadvantaged families are not excluded from quality education because of economic circumstances.
Complementing this policy perspective, Arbain Rambey discussed the unique role of photography in documenting educational transformation. Drawing upon his extensive experience as a photojournalist, he explained that compelling photographs do far more than record events — they reveal emotions, dignity, resilience, and hope.
Rather than focusing solely on ceremonial activities or infrastructure, Rambey encouraged photographers to capture authentic human stories: a child discovering the joy of reading, a teacher patiently guiding a struggling student, friendships formed in school dormitories, and parents witnessing their children’s educational journey with renewed optimism.
The dialogue between the two speakers illustrated how education policy and visual journalism can reinforce one another. While policy provides direction through regulations, research, and measurable outcomes, photography helps society understand the human realities behind those policies.
As Dr. Amirrachman observed during the discussion, statistics are essential for understanding the scale of educational challenges, but photographs enable people to connect emotionally with the individuals behind those numbers.
The exhibition itself reflected this philosophy. Visitors encountered visual narratives portraying students studying, interacting with teachers, participating in creative activities, and building aspirations for the future. These images sought to present Sekolah Rakyat not simply as a government program but as a place where children can develop confidence, character, and opportunity.
The organizers described the exhibition as an effort to improve public literacy about inclusive education by encouraging conversations that extend beyond policy debates. Photography, they argued, has the capacity to bridge the gap between public policy and public empathy, making educational transformation more accessible to broader audiences.
For UIII, participation in this national forum reflects the university’s continuing commitment to contributing evidence-based perspectives on educational reform while engaging with wider communities through interdisciplinary collaboration.
As Head of the Center for Quality Assurance and Deputy Director of ITES, Dr. Amirrachman emphasized that universities have an important role in supporting national education initiatives through research, policy dialogue, quality assurance, and public engagement.
He concluded that meaningful educational transformation requires collaboration across sectors — including government, academia, civil society, educators, artists, journalists, and photographers.
“Educational policy becomes more meaningful when it touches people’s hearts. Photography reminds us that behind every policy there is a child with dreams, a family with hope, and a future waiting to be shaped.”
The exhibition and talkshow demonstrated that advancing inclusive education is not solely about expanding educational access. It is equally about building public understanding and collective commitment through stories that inspire empathy, preserve dignity, and strengthen society’s shared responsibility for ensuring that every child has the opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute to Indonesia’s future.
BIPA: Bridges of Language, Gardens of Heart

BIPA: Bridges of Language, Gardens of Heart
by Ramli
Learning foreign language always a challenge for everybody, not easy and full of surprise. In addition, teaching foreign language even more challenging. Usually, I began with a book of rules and a promise to teach sounds, tenses, and neat sentences. Soon the room refused to be a textbook. It folded itself into a shelter where voices found courage and small triumphs sprouted like green shoots after rain. Teaching Indonesian was supposed to be a craft; instead, it became a quiet liturgy of belonging. We learned through touch and taste. In roleplays, the clatter of imagined markets turned into music; bargaining for a mango felt like learning a heartbeat. The language slipped into palms and plates when we cooked together, each spice a new word, each recipe a story carried across oceans. Walking the neighborhood, directions became poems of streets and storefronts, and the city itself read lessons aloud. These practices made the language a living thing not an abstract code but a breath shared between people.
They brought their worlds with them: lullabies, proverbs, bows, handshakes, meals wrapped in leaves, and jokes that landed with a warmth I could feel. When a student taught us a greeting from his village, the syllables hung in the air like offerings; when another shared a proverb with no Indonesian twin, we leaned closer to listen. Those moments braided our differences into a single tapestry. Mistakes were no longer failures but invitations faint footsteps toward each other.

There were days when silence lived in our circle. Homesickness sat like a weight at the back of a chair; anxiety hovered in hesitant responses. We learned to name those shadows gently. A short check-in, a shared cup of tea, a hand on a shoulder small ritual that said, I see you, you are seen. The classroom’s warmth was not accidental; it was built of countless tiny mercies. Inclusion became a poem of actions: subtitles and storyboards, paired voices that balanced one another, tasks that let the quietest hands speak through images. Sometimes they taught me. They corrected my pronunciation with laughter that felt more like love than correction. They fed me food whose flavors mapped to childhoods, and they offered words from tongues I could not yet speak. Those gifts unstitched the old teacher-student seam and rewove it into companionship. I brought grammar and structure; they returned maps of resilience and new ways to look at the world. Their stories of leaving, of longing, of stubborn hope shaped the classroom’s true curriculum.
I discovered that teaching is not merely giving knowledge but tending tender things. It asks patience like sunlight asks the morning. It asks presence: staying after class to listen, asking a hesitant student to tell one more sentence, celebrating mispronunciations as proof of trying. These actions, simple and human, taught the students and taught me how to be a better keeper of those fragile beginnings. When they began to speak with ease, it felt less like perfunctory success and more like watching a chorus learn a new song. Their laughter, their corrected mistakes, their shared festivities these were the harvest. They left with vocabulary, yes, but also with new roots planted in a place that once felt foreign. I left with a heart fuller and softer, heavy with gratitude for being allowed in their journeys.
BIPA became a doorway and a hearth. Language built the threshold; compassion kept the light inside. In teaching Indonesian, I discovered that education is at its most human when it is a shared passage home.
UIII’s Amich Alhumami Calls for Evidence-Based Education Financing at National Seminar in Parliament

UIII’s Amich Alhumami Calls for Evidence-Based Education Financing at National Seminar in Parliament
July 18, 2026
By Dadi Darmadi
Jakarta— Dr. Amich Alhumami, Director of the Institute for Transformative Education and Society (ITES) at Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII), underscored the need for Indonesia to fundamentally rethink how it finances education during a National Education Seminar held recently at the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI). The seminar, organized by the Golkar Party’s parliamentary faction, brought together policymakers, academics, education practitioners, and civil society representatives to discuss “Optimizing Education Unit Costs as the Basis for Determining Fair and Adequate Education Financing,” Jakarta, July 13, 2026.
Speaking alongside prominent figures including Prof. Unifah Rosyidi (Chairperson of the Indonesian Teachers Association/PGRI), Irsyad Zamjani, Ph.D. (Center for Standards and Education Policy, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education), Abdullah Ubaid Matraji (National Coordinator of the Indonesian Education Monitoring Network/JPPI), and Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti (Head of Statistics Indonesia/BPS), Dr. Amich emphasized that education financing should no longer be viewed merely as an annual budgeting exercise. Instead, he argued that it should be recognized as a strategic investment in Indonesia’s long-term human capital development.
In his presentation, Dr. Amich highlighted three interrelated challenges that continue to shape Indonesia’s education system: accessibility, affordability, and quality. While Indonesia has made significant progress in expanding educational participation over the past decades, he noted that these three dimensions remain unevenly addressed across regions and social groups.
“Expanding access alone is not enough,” he stressed. “Children must also be able to afford schooling, and schools must have sufficient resources to provide quality learning.”
Dr. Amich further explained that discussions on education financing should move beyond simply debating the size of the education budget. More importantly, policymakers need to ensure that available resources are distributed in ways that effectively improve educational opportunities and learning outcomes.
Drawing on the 2026 State Budget, he noted that Indonesia allocates approximately Rp851.09 trillion to education through various ministries, government agencies, transfers to regional governments, and long-term education financing mechanisms. According to him, this demonstrates the government’s strong commitment to education. However, the effectiveness of such a substantial investment ultimately depends on how well funding reaches schools and learners and whether it adequately responds to actual educational needs.
He pointed out that nearly Rp346.62 trillion is distributed through transfers to regional governments, while substantial allocations also support higher education, religious education, teacher professional allowances, scholarships, and operational assistance programs for schools and early childhood education. Through these various mechanisms, government support reaches tens of millions of students and millions of teachers across Indonesia.
Despite these significant investments, Dr. Amich argued that financing policies should increasingly be evaluated based on their contribution to educational quality rather than simply on the size of annual allocations.
One of the central messages of his presentation concerned the importance of viewing education spending as an investment rather than a recurrent expenditure. He argued that well-designed education financing contributes directly to productivity, innovation, social cohesion, and long-term economic competitiveness.
“Education financing is not simply about funding schools,” he explained. “It is about investing in the future quality of Indonesia’s human resources.”
He also emphasized that discussions on education financing should be firmly linked to Indonesia’s broader national development agenda, particularly the vision of Golden Indonesia 2045. Achieving this aspiration, he noted, requires sustained investment not only in expanding access to education but also in improving teaching quality, learning environments, educational technology, and institutional capacity.
Throughout his presentation, Dr. Amich encouraged policymakers to adopt a more evidence-based approach to financing education. Rather than relying primarily on historical budget allocations or administrative formulas, future funding mechanisms should increasingly reflect the actual resources required to deliver quality education across Indonesia’s highly diverse geographic and socioeconomic contexts.
His remarks resonated with several themes raised by other speakers during the seminar. While Irsyad Zamjani presented evidence on disparities between existing School Operational Assistance (BOSP) allocations and schools’ actual operational costs, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti demonstrated significant variations in household education expenditure across provinces. Abdullah Ubaid Matraji highlighted the constitutional dimension of education financing as a public right, while Prof. Unifah Rosyidi emphasized the importance of ensuring that school funding reflects the realities faced by teachers and schools on the ground.
Together, the discussions converged on a shared conclusion: Indonesia’s education financing system should evolve toward a more evidence-based, needs-sensitive, and equitable model that recognizes differences in geography, school characteristics, and learners’ socioeconomic backgrounds.
For UIII, Dr. Amich’s participation reflects the university’s growing contribution to national policy dialogue. As Director of ITES, he continues to bridge academic research and public policymaking by bringing evidence-informed perspectives to some of Indonesia’s most pressing educational challenges.
The seminar also reaffirmed UIII’s broader mission of serving as a global center for scholarship that contributes practical solutions to public policy issues. Through the work of ITES, UIII seeks to advance transformative ideas that support equitable, inclusive, and high-quality education while strengthening evidence-based policymaking in Indonesia and beyond.
As Indonesia continues to refine its education financing policies, the discussions at the National Education Seminar demonstrated the importance of integrating rigorous research, reliable statistics, and policy innovation into future reforms. Dr. Amich Alhumami’s presentation highlighted that sustainable improvements in education will depend not only on increasing investment but also on ensuring that public resources are allocated according to the real costs of delivering quality education and achieving meaningful learning outcomes.
Beyond the Conference: Finding My Academic Home at HERDSA 2026
Beyond the Conference: Finding My Academic Home at HERDSA 2026
By Muhammad Maulana
Attending the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Annual Conference 2026 at the National University of Singapore (NUS), together with the TATAL (Talking About Teaching and Learning) Pre-Conference Workshop, has been one of the most transformative experiences of my academic journey.
With nearly 1,000 participants from across the world, it was the largest international conference I have ever attended. Yet, what made the experience unforgettable was not its scale, but the people. I found myself surrounded by educators, researchers, academic developers, and leaders who shared a genuine commitment to improving higher education. They were not competing for recognition; they were learning from one another. Conversations were filled with curiosity, generosity, and a shared belief that better universities are built through collaboration rather than competition.
As someone who had only recently completed a master's degree, I initially wondered whether I truly belonged in such a community. Surrounded by professors, experienced scholars, and educational leaders, I felt like the least experienced person in many rooms. However, those feelings quickly disappeared. What I encountered instead was extraordinary humility. People listened, encouraged, and generously shared their ideas regardless of academic titles or career stages. It reminded me that academic excellence is measured not only by what we know, but also by our willingness to help others grow.
One of the most meaningful parts of the conference was participating in the TATAL Pre-Conference Workshop. Throughout the workshop, we were invited to reflect on a simple but profound question: What is the fundamental purpose of teaching? That question stayed with me long after the workshop ended.

As I reflected, I realized that I see educators as mountain guides. A mountain guide cannot climb the mountain for others. Instead, they prepare, support, encourage, and guide people through difficult paths. The journey remains challenging because growth cannot be outsourced. Learning requires effort, perseverance, and resilience. Yet, when students finally reach their own summits, they discover something much more valuable than success itself. They gain perspective, humility, and a deeper understanding of themselves. Standing at the top of a mountain reminds us not of how great we are, but of how much there is still to learn. Perhaps that is what meaningful education should ultimately cultivate.
The conference also gave me the opportunity to present my master's thesis through a Roundtable Discussion, a presentation format that was entirely new to me. Unlike traditional conference presentations, the roundtable transformed research into a conversation. Instead of presenting answers, I found myself exploring questions together with participants who openly challenged my assumptions, shared their own experiences, and enriched my thinking.
My presentation, Why Higher Education Often Separates Spiritual Identity and 21st Century Skills? emerged from a concern that many universities are becoming increasingly successful at developing graduates' competencies while paying less attention to the people those graduates are becoming. We often ask what skills students need for the future. Yet perhaps an equally important question is: Who are our students becoming?
In my research, I argue that higher education should not only equip students with critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity, but should also create spaces where they can develop their spiritual intelligence, the capacity to draw upon meaning, values, morality, and existential reflection in navigating life. While this idea remains a proposition requiring further empirical investigation, I believe it offers one possible response to Isaac Asimov's timeless observation:
"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
The discussions that followed my presentation reminded me that knowledge grows richer when it is shared. Every comment, question, and perspective helped me see my own research differently.

Beyond the formal sessions, many conversations left lasting impressions. One particularly memorable discussion was with a presenter from the National University of Singapore, who explained how lecturers are intentionally organized into cross-disciplinary learning communities where they regularly reflect on teaching, exchange practices, and continuously improve together. Even more inspiring was learning that these collective experiences have been developed into a forthcoming Routledge book, Making Learning-Centered Teaching Work in Asia and Beyond.
What touched me most, however, was not the book itself but the generosity behind their work. When I expressed my interest, they immediately offered to visit our institution, share their experiences, and even seek funding from their own university so that financial limitations would not become barriers to collaboration. That moment quietly changed the way I think about academic communities. Excellent universities do not simply produce excellent research. They cultivate generosity.
As I reflected on these experiences, I could not help comparing them with some of the realities I encounter in Indonesia through my work as an academic developer. Across conversations with colleagues from different universities, we often share similar concerns: sustaining genuine commitment to teaching enhancement remains challenging, and professional conversations about teaching are sometimes overshadowed by administrative responsibilities.
This experience strengthened my belief that Indonesia needs more academic communities like HERDSA, spaces where educators regularly learn from one another, exchange ideas across institutions, and collectively improve higher education. Such communities cannot eliminate every challenge, but they can nurture the culture necessary for meaningful and sustainable change.
Perhaps one of the most unexpected moments of this journey came even before the conference began. Receiving the HERDSA Student Conference Grant was something I never truly expected. Having recently graduated with a master's degree, I assumed the grant would naturally be awarded to outstanding PhD students with much stronger academic portfolios. I submitted my application with hope, but very little expectation. When I received the notification that I had been selected, my first feeling was not pride, it was gratitude.

Looking back, I realize that if I had convinced myself that I was "not qualified enough" and never applied, I would have missed one of the most transformative experiences of my academic life. Sometimes, opportunities arrive not because we feel ready, but because we choose to take the first step despite our doubts.
None of this would have been possible without God's grace. I am deeply grateful for every opportunity He has opened for me. I am equally thankful to my mentors at UIII, especially Dr. Destina, my thesis supervisor, and Dr. Bambang, whose continuous encouragement, and countless last-minute recommendation letters, made this journey possible.
As I left Singapore, I realized that I was bringing home much more than conference memories. I was bringing home a renewed vision of what higher education can become. A place where teaching is deeply human. Where research is built through dialogue. Where generosity matters as much as expertise. And where communities grow stronger because people choose to help one another succeed. More than anything else, HERDSA gave me something I had not expected to find. It gave me a sense of belonging.
I sincerely hope that my journey with HERDSA does not end with this conference. Instead, I hope it marks the beginning of a lifelong commitment to this remarkable community, one where I can continue learning, contributing, and perhaps one day, following the inspiring footsteps of many senior colleagues, become a HERDSA Fellow myself.
As one keynote speaker reminded us through John C. Maxwell's words:
"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails."
After this week, I no longer want to wait for higher education to change. I simply want to become one of those who help adjust the sails.










