Comparative education in Indonesia: an exploration into service providers, contents and methods of delivery

Purpose This article examines how CE in Indonesia has been practiced, what are the ideological perspectives for the selection of the practices and what cost-benefit effect they carry to the field as a scientific praxis. Design/methodology/approach In this study, various dimensions are taken into consideration. At the geographic-locational level, the study collected information from the main geo-political regions of Indonesia: west (13 institutions) and central (6 institutions). We have identified universities in east Indonesia but none of the websites could be probed deeper into curricular structures, syllabi and teaching materials of the departments. On the demographic dimensions, the study could identify dominant student backgrounds from the location of the universities: status (private, public, Islamic and nationalistic), ethnicity (institutions dominated by Malays, Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, etc) and religion (Islam-owned (5) and state-owned (14)). While these figures do not represent the complexity of educational dimensions in Indonesia, they will be sufficient for an explorative study of CE practices in Indonesia. Data were collected by downloading policy documents (academic policies and curricular structures), teaching-related documents (curricula, semester programs/syllabi, lesson plans, learning materials, online courses, textbooks and course assignments) and student assignments (student-made power-point slides, published and unpublished papers, student articles and theses) and academic documents (lecturer-published articles and lecturer-made power-point slides). More than 19 policy documents were used to track down any CE courses or units being offered at the institutions and 10 documents from each subtype of teaching-related and academic documents. We believe that these documents will be sufficiently representative for exploration of CE practices in Indonesia. In addition to document collection, data were also collected by distributing questionnaires, interviewing key informants (heads of departments, field experts, course lecturers, students and alumni) and observation of online courses. Questionnaires were also electronically distributed to the conveners and the student participants of the courses. Online interviews were conducted to course conveners and students. Focused group discussions involved officials, lecturers, students and alumni of the departments. The data were analysed using content analysis with Microsoft Excel functioning as data coding and analysis instrument. Findings The article looks at how Indonesia CEs have been practiced, what ideological perspectives have been used for the selection of the contents and the practices, and what effect that the practices might carry to the field of CE as a scientific praxis. But, let us be clear with the institutions where CE is offered. Research limitations/implications The research was limited in terms of data as it is based mainly on online materials. Collecting printed materials at institutions where CE is taught would yield more relevant data. Practical implications The result of the study would be beneficial for improvement in the current practices of CE in Indonesian contexts. Social implications CE is a new field of study in Indonesia and the article can open up more interest in the field of study creating a new job opportunity for young generations of Indonesia. Originality/value The work is 100% original and no parts of the study have been published elsewhere.