Pemberdayaan Guru dan Profesionalisme Tenaga Pendidik di Era Reformasi dan Pasca Reformasi: Sebuah Tinjauan Akademis

This article examines teacher empowerment and the professionalism of educators in Indonesia during the Reformasi and post-Reform era, with a comprehensive academic review approach. The Reform era marked a significant change in education governance, particularly in terms of decentralization and autonomy that provided greater space for independent and contextual teacher capacity development. This research highlights various policies implemented to improve the quality of educators, such as teacher certification programs, continuous training, and welfare improvement which are the main focus of the government. However, real challenges still arise related to quality disparities between urban and rural areas and educational infrastructure constraints that affect the effectiveness of teacher empowerment. This article also discusses how teachers' professionalism is not only measured from the technical aspects of teaching, but also from the ability to adapt to new curricula and educational technology developments. Thus, teacher empowerment in the Reformasi era and post-Reformasi is an important foundation in efforts to improve the quality of national education in a sustainable manner. These findings are expected to be a reference for policymakers and education practitioners in formulating more effective and inclusive educator development strategies.