Empowering future Indonesian citizens through reformed school curriculum: A teacher perception study of Curriculum 2013 in Aceh Jaya

The pedagogical ability of teachers may influence and enhance students’ learning process. The goal of Kurikulum 2013 is to empower Indonesian citizens so they can become capable, faithful, productive, creative and effective individuals who are an asset to their nation. This study examines the perceptions of teachers regarding the implementation of Curriculum 2013 at Vocational High School (SMK) in Aceh Jaya. This quantitative study utilized questionnaires to gauge the perceptions of 30 randomly sampled teachers with respect to the implementation of curriculum 2013 based on curriculum materials, teacher preparation, student readiness, and support facilities. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0 and presented in percentages and means, and using the four-point Likert Scale. The study found that teachers agreed that the teacher preparation (mean= 2.81), students readiness (mean = 3.79) and the support received (mean= 2.66) were adequate to implement curriculum 2013. Regarding the learning ability of students, it was found that significant differences existed between the perceptions of vocational teachers and those of non-vocational teachers with a value of p = 0.04. The vocational teachers perceived that the students were able to follow and understand the lessons well while the non-vocational teachers perceived otherwise. Further studies should be carried out in detail to identify the relationship between teachers’pedagogy ability and students’ readiness.