Taman Siswa

The Taman Siswa, or “Garden of Students,” was an anticolonial educational movement in the Dutch East Indies founded by the Javanese nobleman Raden Mas Soewardi Soerjaningrat, also known as Ki Hadjar Dewantoro (1889–1959), in July 1922. Dutch-educated, Dewantoro was an active member of the nationalist movement, the founder of the Indies Party, and a member of the Sarekat Islam (Islamic Association), the first political party in the Netherlands East Indies with Indonesian nationalist leanings. He propagated a course of action that would use Western methods to fight the Dutch. During his exile in the Netherlands (1913–1918), he became convinced that strengthening the cultural roots of his people through “nationalist” education would effectively counter the impact of colonialism. Influenced by the educational theories of Maria Montessori and Rabindranath Tagore, Dewantoro established the Taman Siswa school system, enlisting the support of many fellow nationalists. The curriculum included lessons in Javanese ethics, traditional handicraft, dance, and music, as well as Western subjects. In the late 1930s, Taman Siswa operated 207 schools in Java, Sumatra, and Kalimantan. Following independence, Taman Siswa survived as an appendage of the state school system. Dewantoro retained leadership until his death in 1959. As minister of education, he helped to shape the educational policy of the modern Indonesian state.

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