CHALLENGES AND COPING STRATEGIES OF TEACHING IN RURAL AREAS IN INDONESIA: TEACHERS' PERSPECTIVE

EDUCATION IN RURAL AREAS CONTRIBUTES AS ONE OF THE BIGGEST CONCERNS IN INDONESIAN EDUCATION. MOREOVER, EDUCATION IN RURAL AREAS LEADS TO INEQUALITY OF EDUCATION BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS. THUS, THE INEQUALITY CREATES GAPS AND UNWITTINGLY IMPACTS THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS. UNDER QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, THIS RESEARCH WAS INTENDED TO INVESTIGATE THE CHALLENGES FACED BY TEACHERS IN RURAL AREAS. BESIDES, THIS RESEARCH ALSO EXPLORED THE STRATEGIES THAT ARE IMPLEMENTED BY TEACHERS TO COPE WITH THE CHALLENGES. THIS RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED IN NANGA BARAS, EAST NUSA TENGGARA. THERE WERE FIVE PARTICIPANTS IN THE STUDY. FROM THE INTERVIEW SESSION WITH THE PARTICIPANTS, THE FINDINGS SHOWED THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING IN RURAL AREAS INCLUDED CURRICULUM-13 IMPLEMENTATION, LANGUAGE BARRIER, LIMITED LEARNING SOURCES, LACK OF PARENT SUPPORT, DOUBLE SUBJECT TEACHERS, INADEQUATE INFRASTRUCTURE, AND DIFFICULT ACCESS. IN ADDITION, THE STRATEGIES THAT ARE IMPLEMENTED BY TEACHERS ARE IMPLEMENTING KTSP AND K-13, CODE SWITCHING, CREATING OWN MATERIALS, PERSONAL APPROACH, ONE-ROOF SCHOOL, IMPROVING LITERATURE, AND COMING EARLIER TO SCHOOL.