Indonesian Children‘s Readiness for Elementary School: a Preliminary Study to the Holistic Approach to School Readiness

Gross enrolment rate of the participation of Indonesian children in Early Childhood Education has been increasing significantly every year. Ideally, it should be followed by an increase in children‘s readiness for elementary school as its main goal. However, the readiness of new students in the first grade of elementary school is still considered low in some aspects. The objectives of this research are to: 1) explore the perception of children’s readiness for elementary school, according to the paradigm of teachers and parents, and 2) describe the aspects and indicators that are considered important for children’s readiness for elementary school. The methodology of this research used qualitative case study. Participants involved amounted to 83, consisted of 43 teachers and 40 parents. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussion in teacher and parent groups also observations during group discussion process. The results of the study conclude three issues related to the children’s readiness for elementary school: 1) readiness of children for elementary school in Indonesia is perceived dominant in the academic domain, 2) there are 6 aspects, 20 sub-aspects and 83 indicators of children’s readiness for elementary school which were formulated in this study. Additional aspects cover moral and religious values. This also becomes the ‘state of the art’ of this research which may not be found in the concept of elementary school readiness in other countries.


Introduction
Indonesia, the Southeast Asia's largest country, has around 85 million children, or onethird of the national population, which is the fourth-largest of any country.Responding to the greatest number of children, the Government of Indonesia declares Early Childhood Education (ECE) programme to prepare children for formal education in elementary schools.The discourse on the importance of early childhood education began to emerge since 2000 when the policy of the importance of Education For All (EFA) through the declaration of Dakkar (cf. Final Report World Education Forum, 2000).Indonesian government followed up this policy by introducing the Law number 20/2003 on National Education System.In chapter 1, article 1, item 14 states that "Early childhood education is a coaching effort aimed at children from birth up to the age of 6 that is done through the provision of educational stimuli to assist physical growth and mental development in order for the child to be ready for entering further education".
The government's efforts receive a positive response from the Indonesian community.It can be observed from the Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) of Indonesian early childhood education which has increased from year to year.The average for 2016/2017 is 72.35%, up from an average of 70.06% in the previous period (cf.Statistics Data Center Ministry of Education and Culture Year 2016/2017).Ideally, it should have been followed by an increase in elementary school readiness as its main goal.What is the reality?
The first result is quite the opposite.From the method of an interview with a first grade elementary teacher in 2 provinces in Indonesia, stated that the readiness to follow the elementary school is lower than average, compared with the qualification required (e.g., interview on July, 18th, 2017 at West Java and on July, 20th at Jakarta, Indonesia).The majority of those teachers assessed that first grade students are more able to read, write, and do arithmetic.However, social skills, self-regulation, and understanding of moral values are less developed than the required in the curriculum.
Based on education data overview, the number of students who follow remedial lessons in the year 2016/2017 in elementary school reaches 361.215 children.Of these, students who repeat in the grade one is the highest, i.e 149,972 children or 41.5% compared to the number of repetitions in the higher classes (cf.The Report of Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, 2017).
The current Indonesian curriculum requires students to balance attitudes, knowledge, and skills competencies.As stated in the Indonesian Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 67/2013 on the basic framework and structure of the elementary school curriculum.The core competencies to be achieved by first grade students consist of spiritual attitudes, social attitudes, knowledge, and skills.The expected spiritual attitude is to accept and appreciate religious values.Social attitudes aim to have honest, disciplined, responsible, polite, caring, and confident behavior in interacting with their family, friends and teachers.The knowledge that must be achieved is to understand factual knowledge by observing (hearing, seeing, reading) and asking questions based on curiosity about themselves, God's creatures, and things they encounter at home and at school.Whereas the core competencies of the targeted skills are to present factual knowledge in clear and logical language, in aesthetic work, in movements that reflect healthy children, and in actions that reflect the child's faithful behavior and noble character.
Based on the background, this study aims to: 1. Explore the perception of children's readiness for elementary school, according to the paradigm of teachers and parents, 2. Describe the aspects and indicators that are considered important for children's readiness for elementary school.

Theoretical Background
Elementary school readiness is defined by Kagan (1992Kagan ( , 1995) ) as an individual's level of development that is ready to undertake the learning of specific materials.Further explained by Kagan, that in the concept of school readiness, the notion of readiness is characterized by standards of physical, intellectual, and social development that enables children to fulfill school requirements and assimilate a school curriculum.In line with those statements, Doherty (1997) also defines elementary school readiness by referring to the ability of children to fulfill school assignments, such as sitting quietly and listening to teachers and to assimilate the school curriculum.School readiness is based on the child's physiological maturity level.However, children's innate abilities and initial experiences also have a strong influence.
Other experts also define elementary school readiness as the ability of pre-school age children who are predicted to be able to meet the demands of attending elementary education.Demands or expectations include the ability of children to learn and overcome problems that arise at that time, able to focus concentration on the lesson and ignore unrelated stimuli, able to comply with rules and lesson plans, have confidence so that energy is not spent on anxiety but to think (Graue, 2006).
The concept of elementary school readiness and its measurement tools was also developed by Janus andOfford (2000, 2007).They interpreted school readiness as the capacity that children must have as a result of early development in various academic achievement and adjustment in primary school.Elementary school readiness can be explained by children's development in the dimensions of cognitive, language, socio-emotional, and physical development.Thus, school readiness is basically the result of the children's early development on various dimensions that will contribute to their academic achievement in elementary school (Janus & Offord, 2007).On the basis of these statements, Janus and Offord then developed a school readiness measurement tool called the Early Development Instrument (EDI).This instrument measures the progress of the 5 dimensions of school readiness, namely: 1) health and physical development, 2) social-emotional development, 3) learning approach, 4) language development and communication, and 5) cognitive development and general knowledge.Research related to measuring the readiness of primary school was also examined by several researchers in Indonesia, one of them was Kertapati (2009) who concluded about 5 dimensions of child readiness based on teachers' recommendations.

School Readiness Vs Learning Readiness
The concept of school readiness is often confused with learning readiness, whereas the both concepts can be distinguished by their literal meaning (Kagan & Rigby, 2003).They also stated that the elementary school readiness concept is generally understood as the academic capabilities of children, such as the ability to read and write.Learning readiness is defined a child's maturity to learn formally.It is supported by the nativist theory which underscores that children's learning readiness depends on the children's biological capability to perform adequately in school (Berk, 2006;Lerner, 2002).This theoretical approach claims that readiness to learn is a function of children's cognitive and physical maturation (Halfon & Hockstein, 2001).
Meanwhile, the concept of school readiness is wider.School readiness is not only observed from one side of the children, but it also involves all stakeholders such as parents, teachers, schools, community, up to the state (Emig, 2000;Dockett & Perry, 2001;2007).They explained that in order to achieve school readiness especially transition programs which involved children, the family and school are very important to make children comfortable starting school.Monks (1998) tries to change the perception of school maturity into schooling ability that does not occur spontaneously but is determined by environmental factors.UNICEF specifically sets out a global conceptual framework for school readiness.In this concept, UNICEF singles out the three major dimensions, i.e children's readiness for school, school readiness for children and family and communities readiness for school.Children's readiness is more focused on child development and learning process.School readiness is more concentrated in school environments that support the transition of children to adapt for informal learning.While the readiness of family and community put more emphasis on parenting and the attitude of the family that supports the early learning process of children (cf.School Readiness: Conceptual Framework of UNICEF, 2012).The focus of this research is more on children's readiness to follow elementary school.
Children's readiness for school may differ from one community or country to the next (Meisels, 1999).School readiness in the conceptual framework of UNICEF above as well is basically in line with the theory of the bio-ecological system of Bronfenbrenner (Bronfenbrenner, 2001) which emphasizes that environmental factors; such as family, school, and community, influencing the development of children in general (Yeo & Clarke, 2007).

The Need to Determine Children's Readiness for Elementary School
Preparing and transition to elementary school is a very important thing for all children and became the best predictor for later achievement (Duncan et al., 2007;Pagani, et. al., 2010).Children who are not ready for school tend to be difficult to adapt to the school environment.They will be frustrated at school, showing withdrawal behavior, being indifferent, psychosomatic symptoms, school strikes, and underachievement (Mc. Allister, C. L., Wilson, P. C., Green, B. L, and Baldwin, J. L, 2005).Although important, the issue of school readiness is also still debatable among policymakers, teachers, and parents, especially in developing countries like Indonesia (Fridani & Agbenyega, 2013).
School readiness should be measured from readiness in children, readiness for school and community (also education policy context).To measure children readiness, experts have agreed to take a holistic approach that integrates cognitive, social-emotional and physical components of the child (Kagan, 1995;Doherty, 1997;Janus & Offord, 2000).Specifically, National Education Goals Panel of America ( 1996) and subsequent research highlighted five dimensions of children's school readiness: (1) physical well-being and motor development, (2) social and emotional development, (3) approach to learning, (4) language development and (5) cognition and general knowledge.
The government of Indonesia tries to be fully committed to supporting elementary school readiness.Unfortunately, there is no specific regulation on children's readiness indicators for elementary school.In the regulation of the Minister of National Education number 17/2017, it is only explained that the acceptance of first grade students for elementary school is not based on the new admissions test.Also, there is a nearest zone system which starts to apply for the public elementary school on last 2017.Children are advised to choose the nearest school from home.The other government document is joint regulation between the Minister of Education and Culture and the Minister of Religious Affairs No. 02/ VII/ PB/ 2014 and No. 07/2014, regarding the acceptance of new learners for elementary education.In this joint rule, In chapter 4 (a) identifies that learners who are 7 years old, must be accepted to study in elementary school.It is followed by a statement that there is the opportunity for younger children to get registered into elementary school only with recommendations from professional psychologists.The researcher tried to trace the regulation for previous education.There is Government Regulation No. 19/2005 on The National Early Childhood Education Standard which comprises the children developmental milestone standard.However, this level of child development achievement is only the intended target for pre-school education.Thus, immediate clarity is necessary to determine the aspects and indicators children' readiness for elementary school.It is expected that these aspects and indicators can be used to map the readiness of schools for all Indonesian children, including children with special needs through inclusive education.Since it was enacted through Indonesian Law No. 23/2003, the inclusive education in primary schools has become the latest issue and must be prepared immediately.

Methodology of Research
The methodology of this research used qualitative case study.According to Sturman (1997), case studies are general terms for individual, group or phenomenon exploration.Another statement from Nath (2005), provides a definition of case studies not only in the field of social work, but also can be applied to the field of education.The data in this study were collected through the method of focus group discussions, interviews and observations.Secondary data is also obtained through other relevant material such as regulations, institutional reports, and other documents.Data is then interpreted based on a theoretical framework based on scientific literature to answer relevant research questions.

Participants
This research was conducted in 2 provinces in Indonesia; DKI Jakarta and West Java.Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia with the center of government and education, while West Java is designated as the most populous province, with the largest number of young children.The researchers decided to apply purposive sampling by recruiting 88 participants of teachers and parents, with inclusion criteria were: (a) teaching first grade at elementary school for at least 2 years with education background minimum undergraduate school, (b) teaching highest class at kindergarten, education background minimum high school education and has obtained a certificate training of an educator for early childhood education, (c) parent of a student at first grade elementary school with education background minimum high school, (d) parent of children at highest class at kindergarten with education background minimum high school.

Data Collection
The first step taken by researchers before retrieving data was to get research permission from the research ethics committee of Padjadjaran University and the Indonesian Association of Kindergarten Teachers.The next step was to collect data through focus group discussion (FGD) and observation during FGD process.The FGD process was divided into 4 groups in two provinces; the group of elementary school teachers, kindergarten teachers, parents of elementary school students and parents of kindergarten students.FGD for teachers was held during the school holiday season on last January 2018 while FGD for parents took place in early February 2018.

Data Analysis
This study uses thematic analysis that refers to the school readiness grounded theory.First, the results of focus group discussions are made into transcripts of data, then coding is done.The next stage of categorization will be transferred into the main themes of research results in accordance with its purpose.In an effort to ensure the validity and consistency of the results of this study, researchers used qualitative software programs N Vivo 10 for Windows.

Results
Overall, as many as 83 participants have participated in this investigation of the 88 invited.A total of 43 teachers were involved in the FGD.The demographic information about the teachers is presented in table 1.
Based on the number of teacher participants invited, almost 100 percent of teachers accepted FGD invitations.There was only one elementary school teacher who was absent due to illness.The average age of teachers was above 30 years of age with the majority of female and married.Background education of elementary school teachers, the majority had the undergraduate degree, while there were more kindergarten teachers who were high school graduates with additional teacher training.Meanwhile, in terms of teaching experience, teachers of elementary school were more experienced than of the kindergarten ones.1. Perception of Elementary School Readiness Most of the participants, both from the teacher and the parents, perceived that elementary school readiness focuses on the academic skills of children.They also indicated the social skills and communication skills as markers of children's readiness to enter elementary school.Examples of statements submitted by first grade elementary school teachers are "Students who are ready, are able to learn formally, follow the lessons well" (ET.13).Some teachers and parents' statements were linking the child's age and ability, but the other parents opposed it; "Children who are ready are generally 7 years old, but if they already have formal learning skills, age does not become an issue, it means they are ready for school even under the age of 7 years" (KP.45).A slightly different statement was made by the participants of kindergarten teachers who stated that "The elementary school readiness is basically an optimization of all aspects of development.However, because the demands on elementary school are more on the cognitive aspect, we respond by holding reading, writing and arithmetic course on our students who want to enter elementary school" (KT.22).An overview of teacher and parent perceptions is summarized in the following graph.Almost all parent participants agree on the various aspects and indicators made by the teacher group.The parents stated that the readiness for elementary school is also perceived as the ability of children to absorb religious and moral values.This statement is based on evidence that in private religious elementary school, the child's understanding and implementation of moral and religious values is a sign of their readiness."My son was asked about daily prayers and verses of the Qur'an, when he wanted to registered to a private elementary school."(EP.27).This opinion is also strengthened by elementary school teachers."Based on my experience as a teacher, one of the aspects considered as a sign of child's school readiness is the initial understanding of moral values.For example, we ask about the differences between good and bad behavior" (ET.11).Another elementary teacher stated, "We used to ask about the ability of new students to recognize the 'hijaiyah' letters and memorize the Holy Qur'an" (ET.05).
Results of teachers and parents group discussions formulated 6 aspects and 83 indicators of elementary school readiness to be tested at the next research stage.Some examples of aspects, sub-aspects, and indicators are illustrated in table 3 below.

Discussion
This investigation is the first study for the major research on the holistic approach of school readiness.Here we are exploring the perception of teachers and parents about their understanding of readiness of children and formulating the indicators of elementary school readiness.
Children's readiness for elementary school is defined by teachers and parents as the capacity of children to study at school which focused on the academic domain.The problem is the emphasis on academic skills that must be possessed before children follow the basic education process.This is the reason why many pre-school children in Indonesia are included in literacy courses to accelerate their academic abilities.Parents and teachers consider this ability to be a pre-requisite for readiness to follow elementary school.This finding is in accordance with the previous study in Indonesia which found that having academic skills as a way of determining the individual child's potential against some set of standard expectations attributes on elementary school and for gaining entry to the favorite school (Fridani & Agbenyega, 2013).
That paradigm is often inappropriate.Kagan, Moore and Bredecamp (1995) argue that elementary school readiness concepts are generally conflated with the academic capabilities of children, such as the ability to read and write, called literacy skills.Readiness has been historically defined as two separate concepts: readiness to learn and readiness for school (Kagan, 1992;Lewitt & Baker, 1995).Readiness to learn is viewed as a level of development at which the children are able to learn specific material.Readiness for school indicated that the children also will be able to be successful in a"typical" school context (Carlton & Winsler, 1999).Thus the paradigm of teachers and parents in Indonesia regarding the readiness of children to elementary school, still needs to be straightened out.Readiness of children covers all aspects of child development; physical, intellectual and social development.Health and physical-motor factors that are developed strongly support the readiness of children to learn.Similarly, the ability of children to adapt to the transition period in elementary school will be largely determined by the development of social-emotional aspects of the child.
Contemporary research over the past 20 years has resulted in new ideas about school readiness.The concept of school readiness is not only intended for children, but other components, such as family, elementary and pre-school education, also the community are responsible for children's readiness to attend elementary school (Emig, 2000).Inevitably, the concept of an ecological system also influences the readiness of children to enter primary school because these nested system is the most important combination forming the life experiences of children (Yeo & Clarke, 2007;Brofenbrenner, 2001).The results of this study state the concept of readiness to elementary school which involves all of these components that have not been fully realized by most parents and even teachers in kindergarten and elementary school.They tend to interpret readiness to attend elementary school only from children's readiness.
Associated with the concept of elementary school readiness on the regulation of Indonesian government, the requirement for the elementary school admission is only based on age.All children who have reached the age of 7 years are eligible and obliged to follow basic education.Some participants expressed their disagreement regarding the age regulation.Their opinions are more directed at the ability of children's literacy.Traditionally school readiness has been viewed within a maturationist frame, based on a chronological set-point (Snow, 2006).The regulation of Indonesian government about the age qualification, has become an interesting topic to explore the background of that issue.According to neuropsychological perspective, the 6-7 year age range is also considered to be ready for formal schooling (Ikrar, 2016).Thus, basically, biological child maturity at that age has supported them to be ready to learn formally.However, it is necessary to look at the general picture based on practical considerations as well.School readiness is not only assumed to be in accordance with the chronological age or academic skills of the child, but rather how the milieu can optimize the biological potential of the child through valuable experience.
The second objective of this study is to formulate the aspects and indicators that are considered important for the children readiness for elementary school.Experts have agreed that indicators of elementary school readiness include five standard aspects, consisting of 1) physical health and motor development, 2) social and emotional development, 3) learning activity approach, 4) language development and 5) cognitive development and general knowledge (Kagan, 1992;Doherty, 1997;Janus , 2000;Janus & Offord, 2007).
The aspects surrounding the concept of school readiness may vary by country or region in the world, depending on the social context and time (Saluja, Scott-Little & Clifford, 2000).Therefore, the context of local values can determine the readiness of children in a place or country.Referring to that statement, the researchers and teachers participants tried to explore the policy related to school readiness in Indonesia, one of which is the Regulation of Indonesian Minister of Education and Culture Number 67/2013.This regulation explains about basic framework and structure of elementary school curriculum which has been described in the theoretical framework chapter.The core competencies to be achieved in the first grade students of elementary school consist of spiritual attitudes, social attitudes, knowledge, and skills.
With the aim of fulfilling the main competencies to be achieved in the first grade of elementary school, participants of this study tried to review the regulations related to pre-school education.There is Regulation of Education number 137/2014 on Early Childhood Education Standards in Indonesia.This regulation contains some of the standards used in assessing the maturity of children at the age of 6-7 years.Those standards known as 'the standard level of child development achievement' contain 6 aspects, namely: 1) physical-motoric, 2) cognition, 3) language, 4) social-emotional, 5) religious and moral values, 6) art.This standard can be used as a temporary reference for the readiness of elementary school children.If we compare with the standards applied in other countries, there are differences especially on aspects of religious and moral values.
Various regulations related to the elementary school curriculum and standard level of child development achievement are the basis for making the elementary school readiness indicators for Indonesian children.Participants tried to combine those regulations.The researcher also provided related references, including Early Development Instrument by Janus & Offord (2007) and the results of previous studies regarding the school readiness of Kertapati (2009).The results of the initial discussion resulted in 6 aspects, 20 sub-aspects and 83 indicators of child readiness for elementary school in Indonesia.
Further, there are universalities in child development which needed to be explored in school readiness, namely social-emotional aspect, health and physical development, approaches to learning, language development and cognition.This universality can be used as a preference for researchers in school readiness from other countries.Moreover, there is one additional aspect, i.e moral and religious values that may differ from other countries.This is also a novelty value that has not been found in previous elementary school readiness studies.This difference can be used as a comparison for other countries, for example by considering children's moral development as a universal value for elementary school readiness.
As mentioned earlier, the researcher hopes that these aspects and indicators can be used to map school readiness for all children, including children with special needs through inclusive education.As in previous research studies on the use of several instruments that recognize elementary school readiness that can be used for children with and without special needs; i.e Early Development Instrument by Janus (2011) and the Brief Early Skills and Support Index (BESSI) by Hughes et al (2018).Children with special needs have never been considered mature for further education, including elementary school.However, previous studies regarding EDI and BESSI instrument, concluded that in some aspects or dimensions of children development the results were indeed low, but there were still several dimensions of readiness that could be developed according to their potential.In the study of the wide use of EDI instruments in special needs children in Canada, Australia and Mexico, learning and behavioral problems have an overall impact on children's school readiness, while physical, auditory and visual impairments appear to only affect areas directly related to the disorder (Janus, 2011).While for BESSI instruments, four subscales (behavioural adjustment, language and cognition, daily living skills, and family support) were reliable and showed measurement invariance across special educational needs and disabilities status, over and above effects of age, gender, family income, ethnicity, and family size (Hughes, Foley, White, Devine, 2018).However, further research is needed so that the aspects and indicators produced in this study can also be used for special needs children in Indonesia or adopted by researchers from other countries.

Conclusion
The results of the study conclude three issues related to the children's readiness for elementary school; 1) Readiness of children for elementary school in Indonesia is perceived dominant in the academic domain, 2) There are 6 aspects, 20 sub-aspects and 83 indicators of readiness of children for elementary school which were formulated in this study.Additional aspects of readiness of children for elementary school in Indonesia covers moral and religious values.This also becomes the 'state of the art' of this research which may not be found in the concept of elementary school readiness in other countries.
Suggestions that can be submitted based on the results of this study is to review the policy related to the readiness for elementary school in Indonesia, including the consequences of the contravention.This policy also needs to be socialized appropriately to relevant stakeholders, including schools, families and communities.
The limitation of this research is: 1) The scope of the research area is still limited to 2 provinces in Indonesia.2) Subjects of research are still limited to teachers and parents, need to review the paradigm of children and other stakeholders such as government and education practitioners.

Graph. 1 .
The Summary of Perception of Children's Elementary School Readiness 2. Aspects and Indicators that Are Important for Elementary School Readiness of Children The teacher participants use qualifications of readiness of children based on government references.There are two main regulations of the Indonesian government that can be used as a reference in making indicators of elementary school readiness.The first is curriculum in grade one of elementary school; and the second one is achievement standard of child development for the age category 6-7 years.The result of teacher group discussion was shown in the parent group for further discussion.