“We are not labors; we are teachers”: Indonesian early childhood teachers’ organizations as a form of a panopticon

This paper aims to unpack the discourses of teachers’ professionalism and teachers’ organizations in the early childhood education settings in Indonesia. Using Foucault's notions of discourse and power, we are interested in exploring how both discourses have silenced the teachers. This paper adopts qualitative research conducted with nine teachers, all active members, and boards of ECE teachers’ organizations. The data were collected mainly through semi-formal interviews and focus group discussions. The data were analyzed using a thematic approach. The findings suggest how the teachers’ organization has acted as a form of panopticon that sustains the hegemonic definition of teachers’ professionalism. The findings also suggest that the teachers’ understanding of professionalism is also highly influenced by the local/Javanese values of halus, where teaching is seen as a noble and refined profession. Hence, teachers continue to create the binary between teaching and working. At the same time, the penetration of religious discourse has also situated them to accept their situation. This paper, therefore, serves as an invitation to rethink and reimagine the kind of policies and educational reform needed so that the teachers can have a space to voice their struggle.