Progressive Education: Exploring Its Prospects and Challenges ( An Ethnographic Research in Islamic Boarding Schools in Aceh Besar)

Progressive Education (PE) has been developed based on pragmatism as promoted by John Dewey. It supports students‟ active learning and engagement in the instructional process. The basic tenet of the PE is in its preference on learner-centered instruction (LCI), which allow students to be more active kowledge receivers rather then passive knowledge receivers. However, the LCI has yet to reach wider audience in the Indonesian school contexts, especially in the Modern Islamic Boarding School. This allows us to do research on the prospects and challenges in boarding Islamic schools. This qualitative research collected data using multiplr methods: the in-depth interviews; the Focus Group Discussion; and the phone and written interviews through online media. The findings suggests that while concerns on the negative impacts of the LCI still emerging, the teachers participating in this research see LCI has gain great prospects in the near future. While the LCI is seen as an effective approach to allow learners learn best, it is believed to be less effective in all courses