Learning through limitations: how alternative school educators in Indonesia navigate inclusive classrooms with action learning

Alternative nature schools (Sekolah Alam) in Indonesia serve as inclusive sanctuaries but operate under profound systemic constraints. This qualitative study explores how school leaders and educators navigate the complexities of inclusive classrooms, characterized by a demanding 5:1–4:1 ratio of regular students to children with special needs. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 6 principals and 12 teachers across six alternative schools in Java, the findings reveal a dual challenge: the educators’ lack of formal special education backgrounds and a pervasive cultural passivity among parents. Grounded in Reg Revans’ Action Learning framework, this paper analyzes how these non-specialist practitioners engage in continuous ‘learning-by-doing’ loops. Rather than relying on traditional appraisals, these schools implement aggressive weekly and monthly evaluative cycles as informal Action Learning Sets to foster parental accountability. Crucially, the study uncovers a radical collaborative contract where leaders release the student to preserve classroom equilibrium when parental action fails to mirror school interventions.