How PDIA Is Practiced: Insights on Systems Change from Local Contexts

Most education reforms fail not because they lack good ideas, but because they introduce ready‑made solutions to problems that are not fully understood or locally owned.

Through my work with the KREASI Program, I have learned that in complex systems such as Indonesia’s education sector, change rarely occurs in a straightforward manner. Instead, it unfolds through iteration, negotiation, and continuous learning from districts, communities, and the individuals closest to the issues at hand.

What Is KREASI?

KREASI is a multi‑year education program supported by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) through Save the Children, operating across eight districts in Indonesia.

Its focus goes beyond literacy and numeracy. KREASI works at the systems level, integrating:

• child protection
• gender equality and disability inclusion
• climate change education

Instead of working only through schools, KREASI activates District Education Ecosystems — multi‑sector platforms bringing together education offices, planners, child protection units, libraries, village governments, CSOs, and children themselves.

These ecosystems are where PDIA quietly comes alive.

PDIA, in Simple Terms

PDIA is built on four ideas:

• Start with locally felt problems, not imported solutions
• Experiment and adapt, rather than follow rigid plans
• Work across multiple actors, not single institutions
• Build capacity through learning by doing

KREASI’s district‑level practice follows this logic almost by design.

PDIA in Action: What KREASI Does Differently

1. Start with Problems, Not Projects

Every district begins with District Education Reflection workshops. These are not ceremonial meetings — they are honest diagnostic spaces.

Stakeholders collectively surface real constraints: weak early‑grade literacy, fragile child protection systems, leadership gaps, exclusion of children with disabilities, or low climate readiness in schools.

And the priorities differ:

• Morotai focused on access to books
• Ketapang on community literacy and leadership incentives
• Kayong Utara on inclusive and climate‑resilient schools
• South Nias on school‑based child protection

No universal solution. No template. Just real problems.

2. Co‑Design, Iterate, Adjust

After diagnosis comes co‑design. Districts prototype solutions and test them in practice.

Mobile libraries in Morotai. Literacy villages in Tanggamus and Ketapang. Inclusive school pilots in Kayong Utara. Child‑Friendly School models in Ketapang.

None of these arrive “finished.” They evolve — based on feedback, capacity, and context. That’s PDIA in motion.

3. Working Groups as Learning Engines

Each district forms thematic working groups (Pokja) — on literacy, child protection, inclusion, climate, leadership.

These Pokja don’t just implement. They learn: plan, review, unblock, adapt. Over time, roles become clearer, coordination improves, and local capability grows.

Capacity is built through action — not workshops alone.

4. Adapting to Reality

KREASI districts face familiar constraints: staff turnover, uneven participation, weak infrastructure, difficult geography.

Instead of forcing plans to fit reality, districts adapted:

• formal decrees to stabilize working groups
• mobile and weekend services for remote areas
• village funding to sustain local initiatives
• simpler monitoring tools that actually get used

PDIA accepts friction — and works with it.

5. From Pilots to the System

Small experiments start to stick:

• KREASI priorities enter district plans
• decrees formalize inclusive and climate schools
• local budgets begin to replace project funds

This is slow, uneven, but real systems change.

What KREASI Teaches Us About PDIA

A few takeaways:

• PDIA works best when embedded in governance, not framed as a method
• Structured reflection keeps adaptation intentional
• Local ownership grows when solutions are allowed to emerge imperfectly
• Systems change is messy — but possible

Importantly, KREASI views districts not merely as implementers but as problem-solvers. This transition — from delivering pre-made solutions to fostering locally-driven, iterative problem solving — is fundamental to PDIA and essential for sustainable systems change.