THE ROLE OF COUNSELING TEACHERS BASED ON THE CURRICULUM FREEDOM TO LEARN

This paper aims to determine the role of guidance and counseling teachers based on the “Merdeka Belajar” curriculum. This writing uses a qualitative research method which is a literature study. The concept of the curriculum "Merdeka Belajar" is the freedom of learning for BK teachers to be free to think, innovate, and be creative. The expected evaluation is that it can provide comfort in the learning process.


Introduction
Guidance and counseling is an integral part of the educational component that plays a very important role in the development and achievement of the developmental tasks of students (Lestari et al., 2018). Guidance and counseling as a profession that is integrated in the field of education as described in Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System that BK teachers are professional educators, as well as teachers, lecturers and other educators.
The position of the BK teacher as the holder of the guidance and counseling profession is expected to be able to succeed in educational efforts in various paths, levels, and types. BK teachers as the implementation of BK essentially must master the theory and practice of education and have character in providing professional services in achieving quality education (Alaydrus, 2015;Harahap & Harahap, 2021).
Guidance and Counseling in relation to the implementation of the "Freedom of Learning" curriculum. At this time the independent curriculum is a learning revision from the 2013 curriculum, a new learning design that leads to freedom and creative thinking so that students are expected to learn calmly, relaxed, fun, stress-free and pressure-free, to show creative thinking talents (Ulinniam et al., 2021;Rahayu et al., 2022). Furthermore, the concept of the Merdeka Learning curriculum leads to a learning concept that demands creativity, critical thinking skills and student problem solving abilities, is innovative and skilled at communicating and collaborating with students (Izza et al., 2020;Manalu et al., 2022;Indarta et al., 2022). In addition, the concept of independent learning also supports the vision and mission of Indonesian education in the future, namely the orientation of the rise of quality human beings who are able to compete in various fields of life (Sibagariang et al., 2021).
The application of the Independent Learning curriculum, of course, expects changes to all teachers in the implementation of learning. Likewise counselors, counselors are required to be able to take advantage of technological advances and provide services to counselees that are more personal and professional However, the role of guidance and counseling teachers in the process of providing services in schools is often considered only oriented to punishment activities for students who have problems, even the measure of the success of guidance and counseling teachers in the process of guidance and counseling services in schools is seen in only activities that are oriented to order students to comply with school regulations. and punishing problematic students so as not to repeat the actions that have been done so that they are satisfied only with the size when at school there are no students with problems or the BK teacher has not been able to handle and explore the problems faced by students (Hartini et al., 2017). Therefore, in this explanation, it tries to reveal the facts on the ground how the process of BK services with the application of the "Free Learning" curriculum.

Method
This literature study was obtained from research articles related to titles obtained from Google Scholar. The author of this article is devoted to knowing how the role of the BK teacher based on the curriculum is Freedom to Learn. The selection of articles is carried out through a process of identification, screening and eligibility. Of the many articles found through a search on Google Scholar, selected several articles that are relevant to the objectives and issues raised by the author.

Result and Discussion
Guidance and counseling activities will always be related to education, because the existence of guidance and counseling in education is a logical consequence of the educational effort itself. The concept of "Learning Independence" which was coined by Nadiem Makarim can be drawn several points. First, the concept of "Learning Independence" is the answer to the problems faced by teachers in educational practice. Second, the burden of teachers is reduced in carrying out their profession, through freedom of independence in assessing student learning with various types and forms of assessment instruments, freedom from various burdensome administrative processes, freedom from various pressures of intimidation, criminalization, or politicization of teachers. Third, it opens our eyes to find out more about what obstacles are faced by teachers in learning assignments at school, starting from the problem of accepting new students (input), teacher administration in teaching preparation including lesson plans, the learning process, as well as evaluation problems such as USBN. -UN (output). Fourth, teachers who are at the forefront in shaping the nation's future through the learning process, it is important to be able to create a happier learning atmosphere in the classroom, through an educational policy that will later be useful for teachers and students. (Natalia & Sukraini, 2021;Ratnasari & Neviyarni, 2021).
Guidance and counseling teachers are educators whose job is to assist students in overcoming problems faced in the school environment and the school's external environment is responsible for making students aware of their inner abilities and finding solutions to problems faced according to the wishes of students or clients. BK teachers or counselors provide assistance to students through individual or group guidance services so that they can face life developments and realize dreams according to their abilities, so that individuals can independently solve the various difficulties they face. The role of BK teachers in preparing students to face independent learning plans, namely (1) Regarding Minimum Competency Assessment, assessment is an assessment of individuals to provide guidance and counseling services to adapt to the needs, conditions, and problems of clients, (2) Character surveys strengthen education character, which is part of the scope of duties of BK teachers in schools, especially in the emotional, social and moral aspects, and (3) Circular RPP for BK RPL BK One Page (Arumsari, 2021).
The roles that have been formulated by these experts can be carried out by BK teachers in the successful implementation of the independent learning program. Below are identified various roles and activities that can be carried out by BK teachers in the success of activities in the independent learning program.
First, in the PPDB zoning system policy, various problems will arise, among these problems that can be helped by BK teachers are that there are students who are not accommodated by the zoning system, students are not accepted in any school because the location where they live is far from the school. In such cases, the counseling teacher can act as a therapist or counselor who provides assistance and together with students and parents find solutions so that students can continue to attend school. In addition, the BK teacher acts as a preventive agent so that the PPDB zoning system does not cause problems, namely by providing information about the PPDB Zoning. Another role is to provide assistance to students' inadequate abilities caused by the acceptance of new students based on the distance from home to school (Nursalim, 2020).
Furthermore, "Freedom of Learning" is defined as a condition that is free, not pressured or oppressed or "colonized" by anyone, with full personal awareness to carry out complete learning activities, namely: (1) determined to get something new, (2) practice dynamics of bmb3-5as, (3) strive for good environmental conditions and atmosphere, free from distractions, (4) prepare the necessary facilities, (5) fully empower one's potential, (6) seek optimal results. Students are required to be able to fully learn independently in a learning atmosphere to develop their personal self as optimally as possible, have results in accordance with the six focuses of education, become human resources (HR) with BMB3-5As with full KES and avoid KES-T all of which lead to the condition of the DBMSD-DA, as an independent person who is able to control himself and has intelligent character, a citizen of society, nation, and a state that adheres to Pancasila. (Prayitno, 2021).

Conclusion
The Independent Learning curriculum is a curriculum that provides opportunities for BK teachers to be more creative and have intelligent characters.
In the independent era, learning includes independent conditions in achieving the objectives, methods, materials, and evaluation of learning. This evaluation activity makes teachers act as intermediaries to realize educational goals in the era of independent learning. BK teachers must understand the purpose and function of learning evaluation. In addition, BK teachers are expected to be able to make learning comfortable, fun, and interesting, so that evaluation activities function as they should. In the most important learning, BK teachers are creative, have skills and think critically, have student problem solving abilities, are innovative and are skilled at communicating and collaborating with students.