Role Of School

1.0 Introduction: Concepts and Aims of National Education Philosophy “The education in Malaysia is a continuous effort towards the direction of developing the potentials of individual comprehensively and coherently, so as to produce harmonious and balanced individuals in aspect of intellect, spiritual, emotional and physical, basing on the believe and obedience to God. This effort is to produce Malaysians with knowledge, adroitness, good character, responsibility and the ability to acquire his own well-being, and also able to contribute positively in making Malaysia a harmonious and prosperous society” (The National Education Philosophy, 1988) As clearly stated above, the National Education Philosophy (FPN) served as enlightenment to provide guidance, course of direction to all effort on education and opinion on matters related to education. Similarly, the National Education Philosophy was designed from efforts based on rational and critical thinking, with reference to the national ideology which had been clearly stated in the past Education Reports and Education Policy, including the Five National Principles. It is thus important for teachers and educators to study and interpret its contents in details so as to implement successfully all education programs according to the aims and aspirations of the National Education Philosophy. The National Education Philosophy also stated all the terms, thinking and principles related to Malaysia education system. In other words, it is a combination of aims, acts, and educational activities as an overall entity (Malaysia Ministry of Education, 1982). The National Education Philosophy will enlighten pupils and, at the same time, provide guidance and course of direction, whether within our outside the institutions of learning.

1

2.0 Factors in the Development of National Education Philosophy They are various factors which had played important roles in the determinations of the contents, aims, and aspirations of the National Education Philosophy. These included religious, political, economic, individual, and others factors as well. Each of these factors are briefly described as follows: 2.1 Religious Factor: Islam is the official religion in Malaysia. Besides, other religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and many more are free to embrace and worship, and all these are clearly written in the National Constitution. The religions stated above, especially Islam, are important basic factor to consider in the process of drawing up the National Education Philosophy. This religious factor could be clearly seen in the following expression of the National Education Philosophy: “to produce harmonious and balanced individual in aspects of intellect, spiritual, emotion and physical basing on the belief and obedient to God… “ 2.2 Social Factors There are various races residing in Malaysia. The harmony and prosperity of the nation depend very much on the people’s attitude to practice tolerance, cooperation and mutual respect among the various races. This positive attitude is the most important factor to achieve racial unity which is considered important criteria to attain a peaceful and stable social situation of a multiracial society. The aim of achieving racial unity has become one of the main objectives of National Education Philosophy as stated in the expression “to produce Malaysians so as … to contribute positively in making Malaysia a harmonious and prosperous society.”

2

2.3 Political Factor It is generally known that the National Education Philosophy was drawn up, according to the spirit of the nation’s ideology which was reflected in the official documents, like the former Education Reports, Malaysia Plans and the Five National Principles. In this respect, the objective to achieve racial unity was one of the basic considerations when drawing up the National Education Philosophy. This was, in fact, a very influential factor related with the social factor in the National Education Philosophy, as already stated above. 2.4 Economic Factor Malaysians trained with the useful skills in various fields can help to develop the national economy by improving their productivity. Such noble aim could be achieve with efforts to produce individual who would become educated, skillful, responsible and capable to contribute towards the prosperity and advancement of the nation. The great ambition to develop the Malaysian economy obviously becomes an important objective of the national education based on the National Education Philosophy. 2.5 Individual Factor Potentials of individuals can be develop via the process of education. These individual’s potential cover all intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical aspects. Overall development by integrating all individual’s potential in such a manner will produce balanced and harmonious people. Following this, they will always practice positive attitude, enjoy spiritual peacefulness and ever ready to face challenges in life. The ambition to produced balanced and harmonious individuals was also one of the important aspirations of the National Education Philosophy.

3

2.6 International Factor During the planning of National Education Philosophy, an important factor which could not be ignored was the influence of the development of international education system. In this connection, new ideas resulted from international education seminars and forums would definitely influence the design of the National Education Philosophy: for example, the education programmed such as democratization of education, internationalization of education and life long education which were discussed and adopted by the UNESCO in the eighties. The influence of these international factor can be interpreted at the beginning of the National Education Philosophy: Education in Malaysia is a continuous effort…, which clearly reflected the concept of life long education. Development and advancement of Malaysia depend very much on the cooperation of other countries in the world. Because of this, Malaysia, since its formation has tried with great effort to play her role in the international arena, such as to contributed and safeguards peace, fairness and prosperity of the nation and fostering good relation with other countries. The effort to secure the international cooperation will be continuously carried on by the future generations. The national education programmed, which covers aspects of international advancement, is to produced educated, adroit and good moral citizens, who will be able to serve and contributed not only to the advancement of the nation but also provide their service to maintain international peace and stability.

4

3.0 Elements in the National Education Philosophy Referring to the analysis of National Education Philosophy, it is clear that education in Malaysia is a continuous effort to develop and integrating human potentials in all aspects so as to produce harmonious and balanced individuals based on the belief in and obedient to God. Hence, the main objective of the education is to produce citizens who are educated, adroit, responsible and possessed a noble character. This is to ensure that they are capable of achieving self prosperity and able to contribute for the harmony and progress of the nation. Basing on the explanations above, we may use ontology, epistemology, axiology and logic to analyze the development of the important elements contained in the National Education Philosophy: 3.1 Develop potentials of individuals Potentials are inborn talent and ability possessed by individuals. The talent and ability here are considered gift of God, which is include intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical aspects of any individuals. These potentials ought to be developed and improved constantly throughout the process of education. 3.2 Overall and integrated potentials The individuals’ potentials ought to be developed up to the optimum level by way of integrating their talent and ability which are closely related to each other. 3.3 Balanced and harmonious individuals This objective can be achieved when the potentials of the individuals had been develop in an overall, consistent and harmonious manner, this objective can be achieved. A well-balanced and harmonious individuals is one who possesses integrated 5

individuality and able to enjoy contentment and happiness spiritually. In the same way, he will always feel grateful and ready to accept challenges as well as to try his best to overcome problems encountered. 3.4 Intellectual aspects This covers the element of real knowledge, including critical and creative thinking. 3.5 Spiritual and emotional aspects This covers the element such as belief in God, embrace religion, spiritual ability, and appreciate moral values in norm of society, good behaviors, loyalty and willing to sacrifice for the race and county. 3.6 Physical aspects This include the aspects such as physical agility and good health so as to be able to stand on own feet without the need of others’ assistance. 3.7 Belief in and obedient to God Belief is the human’s confidence that the surrounding environment does not exist by itself but created by God. The laws of nature are actually laws of god. Thus people should show obedience, trust and responsibility to god in respect of efforts to administer and develop their environment. 3.8 Educated Malaysian People who posses positive attitude of being like to read, love to acquire and apply the knowledge learned, will not only benefit themselves but also other as well. 3.9 Malaysian who are adroit 6

People who possess knowledge and various skill will be willing to contribute for the progress of the nation. They are not only capable to carry out and complete their duties in a short period of time, but also perform their duties efficiently and satisfactorily. 3.10 Malaysian who are noble character This refers to the people in general, who possess qualities like politeness, welldisciplined, harmoniously integrated and practice them in their daily life. 3.11 Malaysian who are responsible People who are conscious of their responsible towards God, race and nation will carry out their duties with efficiency, honesty and trustworthy. 3.12 Malaysians who are capable to achieving self-prosperity Through overall development of individuals’ potentials, people will be able to achieve spiritual contentment. This is important for them to realize the needs of their own-self, family, religion and the nation as a whole. 3.13 Malaysians who are capable to give their contributions Through the proper training, people can make use of their productive and innovative skills to upgrade their productivities to higher level for economic development.

7

3.14 Harmony and prosperity of society and nation Racial harmony can be achieved through the practice of proper attitude such as religious tolerance, cooperate with others, mutual respect and foster unity among various races. The harmonious environment which is peaceful and stable will guarantee economic development and advancement in all fields, and eventually, national prosperity and advancement will be materialized in due course. The elements of the National Education Philosophy can be briefly summarized in figure below.

SPIRITUAL

INTELLECTUAL

Knowledgeable and Noble Character

PHYSICAL

A Balanced and Harmonious Person

Belief in and Obedience to God

Responsibility and Contribution to Society EMOTIONAL

Figure 3.1: Philosophy of education with respect to God and its central axis

8

4.0 The Role of School in Realizing National Education Philosophy In this era of globalization, schools play many roles in realizing the National Education Philosophy. We acknowledge that schools are the beginning phase in order to realizing the National Educational Philosophy. Schools is a place where teachers teach the pupils in order to develop the potentials of them, so as to produce harmonious and balanced in aspects of intellect, spiritual, emotional, and physical based on the believing of God (The National Educational Education, 1988). There are various aspects which have plays important roles in school in order to realizing the National Education Philosophy. These included leadership, school culture, co-curriculum, teachers, and discipline. It has often been said that the school principal plays many role such as being a manager, administrator, instructional leader and curriculum leader at different points in a day. It is a balancing act of having to juggle between these various roles. The role of 'instructional leader' by school leaders is a relatively new concept that emerged in the early 1980's which called for a shift of emphasis from principals being managers or administrators to instructional or academic leaders. This shift was influenced largely by research which found that effective schools usually had principals who stressed the importance of instructional leadership (Brookover and Lezotte, 1982). Later, in the first half of the 90s, “attention to instructional leadership seemed to waver, displaced by discussions of school-based management and facilitative leadership” (Lashway, 2002, p.1). Recently, instructional leadership has made a comeback with increasing importance placed on academic standards and the need for schools to be accountable. While most would agree that instructional leadership is critical in the realisation of effective schools, it is seldom practiced. For example, among the many tasks performed by principals, only one-tenth of time is devoted towards providing instructional leadership (Stronge, 1988). Even today, school leaders continue to seek a balance in their role as manager-administrator and instructional leader. Interestingly, among the reasons cited for less emphasis given to instructional leadership is the lack of in depth 9

training for their role as an instructional leader, lack of time to execute instructional activities, increased paper work and the community’s expectation that the principal’s role is that of a manager (Flath, 1989; Fullan, 1991). Davis and Thomas (1989) concluded that a headmaster needs to have a clear vision about what will be achieved and the act that should be taken in order to enhance the students academic. David and Thomas also stated that a headmaster can lead the school’s community towards the vision made. A headmaster is also an instructional leader in qualities schools from the point of view of authority. An instructional leader is a leader that always acts towards to bring a productive and conducive working environment, and also try to expand the students learning. One of the duties of a headmaster is to make sure that teachers teach and students learn. For that, a systematic observation for teachers teaching are construct in order to make sure the teachers doing their job. This is a parallel with the concept “the purpose of evaluation is not to prove, but to improve”. Inherent in the concept of an instructional leader is the notion that learning should be given top priority while everything else revolves around the enhancement of learning which undeniably is characteristic of any educational endeavour. Hence to have credibility as an instructional leader, the principal should also be a practicing teacher. For example, in the United Kingdom, most principals spend an average of 20 percent of their time in a week on teaching (Weindling 1990). Instructional leaders need to know what is going on in the classroom; an opportunity ‘to walk the factory floor’. Many a time, principals are not in touch with what is going on at the classroom level and are unable to appreciate some of the problems teachers and students encounter. The tendency is to address instructional issues from the perspective when they were teachers. Principals need to work closely with students, developing teaching techniques and methods as a means for understanding teacher perspectives and for establishing a base on which to make curricular decisions. Also, a teaching principal strengthens the belief that "the sole purpose of the school is to serve the educational needs of students" (Harden, 1988, p. 88). Whitaker (1997) identified four skills essential for instructional leadership. 10

•

First, they need to be a resource provider. It is not enough for principals to know the strengths and weaknesses of their faculty but also recognize that teachers desire to be acknowledged and appreciated for a job well done.

•

Secondly, they need to be an instructional resource. Teachers count on their principals as resources of information on current trends and effective instructional practices. Instructional leaders are tuned-in to issues relating to curriculum, effective pedagogical strategies and assessment.

•

Thirdly, they need to be good communicators. Effective instructional leaders need to communicate essential beliefs regarding learning such as the conviction that all children can learn and no child should be left behind.

•

Finally, they need to create a visible presence. Leading the instructional program of a school means a commitment to living and breathing a vision of success in teaching and learning. This includes focusing on learning objectives, modeling behaviors of learning, and designing programs and activities on instruction. While it is generally held that the principal is both manager-administrator and

instructional leader in many countries, including Malaysia; principals tend to be more manager-administrators oriented while that of instructional leader is most often delegated to the assistant principal. Even then, the label ‘instructional leader’ is seldom assigned to any one person but is assumed to be the responsibility of all teachers. Nonetheless, it is interesting to note that the trend is towards insisting that the principal assume the prominent role of an instructional leader. It will be a formidable task convincing principals to relinquish their image as manager-administrator and take on the role of instructional leader. Generally, principals do not see themselves as instructional leaders and many are of the belief that anything that has to do with teaching and learning is best assigned to teachers. In some cases, principals feel inadequate to initiate and develop instructional programmes given the assortment of subject areas taught with each having its own pedagogical uniqueness. For example, teaching 11

reading is different from teaching science and would it be fair to expect the principal to be knowledgeable about instructional strategies for each of the subject areas. Despite these apprehensions, proponents of the idea that the principal should be an instructional leader, is gaining serious attention. If that be the case then the principal needs to have up-to-date knowledge on three areas of education, namely; curriculum, instruction and assessment. •

With regards to curriculum, principals need to know about the changing conceptions of curriculum, educational philosophies and beliefs, knowledge specialization and fragmentation, curricular sources and conflict, curriculum evaluation and improvement.

•

With regards to instruction, principals need to know about different models of teaching, the theoretical reasons for adopting a particular teaching model, the pedagogy of the internet, the theories underlying the technology-based learning environment.

•

With regards to assessment, principals need to know about the principles of student assessment, assessment procedures with emphasis on alternative assessment methods and assessment that aim to improve rather than prove student learning. Underlying these three areas of knowledge, is a deep understanding of on how

humans learn. It may not be an overstatement to suggest that a principal is not fully equipped if he or she does not have a deep understanding of human learning (Phillips, 1996). The core business of a school is learning and recent research in cognitive science has produced a wealth of knowledge about human learning. It is crucial that principals know and understand these theories so that they may serve as a resource in enhancing instructional effectiveness. An impoverished understanding of human learning will make it difficult for the principal to explain and justify the theoretical underpinnings of instructional strategies practiced. Furthermore, with the growing importance of technology in schools, principals also need to be equipped with the 12

knowledge of technology integration in teaching and learning. Increasingly, principals are looked upon as leaders who will inspire teachers to adopt innovative pedagogies in the classroom. For example, if some students are unable to read and write at secondary level, the principal as instructional leader should take steps to alleviate the problem by supporting teachers' instructional methods, allocating resources and materials, visiting classrooms frequently, providing feedback on instructional methods and techniques and using data to focus attention on improving the curriculum and instruction (MendezMorse, 1991). Besides having knowledge in the core areas of education, the principal must possess certain to carry out the tasks of an instructional leader. These skills are; interpersonal skills, planning skills, instructional observation skills, skills in research and evaluation. •

Interpersonal or people skills are essential for the success of being a principal. These are skills that maintain trust, spur motivation, give empowerment and enhance collegiality. Relationships are built on trust and tasks are accomplished through motivation and empowerment wherein teachers are involved in planning, designing and evaluating instructional programs. Empowerment leads to ownership and commitment as teachers identify problems and design strategies themselves. Collegiality promotes sharing, cooperation and collaboration, in which both the principal and teachers talk about teaching and learning.

•

Planning begins with clear identification of goals or vision to work towards as well as induce commitment and enthusiasm. Next is to assess what changes need to occur and which may be accomplished by asking the people involved, reading documents and observing what is going on.

•

Observing instruction (supervision) aims to provide teachers with feedback to consider and reflect upon. But teachers should make their own judgement and reach their own conclusions.

13

•

Research and evaluation skills are needed to critically question the success of instructional programs initiated and one of the skills most useful would be action research. The task of being an instructional leader is both complex and multidimensional. If

principals believe that growth in student learning is the primary goal of schooling, then it is a task worth learning. If a principal possesses these knowledge and skills he or she are likely become an effective leaders - sharing, facilitating, and guiding decisions about instructional improvement for the betterment of student's education. Guidance is generally explained as a kind of assistance or advice given to a student or certain individual who encounters academic or personal problems. According to Crow and Crow (1983), in the context of education, guidance can be referred as appropriate aid or assistance which is rendered to a student. While counseling, according to Shertzer and Stone (1968), is an interacting process which allows individual to understand himself/herself in a particular situation. According to Arbuckle (1965), counseling is not only aimed at helping a client to adapt himself/herself to the social environment, but also provides guidance for realizing his or her own strengths and weaknesses, potential and ability. In the respect of that, the role of a teacher is to be guidance for pupils. The aim is to provide proper guidance and suggestions so that pupils, through effective discussions with their personal, academic or career problems with their own effort. Teachers play two roles in school, a class teacher and a counseling teacher, but the roles that a teacher plays always the same. A teacher needs: 1. To help pupils to make suitable adjustment in personal, social, emotional, academic. Mental development and moral aspects. 2. To guide pupils in their learning process, for example, explain learning objectives, methods of learning, school rules, inculcate moral values, and emphasize the importance of learning in various subjects. 3. To assist pupils to prepare appropriate learning plan according to their ability, interest and intellectual development. 14

4. To instill awareness on the importance of learning to pupils in the early development stage. 5. To assist pupils to make rational decisions. 6. To guide pupils to develop good writing habit, appreciate their own effort, and formulate good characteristics in their personality. 7. To refer pupils who need professional assistance, and supply relevant information to the guidance and counseling teacher. In order to give proper guidance and counseling, teacher ought to master some basic skills: 1. Introductory Participation 2. Exploration stage 3. Ascertain the source of problem 4. Look for alternative solution 5. Summary and closure With the proclamation of the National Education Philosophy in 1988 and Vision 2020 in 1991, the aspiration of making Malaysia a centre of excellence in education has become clear and direct. Teachers, as agent of change, who educate and nurture students of the further generations, are responsible to realize the aims and aspirations contained in the National Education Philosophy and Vision 2020. Thus, the teachers’ responsible roles for the Malaysian society are: 1. To educate students so that the future generations will be equipped with knowledge, possess noble character and responsible to self, society, religion and nation.

15

2. To educate students so that they develop strong will power to acquire various

skills, especially the IT skills, as well as to fulfill the aspirations and requirements of individuals, society and nation. 3. To play their role as agent of change, so as to possess the ability to carry out

new changes according to the aspirations and requirements of the students, society and nation, whereby they are expected to be more complex, advanced and sophisticated. 4. To act as agent of change to bring along new innovations to fulfill the aspirations and requirements of students, society and nation, so as to realize the objective of the National Education based on the National Education Philosophy. 5. To equip themselves with general and specific knowledge in various subjects, especially those subjects taught in KBSR and KBSM, and also those related to the professional teacher trainee programmes. 6. To enhance and practice noble values and professional ethics themselves according to the aspirations of the Teacher Education Philosophy. The benefits of creating a conducive learning environment and culture of inquiry will be a place of having the climate of passion because the students enjoy coming to school everyday. It will be an institution that parents will be please and support it, and also the source of pride for the community in general. Nonetheless, when it comes to the culture and climate of a school, it is almost more important to focus on what can happen when things go wrong than when things go right, more important to focus on the obstacles than to focus on the results. Logically, schools will be safe, fun, intellectually challenging places where students can explore with interest. Many schools think that they possessed these traits but in reality they do not. Principals, parents, teachers accuse one and another of being uninspiring in improving school’s culture.

16

Reflection

On the 6th March of the year 2008, our class received an assignment from the Education Department. Our lecturer, Pn Usharani had handed us an assignment based on the National Educational Philosophy. It requires us to do some research during the School Based Experience (SBE) that held by the Unit Praktikum after the Mid Term Holiday. At my first thought this assignment was easy as it looks. After Pn Usharani handed the assignment, I gather all the data wanted by the question and I also do some collaboration with my friends in searching the data. During the holiday, I spend most of my time surfing the internet searching for any related ideas on the National Educational Philosophy. I also searched for the curriculum and co-curriculum activities that can be held in school. Then I found out that this assignment was a lot tougher that I thought before. At my first day during the SBE, I had to do some collaboration with the teachers, panel heads, the headmaster, and senior assistant. I had to make a lot of question in order to answer the topic, “The Roles of School in Realizing the National Educational Philosophy”. At last, I finally completed this assignment with a lot of joyful moment of the school. I had finished this assignment with the help of my friends and also the lecturer.

17

Bibliography Mok Soon Sang (2003). An Educational Course for K.P.L.I. Theme 1. Selangor. Kumpulan Budiman Sdn. Bhd. Mok Soon Sang (2003). An Educational Course for K.P.L.I. Theme 3. Selangor. Kumpulan Budiman Sdn. Bhd. Blase, J. and Blase Jo. (2000). Effective instructional leadership: Teachers’ perspectives on how principals promote teaching and learning in schools. Journal of Educational Administration 38(2). 130-41 Flath, B. (1989). The principal as instructional leader. ATA Magazines, 69(3), 19-22, 47-49. Fullan, M. (1991). The new meaning of educational change. New York: Teachers College Press. Lashway, L. (2002). Developing instructional leaders. ERIC Digest 160 (July), Clearinghouse on Educational Management, University of Oregon. National Association of Elementary School Principals. (2001). Leading learning communities: Standards for what principals should know and be able to do. Alexandria, Virginia. Stronge, J. H. (1988). A position in transition? Principal. 67(5), 32-33. Mendez-Morse, S. (1991). The principal’s role in the instructional process: Implications for at-risk students. Issues about Change. 1(2). 1-5.

18

Whitaker, B. (1997). Instructional leadership and principal visibility. The Clearinghouse, 70(3), 155-156. Weindling, D. (1990). The secondary school head teacher: New principals in the United Kingdom. National Association of Secondary School Principals Bulletin, 74(526), 40-45.

19

A P P E N D I C E S 20

21