TASK 1: ACADEMIC WRITING

Malaysian curriculum provides a platform to student-teachers to acquire the required

knowledge, skill and develop positive attitude, values and beliefs. This can be done with the
help of the provided curriculum. In order for curriculum development to be effective and
schools to be successful, teachers must be involved in the development process. An effective
curriculum should reflect the philosophy, goals, objectives, learning experiences, instructional
resources, and assessments that comprise a specific educational program (Handler, 2010).
In designing and implementing curriculum, there might be some issues that will arise. Thus
The teacher need to be prepared physical and mentally in order for him to seek for the best
solutions for its, Teacher involvement in the process of curriculum development is important
to align content of curriculum with students needs in the classroom.

First and foremost, the most important role held by Malaysian teacher in designing and
implementing a curriculum is by managing the knowledge and skills. As stated in Malaysian
curriculum, there are several knowledges and skills that the teachers are required to teach in
Teaching and Learning (T&L) (KSSR) Thus, the teacher can serve as a disseminator and
skill practitioner in order for pupils to acquire and master the knowledge and skills that
they are supposed to learn. This is because the teacher is a professional and effective
educator who practise and apply the theoretical in various pedagogic contexts. Since the
Malaysian teachers were involved in curriculum development, the teacher have been provided
with appropriate knowledge and skills that help them to effectively contribute in curriculum
development operation (Fullan, 1991). As a result, the teachers need to disseminate the
knowledge and skills that they have learnt from the program or workshop to the pupils

For instance, in 21st century Teaching and Learning (T&L), Ministry of Education
(MOE) promotes the Malaysian teacher to teach pupils by using the Information
Communication Technology (ICT) during the lesson. There would be advantages and
disadvantages in implementing the ICT skills during the lesson. The disadvantages would be
the rural schools did not have sufficient equipment in implementing ICT skills because the
schools are located far away from the town. Thus, the MOE would face difficulties in supplying
all the equipment such as the computers and the LCD to the schools. From my experience
during practicum phase one at SK Kayang, there was an English teacher who used the ICT
skills in enhancing pupils understanding of vocabulary. The teacher used the VLE Frog in
most of her lesson. Besides, the pupils were given the privilege to use the VLE Frog
individually in order for them to search more information about the topic that they learnt. With
the implementation of VLE Frog, teacher can serve as a facilitator and disseminator in
providing the knowledge and skills to the pupils on how to use the technology in enhancing
their understanding of the particular topics. Indirectly, the lesson that the teacher was carried
out can be categorized as pupils centred whereby the pupils took part in most of the activities
during the lesson. Hence, the teacher involvement is important for successful and meaningful
in Malaysian curriculum development.

Lastly, the Malaysian teacher can serve as a developer of approaches, techniques

and strategies in implementing the curriculum. Without doubt, the most important person
in the curriculum implementation process is the teacher. With their, experiences and
competencies, teachers are central to any curriculum development effort. Better teachers
support better learning because they are most knowledgeable about the practice of teaching
and are responsible for introducing the curriculum in the classroom (Johnson, 2001). Despite
that, Malaysian curriculum development and the educational reform process continually under
goes review, revision, and constant change based on the current situation. Thus, the
Malaysian teacher need to be equipped with the latest information, approaches, strategies
and techniques in order for them to teach effectively during the lesson. Nowadays, most of the
English teachers in Malaysia, they were familiar with Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah
Rendah (KBSR) document instead of Kurikulum Stamdard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR).

One of the changes that can be seen in KSSR syllabus is the teaching of Language
Art skill for English subject. For instance, there are four skills that need to be taught in a week.
The skills will be listening and Speaking, reading, writing and teaching of grammar. During my
practicum phase two at SK Padang Kota, Perlis I was supposed to teach major and minor
subjects which are English Language and Language arts. For major subject, I would not have
much problems in conducting the lesson. However, I faced problems in teaching Language
Arts. When I went to seek help from the English teachers, they would not able to guide and
facilitate me well on how to teach LGA in an interactive ways because they have been exposed
to the KBSR document not KSSR. According to the KSSR document that was set by the
Ministry of Education (MOE), Language Art skills should be taught in the last day of the week.
During my practicum, most of the teacher intended to teach LGA as a integrate skills instead
as a focus skill. This is because they were focusing more on the important skills such as
reading, writing and grammar instead of LGA. This scenario is usually happened in Malaysian
primary school because the teacher focusses more on examinations rather than the daily
Teaching and Learning (T&L).

As a conclusion, I have discussed in this academic writing on teachers role in

designing and implementing curriculum in Malaysian context. Careful designing the curriculum
is necessary to ensure the implementation of curriculum. Therefore, the teacher is an
important factor in the success of curriculum development including the steps of designing
and implementation. The teacher needs to equip themselves with the knowledge, skills, and
information. This is because our system of education keeps changing and developing from
time to time based on the current situation. In addition, the teacher also need to keep up to
date with the latest information so that it will benefit them in expanding their career profession
as a teacher.
REFERENCES
Fullan, M. (1991). The meaning of educational change. New York: Teacher College Press.
Handler, B. (2010). Teacher as curriculum leader: A consideration of the
appropriateness of that role assignment to classroom-based practitioners.
International Journal of Teacher Leadership. Volume 3. ISSN: 1934-9726.
Johnson, J. A. (2001, August 28). Curriculum revision that works. In principles of
effective change. Retrieved March 10, 2014
Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (2011). Dokumen Standard Kurikulum dan
Pentaksiran(DSKP) Sekolah Rendah : Spesifikasi kurikulum Bahasa Inggeris Tahun
6. Kuala Lumpur: Pusat Perkembangan Kurikulum.