MJS 2019 UERUMT TeacherProfessionalDevelopment VolNo2IssueNo2Fall2019 ISSN2616 9763P
MJS 2019 UERUMT TeacherProfessionalDevelopment VolNo2IssueNo2Fall2019 ISSN2616 9763P
net/publication/339877702
CITATIONS READS
2 1,115
2 authors, including:
SEE PROFILE
All content following this page was uploaded by Mohamad Johdi Salleh on 02 September 2022.
Journal QR Code:
Article QR Code:
42 00 02
A publication of the
Department of Education, School of Social Sciences and Humanities,
University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development in
Malaysia
Dr. Mohamad Johdi Salleh1*
Muhammad Hatta2
Abstract
Cluster schools in Malaysia were formed to employ best teachers to achieve
educational outcomes corresponding to the 4th industrial revolution (IR).
This study examines the best practices of promoting teachers’ professional
development prevalent among principals of cluster secondary schools in
Malaysia. The Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS)
was used as the data collection instrument. A diverse sample of 871
respondents belonging to both genders, different ethnicities and types of
schools, and having various designations at schools was drawn randomly
using cluster sampling. The researcher employed descriptive statistical
procedures involving frequency count and percentage distribution as the
means to analyze the collected data. The use of such data is a standard
practice in Malaysia which is employed to plan professional development
among principals of cluster secondary schools. The study indicated that the
best practice of developing teacher professionalism among principals of
cluster secondary schools in Malaysia according to principals’ and teachers’
perceptions was ‘setting aside time at faculty meetings for teachers to share
ideas about instruction or information from in-service activities.’ The
findings will effectively assist the process of promoting a positive school
learning climate among the principals and teachers of secondary schools in
Malaysia in the wake of meeting the goals of National Philosophy of
Education, Vision 2020 and the aspirations of the Malaysia Education
Development Plan 2013-2025 in the era of IR 4. Other school principals
may use the outcomes of this research to facilitate and improve students’
academic performance in their respective schools and join hands in the
collective effort of raising the work force capable of meeting national goals
at par with international standards.
1
International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
2
University of Acheh, Indonesia
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
2
Salleh and Hatta
3
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
4
Salleh and Hatta
5
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
6
Salleh and Hatta
7
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
8
Salleh and Hatta
9
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
Table 1
The Practices of Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development among
Principals of Cluster Secondary Schools of Malaysia According to
Principals’ and Teachers’ Perceptions (N = 871)
Frequency/ Percentage
No. Items N S R F A
1. Informs teachers of 22 108 214 333 194
opportunities for (2.5) (12.4) (24.6) (38.2) (22.3)
professional development
2. Selects in-service activities 8 32 208 336 287
that are consistent with the (0.9) (3.7) (23.9) (38.6) (33.0)
school’s academic goals
3. Supports teachers’ requests 9 57 174 354 277
for in-service training that (1.0) (6.5) (20.0) (40.6) (31.8)
is directly related to the
school’s academic goals
4. Distributes journal articles 41 181 232 272 145
to teachers on a regular (4.7) (20.8) (26.6) (31.2) (16.6)
basis
5. Actively supports the use 7 54 225 328 257
of skills acquired during (0.8) (6.2) (25.8) (37.7) (29.5)
in-service training in the
classroom
6. Ensures that instructional 24 89 289 279 190
aides receive appropriate (2.8) (10.2) (33.2) (32.0) (21.8)
training to help students
meet instructional
objectives
7. Arranges for outside 7 52 236 282 294
speakers to make (6.0) (27.1) (32.4) (33.8)
presentations about (0.8)
instruction at faculty
meetings
8. Provides time to meet 9 119 240 300 203
individually with teachers (1.0) (13.7) (27.6) (34.4) (23.3)
10
Salleh and Hatta
to discuss instructional
issues
9. Sits in on teachers’ in- 12 42 232 358 227
service activities (1.4) (4.8) (26.6) (41.1) (26.1)
concerned with instruction
10. Sets aside time at faculty 9 30 192 340 300
meetings for teachers to (1.0) (3.4) (22.0) (39.0) (34.4)
share ideas about
instruction or information
emanating from in-service
activities
Key: N = Never, S = Seldom, R = Rarely, F = Frequently, A = Always
Table 1 demonstrates that the highest score of responses for item 1
‘informs teachers of opportunities for professional development’ is ‘F-
Frequently’ by 333 or 38.2% respondents. It is followed by ‘R-Rarely’ by
214 or 24.6% respondents, ‘A-Always’ by 194 or 22.3% respondents, ‘S-
Seldom’ by 108 or 12.4% respondents, and ‘N-Never’ by 22 or 2.5%
respondents.
Table 1 shows that the highest score of responses for item 2 ‘selects in-
service activities that are consistent with the school’s academic goals’ is ‘F-
Frequently’ by 336 or 38.6% respondents. The following scores are ‘A-
Always’ by 287 or 33.0% respondents, ‘R-Rarely’ by 208 or 23.9%
respondents, ‘S-Seldom’ by 32 or 3.7% respondents, and ‘N-Never’ by only
8 or 0.9% respondents.
As shown in Table 1, the highest score of responses for item 3 ‘supports
teachers’ requests for in-service training that is directly related to the
school’s academic goals’ is ‘F-Frequently’ by 354 or 40.6% respondents. It
is followed by ‘A-Always’ by 277 or 31.8% respondents, ‘R-Rarely’ by 174
or 20.0% respondents, ‘S-Seldom’ by 57 or 6.5% respondents, and ‘N-
Never’ by only 9 or 1.0% respondents.
Table 1 indicates that the highest score of responses for item 4
‘distributes journal articles to teachers on a regular basis’ is ‘F-Frequently’
by 272 or 31.2% respondents. The following scores are ‘R-Rarely’ by 232
or 26.6% respondents, ‘A-Always’ by 145 or 16.6% respondents, ‘S-
11
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
12
Salleh and Hatta
Finally, Table 1 shows that the highest score of responses for item 10
‘sets aside time at faculty meetings for teachers to share ideas about
instruction or information emanating from in-service activities’ is ‘F-
Frequently’ by 340 or 39.0% respondents. It is followed by ‘A-Always’ by
300 or 34.4% respondents, ‘R-Rarely’ by 192 or 22.0% respondents, ‘S-
Seldom’ by 30 or 3.4% respondents, and ‘N-Never’ by only 9 or 1.0%
respondents.
Table 2 describes in detail the mean, standard deviation, rank, and level
of implementation of each task involved in the practice of promoting
professional development among principals of cluster secondary schools of
Malaysia according to the principals’ and teachers’ perceptions.
Table 2
Level of Implementation in Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development
among Principals of Cluster Secondary Schools of Malaysia According to
Principals’ and Teachers’ Perceptions (N = 871)
No. Items Mean Std. Level of
Dev. Rank Implementation
1. Informs teachers of 3.65 1.036 8 High
opportunities for
professional
development
2. Selects in-service 4.00 .898 Very High
activities that are 2
consistent with the
school’s academic
goals
3. Supports teachers’ 3.96 .934 3 High
requests for in-service
training that is directly
related to the school’s
academic goals
4. Distributes journal 3.34 1.122 10 High
articles to teachers on
a regular basis
13
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
14
Salleh and Hatta
15
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
16
Salleh and Hatta
17
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
paid to the dissemination of such information. This practice was ranked the
lowest.
A dominant practice of cluster school principals was “actively
supporting the use of skills acquired during in-service training in the
classroom”. This is in accordance with the statement in the Blueprint and
its aim was the capacity building of teachers for bringing improvement in
students’ literacy (in Bahasa, Malaysia and English) and numeracy through
intensive remedial programs. The results showed that cluster school
principals engaged a number of teachers in capacity building through in-
service training and ongoing professional development. Although training
is a particularly important mechanism for improving the quality of teachers
(Hallinger, 2005; Hallinger, Adams, Harris, & Suzette, 2018), yet the age
limit for teachers to join certified training programs became a major barrier
in this case. It is recommended that such age limits must be removed so that
school principals are successful in attracting sufficiently qualified
candidates and allowing every teacher to maintain and enhance their skills
set, including staying up-to-date with the latest developments in pedagogy
(Wang, Wang, Li, & Li, 2017; Salleh & Khalid, 2018; Rashdi & Khamis,
2018).
Next in the hierarchy were two practices. The first was “being present
in teachers’ in-service activities concerned with instruction” and the second
was “providing time to meet individually with teachers to discuss
instructional issues.” Both of these practices are significantly related to
teachers’ competency in teaching skills; a common phenomenon of interest
and an ongoing challenge for everyone. Unfortunately, these have not been
a key priority of cluster school principals so far. It is stated here based on
the results of this research that principals need to invest more time in
observation and personal follow up of the programs.
It was confirmed by other sources used by MOE that cluster school
principals “informed teachers of opportunities for professional
development” and conducted professional development programs for
teachers. According to the results of Teaching and Learning International
Survey (TALIS), participation in the professional development activities
was very good. Over 90% of teachers’ reported that they spent
approximately 10 days each year on professional development, which is
18
Salleh and Hatta
more than the ministry mandated requirement of seven days per year (Alatlı
& Pehlivan, 2014; Harris et al., 2017).
Although the Blueprint 2012 emphasized that cluster school principals
would ensure that instructional aides received appropriate training to help
students meet the instructional objectives; however, this practice was
ranked at the 9th level. It shows that cluster school principals paid more
attention to the professional development of teachers as compared to teacher
assistants. Since the provision of support for new teachers is mandatory,
cluster school principals must provide opportunities to novice teachers and
teaching assistants for co-teaching (Adams, Devadason, Periasamy, & Lee
2018; Harris, Jones, Adams, & Cheah, 2019).
There are several reasons for student absenteeism and poor attendance,
such as poor access, parental attitudes, and an unattractive school
environment. Day et al. (2016) promulgated that student absenteeism has a
broad range of root causes that are often context specific; not only the
cluster school principals need to know these reasons but they also need to
build effective strategies to develop interventions intended to address the
specific needs of students in their schools. These strategies may include
teachers visiting homes of the students, providing transportation, and
enhancing physical attractiveness of the schools (Nair & Jaiun, 2015).
However, cluster school principals need empowerment to take
independent actions and resources to enact such decisions. The Blueprint
2012 promises that during Wave 3 (2021 to 2025), cluster school principals
will be empowered for creating a peer-led culture of professional
excellence. By 2021, all elements of the new ‘Principal Career Package’ are
expected to be in place. MOE also expects that there will be high performing
principals and supporting school leaders in every school, who will have the
leadership skills to drive ongoing improvement and innovation.
The last statement on the ranking list was “distribution of journal articles
to teachers on a regular basis”, which shows that this practice was not a top
priority as well. Cluster school principals still find it hard to create a
research culture. It should be a top agenda in Wave 2; teachers should be
informed and updated about contemporary issues and challenges related to
the national and international educational scenario and they must be guided
19
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
to include such agenda in their personal goals (Adams et al., 2018; Jarvis,
2018; Depolo, & Vignoli, 2019). Cluster school principals need to acquire
appropriate leadership skills to work effectively and lead others, especially
in the increasingly interconnected world (Noman, Awang & Shaik, 2018).
8. Implications
Malaysia aspires to be in the top three countries in terms of performance in
international assessments as measured by outcomes in TIMSS and PISA
within 15 years. Achieving this goal will require an enormous commitment
by the entire nation. In the past decade, very few school systems have
managed to make such a step change in performance (Alatlı & Pehlivan,
2014). However, several of the world’s top performing school systems, such
as those of Singapore and South Korea, have demonstrated that it is possible
for a system to go from poor to great performance within a few decades
(Noman et al., 2018). Therefore, additional assessments that address the
relevant dimensions of quality in the Malaysian context should be included
in the Blueprint.
MOE admits transforming the teaching profession into a profession of
choice (Salleh, 2014; Adams et al., 2018). It remains committed to its long
standing policy of strengthening the teaching profession to make it a
vibrant, rewarding, and prestigious profession in Malaysia. Drawing on the
success of previous efforts and preliminary engagements with teachers and
teacher unions, it proposes rolling out a new ‘Teacher Career Package’ in
forthcoming waves. It will address challenges currently faced by teachers
at each point in a teacher’s career, from recruitment and teacher training to
retirement. It encompasses raising entry standards, increasing the number
of individualized and continuous professional development opportunities,
enabling teacher progression by increasing competencies and performance
and creating a peer-led culture of excellence (Fancera, 2019).
MOE recognizes that teachers may need assistance in gaining the new
competencies expected of them and it is deeply committed to providing
teachers with the support they need to succeed. As such, it will build up its
portfolio of training programs to address each aspect of the competency
requirements in the new instrument. Some of these modules will cover
fundamental competencies expected of all teachers, such as pedagogical
20
Salleh and Hatta
21
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
22
Salleh and Hatta
23
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
24
Salleh and Hatta
25
Best Practices for Promoting Teachers’ Professional Development…
26