Policy and Practice of Teacher Professional Development inMalaysia: The ongoing effort of enhancing teacher quality

Dr. Hazri Jamil
CICE Visiting Professor

TPD Policy in Malaysia
Pre-service teacher education in Malaysia is performed by two different types of institutions.
• Primary school teachers are trained by institutes of teacher education (ITEs - known as teacher

training colleges until 2008) –offering Bachelor's degrees•Secondary school teachers graduate from universities with Bachelor's and Master's degrees.
• Since the establishment of a separate Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) in 2004, education ofprimary and secondary teachers has been governed by two different ministries: ITEs remained
under the supervision of the Ministry of Education (MoE), while universities ceded to MoHE.
• The separation of primary and secondary teacher education governance has posted an obstacle
to the realisation of a single vision of teaching throughout all levels of the schooling system.
• Since 2013, the separation of MoHE and MoE was come to the end. Both of the Ministries werecombined as MoE – Higher Education Institution is under the Department of Hisger EducationMoE• However, the separation of teacher education for primary and secondary still remain in thecurrent practiceTPD Policy in Malaysia
The changing policy – guided by 10th Malaysia plan:•The liberalisation of the Initial Teacher Industry (ITE)•The phasing out of automatic induction into the teaching profession of ITE graduates•The granting of more autonomous power to schools in matters including human resource selection
Teacher Education – The Open Market Policy
As part of the drive to improve the quality of teachers, the supply the school teacher will eventually be opened not
only to other public universities but to private institutions as well (10th Malaysia plan, chapter 5). In fact private
universities and colleges are now offering ITE programmes both for primary and secondary school teachers.
One of the major implications of this is the concept of competition and competitive advantages – the teacher
education institutions would be forced to compete in the open market to sell their products
Teacher Education – The removal of automatic induction of initial teacher policy
More thorough screening process for the induction of the initial teacher to be appointed as a teacher in a publicschool
the automatic induction of initial teachers into the profession would be removed
Initial teachers who do not ‘qualify’ would be weeded out
Teacher Education - autonomous power to schools in selecting the so called a good teacher
The 10th Malaysia Plan also envisages the granting of more autonomy to schools through the leadership programme
associated with accountability measure of their overall performance
School will be given more leeway and independence in the running of the school, including matters related toteacher employment

TPD Policy in Malaysia•The Malaysian TPD system consists of formal training programmes, a professional support network and several types ofallowances and incentives.

Formal Training Programmes- The in-service training of crucial subjects (such as Mathematics, Science, ICT and English)- The improvement of the daily teaching practice- The use of ICT tools in the classroom- English as a language of instruction
Professional Support Network-Resource Centres and Teacher Activity Centres - act as coordinating agencies for in-service educational programmes,providing teachers with facilities and opportunities to share resources, ideas and experiences in producing their own
teaching
materials
Allowance and Incentives- Teachers as public servants are entitled to various allowances, such as housing allowance, public service allowance,
entertainment allowance, housing and car loan allowance, and cost of living allowance.
- Monetary incentives are granted on the basis of a tripartite system, by subject taught, location of school andprofessional
excellence.
- A special hardship allowance is granted to teachers serving in remote areas, its amount growing gradually with thelevel ofremoteness.
- Teachers of excellent performance are rewarded through the Excellent Teacher promotion scheme

TPD Policy in Malaysia
Other Measures Introduced by the Government to enhance teachers’
professionalism
Improving the teacher service scheme in terms of remuneration and promotional
opportunities•MOE had embarked in collaboration with other ministries and agencies on a number ofcapacity-building initiatives that serve to develop ICT leaders and empower educational
leaders at all levels to adopt and adapt ICT in teacher preparation•The peer coaching program carried out by Microsoft under the auspices of UNESCO
effectively trains teacher leaders to become peer coachers for their colleagues in ICT
utilization and integration•Increase the qualified graduate teachers – post graduate degree

TPD Policy in Malaysia

Table 1 Formal TPD activities offered to primary and secondary school teachers in Malaysia
Non-degree programmes
Degree programmes
On-going short term in-service training and Malaysian Trainers Development Programme
development programmes
14-week courses to upgrade qualification in various
one to five days, in various subjects and skills
subjects
14-weeks course for professional development
Conversion Courses
6-week courses in the use of English as courses to upgrade qualification in various subjects
language of instruction for Mathematics,
Science, and English teachers
Upgrading the Professionalism of Teachers at Specialist Certification Course
one-year specialist course in the integration of ICT into
Smart Schools
12-week course for the teachers of Smart teaching, for primary school teachers with three years ofSchools, focused on the integration of ICT into experienceteaching
Upgrading the Professionalism of Teachers at Special Degree Course for foreign language teachers
Remote schools
one- or two-year courses in various languages
4-week course
Upgrading the Professionalism of Teachers at Special Degree Course for non-graduate teachers
Indigenous schools
one- or two-year courses in various subjects
4-week course
Degree course for non-graduate teachers
via distance education
Postgraduate Diploma in TeachingChallenges for TPD in Malaysia
 Strong hierarchy of positions
 Great working load, particularly the numerous
administrative duties beyond direct teaching tasks
 Lack of time (Thang et al. 2010)
 The relative under-payment of educators (Siti Eshah etal. 2009) Credentialism of formal professional development
activities: strong emphasis on degree courses (Rao &Rohana 2011)

TPD Policy in Malaysia

Figure 1: Salary Progression for teachers and Several Other Public Services
Source: Data from the Public Services Department of Malaysia (cited from Mosheim, S.E., Ahmad, H. & Vongalis-Macrow, A., 2009)

TPD Policy in Malaysia

Research Finding (Research Funded by USM Short-term Research Grant Scheme)

Investigation of TPD policies and practices

A nation-wide teacher survey
 Topics of the survey:
 opinions on the prestige of teacher profession
 the assessment of own skills and competences
 the organisational climate of the own school own professional development
 non-formal TPD activities frequency of participation in formal TPD courses
 obstacles of a successful professional development
 Likert-type scales Convenient purposive samplingA nation-wide teacher survey
 467 respondents from Malaysian primary and secondary schools
The respondents by school level:
Primary school

Secondary school

37%

63%

The respondents by gender
MaleFemale
21%

79%

The respondents by professional experience:< 6 years
28%

6 to 10 years 10 years <23%49%

Findings of the survey
 Strengths of the Malaysian setting: a concise system of a wide range of professional
development courses organised by the educationalauthorities
 teachers are active in formal TPD activities
 relatively high prestige of teaching profession
 favourable assessment of own teaching competences

The approval of different prestige elements by the teachers, related to teaching profession.

Four-item Likert-scale, N=467.

Findings of the survey•

Weaknesses of the Malaysian setting: a TPD system focused on formal activities rather than fostering a balanced
co-operation between formal and non-formal teacher learning low frequency of collaborative teaching and mentoring

Frequency of non-formal TPD activities of the respondents.

Five-item Likert-scale, N=467.

Findings of the survey•

Further weaknesses of the Malaysian setting: excessive working load too populous classes
 conflicts between teachers and the school management / educational authorities

Obstacles of professional development as perceived by the teachers. Four-item Likert-scale, N=467.

Findings of the survey

This pattern suggests that the career choice ofteachers is a result of personal devotion rather thanrational decision.

Directions of further research review of the good practices of TPD
 successful micro-level initiatives in the field of teacher learning a thorough analysis of the respective case studies available globally a new concept of workplace learning could be built, based on the current
problems and needs of practicing educators, rather than a mere transmission ofgeneralised ideas and approaches originated outside the respective school
setting investigation of the experiences, ideas and opinions of teachers about the current
national TPD policies
 a qualitative study inspired by the holistic concept of TPD
 to identify the possible ways to create a more TPD-friendly working environment
 the involvement of teachers into the planning of new policies
 their active participation in the phase of implementation
 the opportunities to build a more trustful attitude towards educators by school
administrations and educational authorities

Thank You
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