The Implementation in Year 1 Primary School Curriculum in Malaysia. a Case Study of One District in East Peninsular Malaysia
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Entrepreneurship education: The implementation in Year 1 primary school curriculum in Malaysia. A case study of one district in East Peninsular Malaysia Munirah Abd Hamid Doctor of Philosophy in Education The University of York Department of Education December, 2013 Abstract In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in entrepreneurship education and it has taken hold across the world, including Malaysia. In 2011, the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) reformed its primary school curriculum and introduced entrepreneurship education into the new curriculum on a cross-curricular basis. Based on field work undertaken in one of the districts in Malaysia, this study investigates the perceptions of a selected group of respondents concerning the implementation of the government’s new entrepreneurship education programme in Year 1. It looks at respondents’ understanding of the entrepreneurship element, their views on the purpose of its implementation and the pedagogical and political issues faced during the implementation process. The research also focuses on other important theoretical issues including curriculum reform, human capital and entrepreneurship education. This is a qualitative research study using a case study approach. It was conducted based on in-depth interviews with 48 respondents from five different groups of professionals (officers, headteachers, subject teachers, expert teachers and teachers’ trainers). Respondents were selected using different sampling methods and the acquired data were analysed using Nvivo 9 software. A thematic analysis approach was used to identify themes. The findings suggest that there were relatively different views on the concept and purpose of entrepreneurship education. Specific differences between the implementers (the teachers), headteachers and curriculum developers were also identified. Nevertheless, most respondents agreed that the implementation was a positive development and most respondents had similar opinions concerning the cross-curricular approach. As expected, the findings also showed that the lack of monitoring and poor training had slowed down the implementation. Since there has been little research carried out on entrepreneurship education in primary schools especially in Malaysia, this study will be relevant for the design of future policies in the region and future academic research. It not only reveals the respondents’ perceptions and the actual practice in schools, but it also contributes to the body of knowledge on entrepreneurship education and curriculum reform for future reference. ii Table of Content Abstract ii Table of Content iii List of Tables viii List of Figures ix Acknowledgements x Declaration xi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background of the research 2 1.3 Rationale for the research 5 1.4 Research objectives 11 1.5 Research questions 12 1.6 Significance of the research 12 1.7 Operational definitions 14 1.8 Overview of the constituent chapters 15 Chapter 2 Literature review 17 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 Section A – The Malaysian context 19 2.2.1 An overview of the country 19 2.2.1.1 Geographical location and climate 19 2.2.1.2 Historical background 20 2.2.1.3 Social background: ethnicity, language and religion 21 iii 2.2.2 Education system in Malaysia 22 2.2.2.1 A note on illiteracy and literacy rates 25 2.2.3 Curriculum reform in Malaysia 27 2.2.4 Positive discrimination in the Malaysian education system 40 2.3 Section B – Human Capital 45 2.3.1 What is human capital? 45 2.3.2 Relationship between human capital and education 46 2.3.3 Human capital in the Malaysian education system 50 2.3.4 Teachers as human capital 53 2.3.5 Human capital and curriculum reform in Malaysia 57 2.4 Section C – Curriculum Reform 61 2.4.1 The concept of curriculum reform 61 2.4.2 The process of curriculum reform 64 2.4.3 Curriculum reform challenges 72 2.4.4 Issues surrounding curriculum reform 75 2.4.4.1 Curriculum reform and teachers’ professional development and training 77 2.4.4.2 The role of teachers in curriculum reform 82 2.4.4.3 Assessing the reform 84 2.5 Section D – Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship education 88 2.5.1 The definition and concept of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship 88 2.5.2 Can entrepreneurship be taught? 91 2.5.3 The teaching of entrepreneurship at early age 94 2.5.4 Entrepreneurship education 95 2.5.4.1 Definition and concept 95 2.5.4.2 Entrepreneurship education in some Asian countries 97 2.5.4.3 Entrepreneurship development in Malaysia 99 iv 2.5.5 Entrepreneurship Education in Malaysia 105 2.5.5.1 The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report 109 2.5.5.2 The cross-curricular element as a means of incorporating entrepreneurship element in the new Year 1 curriculum 111 2.6 Summary 116 Chapter 3 Methodology 118 3.1 Introduction 118 3.2 Research paradigms/ philosophy consideration 119 3.3 Research design 123 3.4 The research questions and how they were addressed 128 3.5 Pilot study 129 3.6 Research sample 134 3.6.1 Subject teachers and headteachers 137 3.6.2 Officers and expert teachers 138 3.6.3 Teachers’ trainers 139 3.7 Selecting the samples 140 3.8 Data collection method 144 3.9 Data analysis 148 Stage 1: Organising and preparing data analysis 149 Stage 2: Coding the data 150 Stage 3: Developing themes 154 Stage 4: Writing a report 156 3.10 Ethics 158 3.11 Triangulation 161 3.12 Validity and reliability 163 3.13 Summary 165 v Chapter 4 Perceptions of the concept of Entrepreneurship Education 166 4.1 Introduction 166 Theme 1 - Entrepreneurship education: Contrasting perception between 166 the respondents and the MOE 4.2 Summary 183 Chapter 5 Perceptions of the change and purpose of the implementation 185 5.1 Introduction 185 5.2 Section one - Positive attitude towards the change 185 5.3 Section two - Respondents’ perception of the purpose of entrepreneurship element implementation 194 Theme 1 - Developing students' interest in entrepreneurship 194 Theme 2 – The Malay ethnic group development 201 Theme 3 - Developing human capital and improving economic growth 211 5.4 Summary 218 Chapter 6 Issues relating to the implementation 220 6.1 Introduction 220 6.2 Implementation of the E-element 220 Executing the element into the curriculum 221 Understanding the implementation 223 Teachers’ readiness 227 Teachers' reasons for not implementing it 229 6.3 Themes relating to the implementation 235 Theme 1 - Common perception of the cross-curricular approach 235 Theme 2 - Discussion as the most-used teaching technique 245 Theme 3 - Positive support and agreement by the school administrator 253 Theme 4 - Lack of Monitoring 259 Theme 5 - Lack of training and exposure 267 6.4 Summary 277 vi Chapter 7 Conclusion 280 7.1 Introduction 280 7.2 Aim and summary of major findings 280 7.3 Summary of findings 281 7.4 Implications of the research for theory, knowledge and practice 287 7.5 Conclusion 295 7.6 Limitations of the research 297 7.7 Recommendations 298 7.8 Future research direction 302 7.9 Researcher’s final reflection 303 APPENDIX A Enrolment numbers for all levels of schooling and 305 Universities for Tenth Malaysia Plan B Interview questions B-1 Officer from CDC 306 B-2 Officers from SED and DEO 308 B-3 Expert teachers 311 B-4 Headteachers 313 B-5 Subject teachers 316 B-6 Teacher’s trainers 319 C Letter of approval from Economic Planning Unit, 320 Malaysia LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 322 REFERENCES 323 vii List of Tables Table 3.1 The research consideration in choosing the qualitative method 119 Table 3.2 Single case study with embedded unit of analysis 126 Table 3.3 Pseudonym for the schools 142 Table 4.1 Numbers of subject teachers and headteachers responding to the entrepreneurship education concept as related to business 167 Table 5.1 Mean, Monthly Gross Household Income by Ethnicity, Strata and State, Malaysia, 1970-2012 205 Table 5.2 Student enrolment in primary schools in the case study state for 2013 208 viii List of Figures Figure 2.1 Map of Malaysia 20 Figure 2.2 Number of students who did not achieve target literacy standards at the end of Year 1 from Year 2006 to 2008 27 Figure 3.1 Diagram showing the sample selection 136 Figure 3.2 Data Analysis in Qualitative Study 148 Figure 3.3 The coding process 153 Figure 6.1 The Malaysian curriculum delivery model 273 ix Acknowledgements First and foremost, I want to thank the Government of Malaysia, particularly the Ministry of Education, for granting me study leave and a scholarship to pursue this research. It has always been my wish to carry out a PhD study and I am so lucky to have been given the opportunity to pursue this dream. I would particularly like to express my appreciation and deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Gillian Hampdhen-Thompson, for giving me invaluable guidance, advice and patience throughout the completion of this thesis. I am grateful to her especially for her willingness to take me under her wing in my second year (as a PhD student) as her supervisee. She supported me all the way from my very first step until I finally produced this thesis. Without her, it would never been completed. Thanks Gill. I also wish to express my gratitude to all the respondents who were involved in this research, both during the pilot and in the main data collection. I really appreciate their time and patience during the interviews and the information which they gave me. I would also like to extend my immense gratitude to all my friends in York and back home in Malaysia for their endless support especially during my difficult time.