1

LOOKING FOR TEACHER QUALITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Ho Ho Tong Ahap Bin Awal

Jabatan Penyelidikan Dan Inovasi Profesionalism Keguruan

Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Tun Abdul Razak

Kota Samarahan Sarawak

Abstract

A total of 18 beginning teachers involving Program Ijazah Sarjana Muda Perguruan (PISMP) or Bachelor of Teachership Program who were posted in January 2012 were involved in the study to identify their competencies in teaching and learning using the Clients Satisfaction Feedbacks Questionnaires (CSFQ) of five-points Likert scale with a reliability of Cronbach Alpha 0.91. Further, the CSFQ consisted of 13 items to identify competencies of beginning teachers related to knowledge, skills and practices. The findings indicated teacher knowledge (mean=4.47, SD=0.51) and teaching skills and practices (mean=4.50, SD=0.52) were in coherence to Malaysia Teachers Standard. Consequently, enhancement and sustainability of teacher effectiveness should involve all stakeholders by advocating professional development for effective teaching, emphasize on exemplary mentor teachers, teacher leadership and building professional teacher learning community.

Introduction

To meet the demands of 21st century teaching and learning, various

alignments must be done to restructure its educational goals and

practices to meet the future needs of the 21st learning for today

students to meet the future needs of Malaysia, and its most crucial

resources, our children. Therefore, under the Government

Transformation Programme (GTP), various programmes or initiatives

2

had been implemented to improve student outcomes and reduce

education disparities (Pemandu, 2012). However, teachers will

remain critical and central to achieving these goals. Consequently,

teachers still make the difference in order to harness the desire

outcomes to transform the education reform.

International research shows that teacher quality is the most

important significant school-based factor in determining student

outcomes. The quality of a system cannot exceed the quality of its

teachers. While there are certainly many excellent teachers in the

Malaysian education system, a 2011 research study found that only

50% of lessons are being delivered in an effective manner. similarly,

research conducted in Tennessee, in the United States, in the mid-

1990s showed that high performing teachers can improve student

achievement by up to 50% over a three-year period , compared to low

performing teachers (Bringing The Shine Back To Teaching, Star

Special, 12 September 2012, p.5).

Purpose Of The Study The purpose of the study was an attempt to elaborate on teacher

quality of beginning teachers of Program Ijazah Sarjana Muda

Perguruan (PISMP) or Bachelor of Teaching Program by the school

3

management. Therefore, the study also sought the explanation of

attributes related to teacher effectiveness.

Review Of The Literature

What makes teacher quality? Effective teacher engage students in

active learning use various tools to assess how their students learn as

well as what the students know. And most importantly, they use this

information to help all students advance from where they are to where

they need to be. Furthermore, they carefully organize activities,

materials, and instruction based on students prior knowledge and

level of development so that all students can be successful. In

addition, they adapt the curriculum to different students needs and

provide constant feedback that helps students improve.

Consequently, effective teachers design a respectful, well-functioning

classroom that allows students to work productively while involving

parents in the learning process and collaborating with colleagues and

administrators in creating a supportive environment throughout the

school (Darling-Hammond & Baratz-Snowden, 2007).

Likewise, Byrd and Rasberry (2011) reported effective teachers

encompass five broad standards leadership, establishment of a

respectful environment, content knowledge, facilitation of learning,

4

reflection on practice and contribute to student achievements. In

addition, student motivation, intellectual readiness, persistence,

creativity, or the ability to apply knowledge and work productively with

others; these are important qualities engendered and nurtured by

effective teachers, and they have everything to do with student

learning and success in the global marketplace.

Similarly, the key to effective teaching is both how teachers learn to

analyze their practice as well as how they are supported by good

administrators and sound teacher recruitment and preparation

policies. Moreover, the challenge of providing effective teaching in

every school is less about problems with individual teachers and more

about the problems with the systems in which teachers are embedded

(Berry, et al., 2010).

Further, Hollins (2011) noted that quality teaching include the

understanding of knowledge of human growth and development and

individual and group differences that when combined with specific

knowledge of learners like their background experiences and

knowledge inform the teacher to design the teaching and learning

experiences to facilitate learning. Likewise, an effective teacher also

has an understanding of pedagogy and interrelated pattern of learning

5

experiences embedded within a particular theoretical perspective and

an understanding of how to identify and develop appropriate

classroom assessment to evaluate learners progress related to

discipline-specific knowledge and practice and how to manage the

demands of standards-based curriculum and assessment.

Consequently, they are engage in self-directed professional growth

and development and work collaboratively with colleagues within a

professional community to improve learning outcomes.

On the other hand, the Malaysia Teachers Standards (MTS)

emphasize on three main standards to ensure teachers attain

professional competencies. First, a competent teacher possess

certain professional values and practice, focusing on self, profession

and social domains. Therefore, it focuses on values and principles of

teachers which include ones belief in God, interpersonal and

intrapersonal skills, resilience of teachers and the practices by the

teachers in discharging their daily tasks as a professional in order to

achieve the goals of the national education system. Second, teachers

should have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of curriculum

and co-curriculum, subject-matter content, pedagogical content

knowledge, education psychology and pedagogy, information and

communication technology (ICT), assessment and evaluation

6

methods, action research and develop pupils potential holistically and

integrally in order to perform their tasks efficiently and competently.

Third, a competent teacher should possess the required teaching and

learning skills in order to plan, implement and evaluate the curriculum

and co-curriculum (Bahagian Pendidikan Guru, 2009).

Methodology

Study Design A survey study was conducted to collect information and feedbacks

on the quality of beginning teachers trained by Teacher Education

Institute, Tun Abdul Razak Campus (TEI, TARC). Accessibility, large

coverage of area and economy were the main factors considered in

the design of data collection. The population of the study involved

only graduate teachers of Program Ijazah Sarjana Muda Perguruan

(PISMP) or Bachelor of Teaching Program who were posted in

January 2012.

Sampling Similarly, the sampling of the study was purposive in nature due to

the available name list and geographical factor. As a result, only

graduate teachers posted in Sarawak were included in the study. A

7

total of 50 beginning teachers were surveyed in the study. However,

only 18 school administrators responded to the survey.

Instrumentation A self-administered questionnaire, The Clients Satisfaction

Feedbacks Questionnaires (CSFQ) was used to collect data on

quality of beginning teachers. The CSFQ is an instrument used to

gauge the opinions of school administrators related to the quality of

teachers trained by all TEI in Malaysia. It has a five point Likert scale

ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Furthermore,

the CSFQ has a total of 13 items to measure the quality of beginning

teachers in relation to competencies in teaching and learning.

In addition, the reliability of CSFQ was Cronbach Alpha 0.93; which

implied the instrument had high reliability and also the findings of the

study.

Data Collection The CSFQ was posted to all schools according to the lists of postings

provided by the Sarawaks State Department of Education after the

beginning teachers had been posted for at least 6 months. The CSFQ

was administered by the school administrator and returned to the

8

researchers through attach addressed envelope to ensure high return

rate.

Data Analysis Data was analysed using SPSS (version 11) to obtain descriptive

statistics for the CSFQ items regarding views of school administrators

on the quality of beginning teacher related to competencies in

teaching and learning.

Findings

Teacher Knowledge As indicated in Table 1, beginning teachers are competent in their

subject-matter content knowledge (ATB 1: mean = 4.61, SD = 0.50;

ATB 2: mean = 4.67, SD = 0.49); pedagogical content knowledge

(ATB 3: mean = 4.22, SD = 0.43); evaluations (ATB 4: mean = 4.44,

SD = 0.51), integrated teaching (ATB 5: mean = 4.39, SD = 0.61), and

pupils thinking (ATB 6: mean = 4.50, SD = 0.51). Hence, it implied

school administrators strongly agreed beginning teachers were

knowledgeable and competent (mean = 4.47, SD = 0.51).

9

Table 1: Teacher knowledge

Attribute (ATB)

Mean SD

1 Ability to teach majoring subjects 4.61 0.50 2 Ability to plan lesson plan according to syllabus 4.67 0.49 3 Ability to teach according to pupils abilities 4.22 0.43 4 Ability to implement continuous evaluation on

pupils learning 4.44 0.51

5 Ability to practise integration in teaching and learning

4.39 0.61

6 Ability to stimulate pupils thinking 4.50 0.51 Average 4.47 0.51

Teacher Skills And Practices As supported in Table 2, school administrators strongly agreed

beginning teachers had acquired the competencies in teaching skills

and practices (mean = 4.50, SD = 0.52). Overwhelmingly, beginning

teachers were competent in effective communication skills (ATB 7:

mean = 4.67, SD = 0.49). Likewise, beginning teachers were also

capable in classroom management (ATB 6: mean = 4.67, SD = 0.49)

and develop individual differences and development (ATB 3: mean =

4.61, SD = 0.50; ATB 4: mean = 4.56, SD = 0.51). Furthermore, they

were also able to provide fun learning environment (ATB 5: mean =

4.44, SD = 0.51) and abilities to apply various teaching techniques

(ATB 2: mean = 4.28, SD = 0.67). Consequently, varied resources

were employed in their teaching (ATB 1: mean = 4.28, SD = 0.46).

10

Table 2 : Teacher skills and practices Attribute (ATB)

Mean SD

1 Ability to use various resources in teaching and learning

4.28 0.46

2 Ability to use various teaching techniques 4.28 0.67 3 Ability to inculcate moral values in teaching 4.61 0.50 4 Ability to motivate pupils during teaching 4.56 0.51 5 Ability to provide fun teaching and learning

environment 4.44 0.51

6 Ability to control pupils discipline during teaching

4.67 0.49

7 Ability to communicate effectively in classroom 4.67 0.49 Average 4.50 0.52

Discussion

Preparing For Effective Teaching Effective teachers are important attribute to student achievements.

But what is the best way to prepare skilled and sustainable effective

teachers? Likewise, what programs can best support beginning

teachers in continuing to learn and grow as professionals?

Professional Development for Effective Teaching A teachers current classroom performance is likely to reflect both her

earlier educational experiences and the education and training she

receives while on the job. Therefore, teachers ability to apply

knowledge and skills effectively depends on whether or not they

11

have opportunities and support for on going, on-the-job learning in

helping teachers become effective at what they do.

Further, even with the best education and training, beginning teachers

may be stymied in applying what they have learned if the various

aspects of the teaching environment do not support them. And most

importantly, work environment are critically important in shaping

teacher behavior, effectiveness, and retention (Whitebook, at. al,

2009)

In addition, teachers should be given the supports for collaborative

professional development because the learning opportunities will

strengthen their effective teaching practice, allow them to build

professional and social supports, and eventually learn from

accomplished peers and develop collective expertise.

Exemplary Mentor Teachers. In order to sustain teacher effectiveness in schools, mentor teachers

play a very important role in guiding beginning teachers. A teacher

who is only average is simply not good enough to serve as a mentor

teacher and only qualified teachers should be allowed to mentor

beginning teachers. Therefore, mentor teachers should possess the

12

necessary pedagogical skills, knowledge and leadership to be

effective mentors.

On the other hand, while teacher training institutions in Malaysia have

a common set of guidelines concerning internship programs, on the

contrary, there is no definite criteria for the selection of mentoring

teachers, and often these criteria do not adequately address either

the need for the teachers to be effective instructors or to be good at

mentoring.

Now, this is important institutions have rigorous criteria for the

selection of exemplary mentoring teachers. We need mentoring

teachers who have the capacity to mentor trainee teachers and

therefore, the very best teachers train the next generation of teachers,

instead of any available teachers who reluctantly take on the

responsibility to mentor trainee teachers who might imperil their

progress.

Teacher Leadership Research linked teachers sense of efficacy and collective

responsibility to their teaching effectiveness and improved student

achievement. It has found that a teachers self-efficacy as an

instructional leader is strongly and positively associated with soliciting

13

parent involvement, communicating positive expectations for student

learning, improving instructional practice, and being willing to innovate

successfully in the classroom. In addition, missing supports for

leadership in schools are barriers to their empowerment and

effectiveness (Berry et al., 2010b).

As a result, teachers should be given the trust, opportunities and

motivation to lead as leaders and innovators in order to improve

teachers effectiveness. Rigid instructional and hierarchical school

leadership will only impedes creativity and innovation among

teachers. Further, accepting teacher inputs into policy decisions

results in teacher ownership of reforms and improved program

implementation and consequently to teaching effectiveness and

student achievements.

Building Professional Teacher Learning Community Similarly, the enhancement and sustainability of teaching

effectiveness should be supported by the school leadership and all

members of the school community. As a result, building a

professional teacher learning community is of utmost importance.

Participation in a professional teacher community requires all to

engage collaboratively through regular informal professional

14

discourse. Hence, experienced teachers provide and support learning

and practice for beginning teachers and consequently, beginning

teachers are able to engage in self-directed professional growth and

development.

Limitation

The study was limited only to beginning teachers from TEI, TARC of

PISMP who were posted in January 2012. Furthermore, only teachers

posted to Sarawak were purposively surveyed owing to geographical

factors. Similarly, collection of data involved only quantitative method.

In addition, for an in-depth future study, qualitative methods of data

collection of beginning teachers and school administrators should be

employed.

Conclusion

Because of demands of 21st century teaching and learning, the

teaching profession is facing challenges and a period of change.

Hence, teacher quality and the call for teacher effectiveness is being

held to increasing rigorous standard to measure student learning. So

all stakeholders and various measures should be taken to identify and

support teacher effectiveness policies and best practices to enhance

15

professionalize teaching with the ultimate goals of improving student

learning.

Now, it is important the debate of teacher effectiveness should take

us far beyond the usual rhetoric. It should further be deliberated,

debated and reached out to all stakeholders policy makers,

teaching professions, teacher training institutions, teacher unions and

NGO for additional perspectives and insights to answer the demand

of quality teaching and learning of the 21st century schools, and fulfil

the aspirations of the National Education Blueprint 2013 2025

(Kementaerian Pelajaran Malaysia, 2012).

Recommendations

For Researchers More studies on the dimensions of effective teaching in Malaysia

should be done what really attributes to teacher effectiveness, how

teachers advance student learning and multiple measures of student

growth.

For Policymakers To identify quality teaching and improve professional practice,

policymakers should not solely measure teacher effectiveness based

16

on standardized tests but multiple measures of student growth such

as reduce discipline, student engagement and project-based learning

products. Furthermore, policymakers should advocate policies and

practices that support and improve working conditions for teachers.

References

Bahagian Pendidikan Guru (2009), Standard Guru Malaysia.

Putrajaya : Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia. Berry, B., Daughtrey, A., & Wieder, A (January, 2010a). Preparing to

Lead an Effective Classroom: The Role of Teacher Training and Professional Development Programs. Center For Teacher Quality. Retrieved September 18, 2012 from www.teachingquality.org

Berry, B., Daughtrey, A., & Wieder, A (January, 2010b). Teacher Leadership: Leading the Way to Effective Teaching and Learning. Center For Teacher Quality. Retrieved September 28, 2012 from www.teachingquality.org

Byrd, A. & Rasberry, M. (2011). Teacher and Teaching Effectiveness. Center For Teacher Quality. Retrieved September 18, 2012 from www.teachingquality.org

Darling-Hammond, L. & Baratz-Snowden, J. (Eds.). (2007). A good teacher in every classroom : Preparing the highly qualified teachers our children deserve. Educational Horizons. 311-132. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from www.eric.ed.gov

Hollins, E.R (2011). Teacher preparation for quality teaching. Journal Of Teacher Education, 62(4), 395 407. Retrieved February 19, 2012 from http://jte.sagepub.com/content/62/4/395

Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (2012). Preliminary Report : National Education Blueprint (2013- 2025).

Performance Management And Delivery Unit [Pemandu], (2012). Economic Transformation Programme Annual Report 2011, Putrajaya : Jabatan Perdana Menteri.

The Star Special, Bringing The Shine Back To Teaching, 12 September 2012, p. 5.

Whitebook, M & at.al (2009). Preparing Teachers of Young Children: The Current State of Knowledge, and a Blueprint for the Future. Center for the Study of Child Care Employment.

http://www.teachingquality.org/http://www.eric.ed.gov/http://jte.sagepub.com/content/62/4/395

17

Retrieved October 11, 2012 from http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/cscce/

http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/cscce/