Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 6(1): I - 12 (1998) ISSN: 0128-7702© Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Teacher Effectiveness: The Beliefs of Effective Bahasa Melayu Teachers

MOHD. MAJID KONTINGFaculty of Educational Studies

Universiti Putra Malaysia43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords: teachers' beliefs, teacher effectiveness, Bahasa Melayu teachers, teacher education,secondary school curriculum

ABSTRAK

Kepercayaan mempunyai pengaruh yang besar pada penerimaan guru terhadap sesuatu inovasi pendidikanseperti Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah (KBSM) di Malaysia. Kertas ini menerangkan tanggapanguru yang berkesan terhadap makna gagasan keberkesanan guru yang berasaskan kepada pemahaman teoridan amalan pengajaran mereka. Dua belas orang guru Bahasa Melayu yang dikenal pasti oleh pihakberwibawa pendidikan sebagai berkesan dalam pengajaran dikaji dengan menggunakan soal selidik bersu'ukstursepara yang kemudiannya dipeljelas dengan temu bual. Dapatan menunjukkan sebahagian kepercayaanmereka tidak sama dengan apa yang disarankan dan dijangkakan oleh KBSM. Hasil kajian ini mencadangkanagar kepercayaan guru diambil kira dalam perancangan dan pelaksanaan program-program pendidikan guruuntuk memastikan pembangunan profesional mereka lebih bermakna.

ABSTRACT

Beliefs play a m~or role in the way teachers respond to an educational innovation such as the IntegratedCurriculum for Secondary Schools (KBSM) in Malaysia. This paper gives an account of the effective teachers'perceptions of the notion of teacher effectiveness based on the teachers' theoretical understanding and theirclassroom practices. Twelve Bahasa Melayu teachers who were identified as effective in their teaching by theeducation authorities were studied through a semi-structured questionnaire which was later clarified throughinterviews. The results indicated that some of their beliefs are not parallel with those recommended andexpected by the KBSM. This paper suggests that there is a need to consider teachers' beliefs in the planningand implementation of meaningful teacher education programmes.

INTRODUCTION

Mohd. Majid (1997) argues that effective teachersof Bahasa Melayu tend to follow only some ofthe classroom prescriptions of the IntegratedCurriculum for Secondal1' Schools, better knownby its Bahasa Melayu acronym, KBSM. Theprescriptions include maintaining theengagement of pupils on the task and utteranceof the various types of teachers' questions. Heelaborates that neither the teaching nor thelearning processes underlying the KBSMcurriculum of inculcating knowledge, skills andvalues are being implemented. According tohim, the KBSM cannot be considered as givingnew status to the teacher as counsellor and thepupils as the key players, let alone the pupilsbecoming active actors and the teacher a sourceof stimulus and a mover of teaching and learning,as claimed by the Ministry of Education (Ministry

of Education 1990a). Why, then, has aneducational innovation such as the KBSM failed?

For an educational innovation to besuccessfully implemented, Fullan (1991) hassuggested three aspects that should be changedin practice. They are the alternation of beliefson the theories and pedagogical assumptionsunderlying the new curriculum, the use of newteaching strategies, and the use of new or revisedteaching materials. Accordingly, both theteachers' beliefs as well as their practices oughtto be changed. Since changes in the classroominvolve changes in the teachers' conceptionsand role behaviour, the question of whether theteachers can work on the perception anddefinitions that relate to teacher effectiveness inline with Fullan's (1991) three dimensions canbe investigated from the perspective of thedevelopment, dissemination and implementation

Mohd. Majid Konting

of the notions. The KBSM eXIsting teachers'own beliefs about teacher effectiveness mighthinder their understanding of the concepts beingpursued in the KBSM. As a result, they might beresistant to change through such in-serviceteacher education programmes. Thus, in orderfor meaningful professional development to takeplace, there is a need to consider the existingteachers' beliefs about the notion of teachereffectiveness.

Teachers' Belief in Effectiveness

Over the years, attempts to define teachereffectiveness by researchers (Ornstein 1991;Wang and Walberg 1991; Cullingford 1995)reveal that the concept is contentious. The failureto arrive at an agreed definition of the conceptcan be predicted from the various problemsinherent in defining teaching.

For the past four decades, ''''estern theoriesof teaching have been dominated by the"progressive" method (Alexander 1992).Particularly, the dominant progressiveprescription in which teaching is posited as"neutrally" (Knight 1993) fails to consider that"effectiveness" entails value judgement about "...the nature of teaching and what is educationallyworthwhile" (McNamara 1992: 280). Prescriptiveviews of good practice are not necessarilycompatible with the "root definition" of effectiveteaching which is based on teachers' espousedtheory and good practices and in which the"practicality ethic" (Doyle and Ponder 1977)looms large. The failure is especially significantsince the progressive view seldom recognizes thepractitioners' point of view (Fullan 1992; Sikes1992) and raises the issue of whose values arerepresented in any particular notion of teachereffectiveness.

The progressive view can best be representedby the Plowden Report (1967) which describedit as an approach of teaching based on child­centred teaching strategies which departed fromthe traditional teacher-centred teaching.According to pupil-centred teaching and learningstrategies, learning can best be achieved throughpupils' own inquiries (Bennett 1987). It is ateaching strategy based on flexible, informal,individualized teaching methods (Galton 1989;Knight 1993). In essence, with the good teacheracting as their guide, pupils are responsible fortheir own learning. The teacher's responsibilityis primarily facilitating learning via appropriate

classroom and curriculum organization, andthrough individualized motivation. Theprogressive Plowden strategy has had a majorinfluence on the KBSM (Ministry of Education1990a) .

The Plowden teaching strategy, however,has been treated with scepticism, especially inthe past two decades (Galton et at. 1980; Bennett1987; Galton 1989; Alexander 1992). Inparticular, most teachers have difficulty inunderstanding and accommodating therecommended practices, especially when theirmeanings are unclear, as frequently is the casewith general prescriptions for teaching practice(Doyle and Ponder 1977; Fullan 1992; Sikes1992). What is needed, accordingly, is anempirical work to examine how teachers assignmeaning to the notion of teacher effectiveness.

Beliefs playa major role in how teachersrespond to an educational innovation such asKBSM. Research indicates that teachers' beliefsreflect their practices (Pajares 1992; Ross 1995;Fang 1996; Ennis et at. 1997). Teachers wouldconsider the prescriptive provisions of teachingstrategies in terms of the diversity encounteredin their classrooms. Their belief structures giveform to the incoming information that theyreceive and direct their information process. Inessence, beliefs significantly influence howteachers understand the innovation and howthey teach. A challenge for research is, therefore,to establish the meanings that teachers assign toany prescription of effective teaching, such asthat explicit in the KBSM and the interplay ofthose meanings with their notion of teachereffectiveness grounded in cultural norms and inpracticality of the teachers.

Effective teaching entails using methods thatare fit for learning purposes. Since differentsubjects, different operations within a subjectand different contexts all affect the learningpurposes, it is argued that effective teachinginvolves the strategic use of multiple teachingmethods. This reflects general ambiguity aboutthe nature of teaching itself. It implies thatempirical investigation is necessary to describeembedded teacher beliefs that are characteristicsof effective teaching and teacher effectivenessand, hence, to illuminate the progress ofcurriculum implementation. The gap betweenthe KBSM's provisions and the teachers' conceptsof effectiveness could best be evaluated by thebeliefs of effective teachers, the ones who are

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Teacher Effectiveness: The Beliefs of Effecti\'e Bahasa Melayl.l Teachers

considered by the education authorities aseffective by the KBSM's standards.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this study was to examineand describe the beliefs of effective BahasaMelayu teachers about teacher effectiveness. Itexamined, firstly, how the meanings of effectiveteachers of Bahasa Melayu are attributed to theterm "an effective teacher" and their perceptionsof such teachers' characteristics. Secondly, itdetailed their accounts of the things that theydo, the things that they would not do and thethings that normally happen in their classrooms.Thirdly, it explored their opinions on whetheran effective teacher can or cannot influencepupils' academic achievement and development,and the extent of such an influence. Finally, thestudy probed whether their notions of teachereffectiveness are distinguished from their notionsof good and average teachers of the KBSM. Thestudy also considered the implications of thefindings on educational reform and teachereducation.

DESIGN

The study focused on the beliefs of the effectiveBahasa Melayu teachers about teachereffectiveness. As the national language, BahasaMelayu has been promoted as the main mediumof instruction in the Malaysian schooling system.All pupils of the KBSM have to take the subjectas a core subject in the Lower Secondary SchoolEvaluation, and a pass in it is compulsOtT

The approach for eliciting the teachers'beliefs followed the idea that beliefs can providea measure of whether the teachers understandand work on the new meaning of educationalchange and teacher effectiveness as prescribedin KBSM (Fullan 1991; Vulliamy and Webb 1991;Ross 1995; Ennis et al. 1997). This approach wasbased as far as possible on the ways the teachersthemselves thought and talked about their beliefsabout teacher effectiveness. Hence, the notionsare derived from the bottom upwards, althoughthe research instrumen ts that guide theirreflections were developed from the review ofthe literature and preliminary interviews.

A reasonable period of time is needed forthe practitioners to practise the KBSM in orderto eliminate the effect of "implementation dip"(Joyce and Showers 1988) in which, in the wordsof Fullan (1992), "things get worse before they

get better as people grapple with the meaningand skills of change". Attention was focused onForm One teachers. Not only had the teachersmore than four years of KBSM teachingexperience but also concentrating on one groupof pupils controls effects that might be derivedfrom pupil motivation. Furthermore, as theirpupils had been exposed to pupil-centredteaching in their six years of primary schooling,the Form One secondary school teachers canwork to KBSM prescriptions without first needingto induct their pupils into new ways of learning.

INSTRUMENT AND DATA COLLECTION

The study used a semi-structured questionnairewhich was later followed by and clarified throughinterviews. Researchers such as Cohen andManion (1994) have stressed the advantages ofusing both methods for soliciting beliefs, usingeach approach to compensate for the inherentweaknesses of the other. The development ofitems in the semi-structured questionnaire andinterview schedule were planned to stimulatethe teachers' responses to the eight mainquestions associated with teacher effectiveness.

The schedule was then evaluated, especiallyin terms of its face and content validity as well asits usability, by a group of three lecturers in theteaching of Bahasa Melayu as the First Language.The improved schedule was piloted with threeteachers of Bahasa Melayu who had beenidentified by their school authorities as effectivein their teaching of the subject. The threeteachers were not included in the main study.The questions were asked in Bahasa Melayu.

The inter-observer reliability of the schedulewas established by employing another trainedprofessional education observer. The teachers'responses gathered from the questionnaire andinterview were independen tly classified accordingto the categories derived from iterate contentanalysis. Forty-six categories were derived andwere classified under four main divisions, namely,teachers' personal qualities, knowledge base foreffective teaching, behaviour and actions, andteaching outcomes. Using these categories, theother observer was asked to categorize theresponses gathered from the piloted threeteachers. Except for 'Justice" which haspercentage agreement values of 0.72, the inter­observer consistency for all 46 categories wassatisfactory with a value above 0.8 (Croll 1980).The Spearman Rho correlation coefficient for

PertanikaJ. Soc. Sci. & Hum. Vol. 6 No. I 1998 3

Mohd. Majid Konting

overall categories of effective teachers'characteristics was satisfactory with a value of0.94. The coefficients for all the four maincategories were significant at least at 0.01 levelof significance.

A tape recorder with built-in time indexrecording was used to tape the interview. Thistape recording constituted an archive, whichserves both as an aide memoiTe to the researcherand as a source against which the adequacy ofthe research methods may be judged. The archiveis available for inspection.

SUBJECTS

The study employed the evaluative judgement ofthe education authorities to identify a sample ofeffective Bahasa Melayu teachers (Berliner 1986;Mohd. Majid 1997). All the 12 secondary schoolsauthorities in one education district were askedto nominate, if any, the most effective BahasaMelayu teachers of Form One pupils. It wasstipulated that the teachers must have hadprofessional education training in the subject.The authorities were also asked not to reveal tothe nominated teachers that they had beenselected because they were "effective" teachers.Some of the schools could not nominate anyteacher because there was no teacher who metthe criteria. Other schools had difficulty inselecting only one teacher and nominated twoinstead.

Asked about the criteria used for theselection, there was an agreement among theprincipals that the teachers had over severalyears "produced pupils with good examinationresults" in their subject. As revealed later at theend of the field-work, all the teachers (five maleand seven female) failed to realize that theywere selected for the study because they wereeffective according to their respective schoolauthority's own criteria. When asked a questionat the end of the field-work on why theyparticipated in the study, most of them, exceptthree replied that their principal requested themto "represent the school". The three otherteachers did not bother to find out, even at theend of the field-work, why they were involved inthe study.

DATA ANALYSIS

The analysis was based on the parallel case studyapproach (Glaser and Strauss 1967). The effectiveteacher information was organized into a case

study. The data were then summarized bysearching for patterns and regularities in eachof the four major categories. The first categoryrelated to personal qualities, including the noblevalues embodied in KBSM. The second categorycomprised the necessary knowledge, skills andattitudes needed for effective teaching. Shulman's(1987) seven categories of knowledge base foreffective teaching were used as a guide tocategorize the data. The third category wasteachers' reported behaviour and actions,drawing on Shulman's (1987) six aspects ofpedagogical reasoning and action. The fourthcategory comprised the teaching outcomes theeffective teachers believed they promoted,including pupils' academic achievement as wellas their spiritual, moral, social, emotional,attitudinal and skills development (Ministry ofEducation 1990a).

A constant comparison method (Glaser andStrauss 1967) was used to sort responses in eachcategory. The researcher coded and comparedthe codes, recording agreements anddisagreements. Then, a cross-case analysis wasemployed by investigating patterns and themescommon to teachers over all cases. Theprocedures to analyse documents and theinterview were designed to ensure systematicand reliable coding of effective teachers'responses by theme as well as to capture holisticimpressions over time for each teacher. Thedata were summarized and presented asdescriptive statistics.

RESULTS

Beliefs about Effective Teachers' Personality

It is expected that effective KBSM Bahasa Melayuteachers use teaching and learning strategieswhich instil a spirit of nationalism and alsoinculcate 16 noble values of the society (Ministryof Education 1989). Before the teachers couldpromote these values in their teaching, theythemselves are expected, as all of the respondentsin the study said, to possess the personalcharacteristics which are seen as sine qua non foran effective KBSM Bahasa Melayu teacher(Ministry of Education 1990a).

Seven teen effective teachers' personalqualities were identified from the documentsand interview (Table 1). Twelve are the noblevalues in the KBSM, namely "kindness", "self­reliance", "self-respect", "mutual respect","c'l.ring", 'Justice", "courage", "physical and

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Teacher Effectiveness: The Beliefs of Effective Bahasa Melayu Teachers

Note: * denotes the "noble values" which are explicitlyprescribed by the KBSM.

TABLE 1Frequency with which 12 respondents cited

categories of teachers' personality whendescribing effective Bahasa Melayu teachers

Beliefs about Effective Teachers' Knowledge Bases f01'

Teaching

The effective Bahasa Melayu teachers possess anumber of knowledge bases for teaching (Table2). They cited as important knowledge of

1. Courage* 75.02. Model for pupils 66.73. Physical and mental purity* 58.34. Kindness* 50.05. Diligence* 41.76. Honesty'; 33.37. Respected by others 33.38. Self-reliance* 25.09. Rationality* 25.0

10. Moderation* 25.011. Caring* 25.012. Creativity 25.013. Innovativeness 16.714. Self-respect* 8.315. Mutual respect* 8.316. Justice* 8.317. Progressive 8.3

Knowledge of CU1/'iC1dum

Effective Bahasa Melayu teachers shouldunderstand the Bahasa Melayu programmes andmaterials, and those for other subjects too(Ministry of Education 1990a). Effective teachers,said 50.0% of the respondents, should know the"vertical curriculum", that is the content in theBahasa Melayu curriculum that precedes andfollows Form One work. Only 25.0% of therespondents said that they should know the"lateral curriculum", that is the content of othersubjects studied by pupils in Form One, althoughthis is explicitly commended in KBSM.

General knowledge, including the knowledgeabout the origin of the planet and itssubstances, will complement the teaching ofBahasa Melayu in order for the teachers to

guide their pupils towards truth.

Knowledge of General Pedagog)'

Effective teachers, they said, comprehend broadprinciples and strategies of classroom manage­ment (50.0% of all respondents) andorganization (41.7% of all respondents). In termsof classroom organization, not only shouldeffective teachers be knowledgeable about pupil­centred strategies, as demanded by the KBSM(41.7% of all respondents), but they shouldunderstand teacher-centred strategies as well(33.3% of all respondents).

Knowledge of Content

The primary source of pupils' understanding ofthe Bahasa Melayu curriculum is the teachers.Not only should teachers have in-depthunderstanding of the subject matter as stated by50.0% of the respondents, but, said 83.3% of therespondents, they also should have good generalknowledge. Said Teacher 7:

"content" (83.3% of all respondents), of "generalpedagogy" (66.7% of all respondents), of"pedagogical content" (75.0% of all respon­dents), of "learners and their characteristics"(75.0% of all respondents) and of "educationalgoals" (75.0% of all respondents). Leastmentioned, however, were "knowledge ofcurriculum" (50.0% of all respondents) and"knowledge of educational contexts" (25.0% ofall respondents).

Percentageof all respondentsCategory

mental purity", "honesty", "diligence","moderation", and "rationality". The other fivenoble values are "model for pupils", "respectedby others", "creativity", "innovativeness", and"progressive". Among the noble values, "courage"(75.0% of all respondents), "model for pupils"(66.7% of all respondents), "physical and mentalpurity" (58.3% of all respondents), "kindness"(50.0% of all respondents) and "diligence"(41.7% of all respondents) were the mostfrequently mentioned. Least mentioned are "self­respect", "mutual respect" and 'Justice" whichwere cited by 8.2% of the respondents. It issurprising, however, that the analysis failed to

detect four of the noble values commended bythe KBSM, namely "co-operation", "publicspiritedness", "gratitude" and "independence".

PertanikaJ. Soc. Sci. & Hum. Vol. 6 No.1 1998 5

were mentioned only by 25.0% and 16.7% ofthe respondents respectively.

Knowledge of Learners and Their Chamcteristics

Given the importance of adapting the subject to

the pupils, it follows that effective teachers shouldhave immense knowledge about the pupils andtheir characteristics. Seventy-five per cent of allrespondents said that effective teachers do havethis knowledge. Yet, effective teachers placedlittle emphasis on understanding pupils' priorknowledge and skills (mentioned by 8.3% of allrespondent~), although they stressed the

Mohd. Majid Konting

TABLE 2Frequency with which 12 respondents cited categories of teachers' knowledge

bases for teaching when describing effective Bahasa Melayu teachers

PercentageCategory of all respondents

1. Knowledge of Content: 83.3a. Knowledge of general, liberal education 83.3b. Knowledge of subject matter 50.0c. Attitude towards subject matter 50.0d. Attitude towards general knowledge 33.3

2. K.nowledge of Pedagogical Content: 75.0a. Adaptation to pupils' characteristics 58.3b. Representation 50.0c. Preparation 25.0d. Instructional selection 16.7

3. Knowledge of Learners and Their Characteristics: 75.0a. Pupils' development 50.0b. Pupils' motivation and interest 41.7c. Pupils' ability 25.0d. Pupils' aptitude 25.0e. Pupils' prior knowledge 8.3f. Pupils' prior skills 8.3

4. Knowledge of Educational Goals: 75.0a. Of developing pupil's behaviour* 75.0b. Of achieving truth* 58.3c. Of improving pupil's knowledge* 58.3

5. Knowledge of General Pedagogy: 66.7a. Classroom management 50.0b. Classroom organization: 41.7

1. Pupil-centred strategies* 41.72. Teacher-centred strategies 33.3

6. Knowledge of Curriculum: 50.0a. Vertical curriculum knowledge 50.0b. Lateral, integrated curriculum knowledge 25.0

7. Knowledge of Educational Contexts: 25.0a. Knowledge of workings of the culture 16.7b. Knowledge of workings of the parents 16.7

Note: * denotes teacher's disposition of knowledge base or teaching as explicitly recommended by KBSM.

Knowledge of Pedagogical Content

Effective teachers have, they said, anunderstanding of pedagogical content, that is,knowledge of ways of representing andformulating the subject to make it compre­hensible to the pupils. In particular, the teachersshould have in-depth comprehension not onlyof representation of the Bahasa Melayu subjectmatter's ideas (mentioned by 50.0% of allrespondents), but they also know how to adaptthe material to the pupils (58.3% of allrespondents). However, it is surprising thateffective teachers give less emphasis to knowledgeof preparation and insu'uctional selection. They

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Teacher Effectiveness: The Beliefs of Effective Bahasa Mela)u Teachers

importance of considering pupils' motivationand interest (41.7% of all respondents) andpupils' development (50.0% of all respondents).

Knowledge of Educational Contexts

Although knowledge of educational contexts iscommended in KBSM in-service training modules(MinistJ)' of Education 1990a, 1990b), only veryfew respondents perceived it as such (see Table2). In fact, there was no mention of knowledgeof the workings of pupil groups, nor of theclassroom, which are important according to theKBSM materials.

Knowledge of Educational Goals

One finding is that the effective Bahasa Melayuteachers possess immense knowledge ofeducational goals, that is, of the purposes andvalues of education. All three sub-categories ofknowledge of educational goals, that is, ofachieving truth, of improving pupils'comprehension, and of developing pupils'behaviour were mentioned frequently (58.3, 58.3and 75.0% of all respondents respectively). Theeffective teacher, said Teacher 10, is one:

... who has assimilated the integratededucational concepts which place knowledgeand practice in a harmonized and sturdyassociation incorporating her/his cognitive,spiritual and physical aspects.

To summarize: the results of the effectiveBahasa Melayu teachers' beliefs indicated thateffective teachers emphasize knowledge ofcontent, pedagogical content, learners and theircharacteristics, educational goals and generalpedagogy. However, they place little emphasison knowledge of curriculum and educationalcontexts. In fact, they did not make much ofsome areas of classroom management,preparation, instructional selection, pupils' priorknowledge and skills, and knowledge ofeducational contexts. If effective teachers givesuch a low priority to such knowledge, it can bepostulated that the complete KBSM programmehas not been internalized by the respondents inthe study.

Beliefs about Effective Teachers' Behaviour and Actions

The introduction of KBSM had implications forteachers' behaviour and actions. In order toclarifY their perceptions, six major categories of

pedagogical reasoning and action, suggested byShulman (1987), were employed. Table 3summarizes the findings.

It can be noted that effective teachers gavepriority to "understanding educational goals"(75.0% of all respondents), transforming theirunderstanding into understanding of the pupils(91.7% of all respondents), "managing,organizing, and presenting" their lessons (allresponden ts), and "evaluating" their teachingacts (91.7% of all respondents). They, however,put less emphasis on "reflecting" on theirteaching (58.3% of all respondents) and"understanding the limitations of teachereffectiveness in the KBSM context" (16.7% of allrespondents) .

Comprehension and Reasoning

Effective teachers, they said, must first understandthe educational goals and the ideas to be taught(58.3 and 41.7% of all respondents respectively).The goals, they said, are to produce pupils whoare not only knowledgeable but also possessvirtuous values.

DelivelJ

Effective teachers, they said, must transformthe ideas and goals into forms which are notonly pedagogically powerful, but also adaptedto pupils' understanding. This delivery requiresthe teachers to prepare by critically examiningthe choice of teaching materials for their lessons(41.7% of all respondents), and to representthe key ideas to be taught either in the form ofanalogies, examples, metaphors, a~d the like,or in combination (50.0% of all respondents).An example of how effective teachers prepareand represent their goals and the ideas to betaught was given by Teacher I who explainedthat:

Before teaching, 1 would think first what ideas1want to teach and the objective to be achieved.1 then try to relate the topic to the environmentthe pupils are living in. Besides that, 1 wouldinstruct the pupils to use objects around them.For example, for teaching a writing topic suchas an essay "1 am a car", 1 would bring thepupils to see for themselves the componentsof a car.

Furthermore, as evident from Teacher l'sdescription, the delivery of the ideas requires

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TABLE 3Frequency with which 12 respondents cited categories of teachers' behaviour and

actions when describing effective Bahasa Melayu teachers

PercentageCategory of all respondents

l. Instruction: 100.0a. Presentation 100.0b. Organization: 83.3

1. Teaching style: 83.3Whole class 83.3Group 25.0

2. Teaching strategies: 75.0Conventional methods 75.0Pupil-centred* 50.0

c. Management 75.0d. Interaction: 58.3

1. Teacher-centred discussion 58.32. Pupil questioning 25.0

e. Other features of instruction 50.02. Delivery: 91.7

a. Adaptation 91.7b. Instructional selection 66.7c. Representation 50.0d. Preparation 41.7

3. Evaluation: 91.7a. Interactive assessment 75.0b. Summative assessment: end of lesson or topic, 50.0

evaluation on pupils4. Comprehension and Reasoning: 75.0

a. Of teaching purposes 58.3b. Of ideas to be taught 41.7

5. Reflection: Comparing performance and 58.3achievement with teaching objectives

6. Understanding Limitations of Teacher Effectiveness: 16.7Of teaching purposes, subject matter, pupils,

teaching and self, and consolidation of newunderstandings from experience

Note: * denotes teacher's behaviour and actions as explicitly commended in the KBSM.

effective teachers to select from the availableinstructional approaches. The importance ofinstructional selection for effective teacherswas mentioned by 66.7% of the respondents.The process of delivering the ideas alsodemands that teachers adapt them to theirpupils by tailoring the input of teaching notonly to the group's ability and requirement(25.0% of all respondents), but most evidently,as mentioned by 91.7% of the respondents, tothe needs and capabilities of the individual

pupils.

Instruction

At least five aspects of effective teachers'behaviour and actions during the teaching actcan be identified from the effective teachers'perceptions; those related to management(75.0% of all respondents), organization (83.3%of all respondents), presentation (allrespondents), interaction (58.3% of allrespondents), and other features of instruction(50.0% of all respondents).

In terms of classroom organization, most ofthese effective teachers used conventional

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Teacher Effectiveness: The Beliefs of Effective Bahasa Melayu Teachers

teaching strategies (75.0% of all respondents).In contrast, only a few effective teachersemployed the commended pupil-centredteaching and learning strategies such as roleplay (8.3% of all respondents), inquiry approach(25.0% of all respondents), discussion (33.3% ofall respondents) and brainstorming (8.3% of allrespondents) .

It is also evident, as revealed in Table 3, thatthe majority of the effective teachers (83.3% ofall respondents) employed whole class teaching,contrary to the recommendation of the KBSM.Only a few teachers said they used therecommended group teaching strategies (25.0%of all respondents).

In presenting their lessons, effective teachers,said 83.3% of the respondents, are concernedwith maintaining pupils' attention and interest.For example:

I like to discuss current issues, especiallythose related to adolescence such as smokingand drug abuse to attract their attention tothe lesson. [Teacher 11].

However, it is surprising to note that only50.0% of the respondents said that theyinculcated the noble values, even thoughinculcating the values is the prime concern ofnot only the curriculum but also the teachersthemselves. In addition, contrary to therecommendations of the KBSM, teacher-centreddiscussion still dominated the pattern ofclassroom interaction and was employed by themajority of the teachers (58.3% of allrespondents). Only 25.0% of the respondentssaid that classroom interaction cenu'ed on pupils'questioning.

Evaluation

Effective teachers put emphasis not only on theinteractive phase of teaching assessment (75.0%of all respondents), but also on evaluation at theend of each lesson (50.0% of all respondents).In terms of interactive assessment, the majorityof the teachers checked the pupils'understanding (75.0% of all respondents)through activities such as homework andadditional verbal and writing exercises.

Reflection

Reflection on teaching and learning is a processthrough which a professional teacher learns from

her/his experience. Fifty-eight per cent of therespondents reported reflecting on their ownteaching by comparing their performance andachievements with their teaching goals.

Limitations to Teacher Effectiveness

Only 16.7% of the respondents said that theythemselves develop new comprehension andskills from their teaching. This does notnecessarily mean that effective teachers do notdevelop their knowledge and skills at all. Onanalysing the respondents' perceptions, it maybe suggested that they have difficulties inexplaining exactly how their knowledge andskills develop.

Almost all of the effective Bahasa Melayuteachers (91.7% of all respondents) reportedsome problems in implementing the KBSM'steaching strategies. First, the teachers themselvesreport difficulty in mastering and using thestandard Bahasa Melayu language (66.7% of allrespondents), although Bahasa Melayu is theofficial language of communication andknowledge of the country (Ministry of Education1990a). In spite of the fact that- the teachers aresubject specialists, they are not able to properlyuse the standard Bahasa Melayu's pronunciationin their classroom teaching because, said 50.0%of the respondents, of a mixing between thestandard language with the Johor-Riau dialect ofBahasa Melayu. The dialect is more establishedand commonly spoken in the area of the study.The problem was further exaggerated, 33.3% ofthe respondents said, by the various languagesspoken by not only different ethnic groups butalso within groups.

Second, although the teachers areencouraged, whenever appropriate, to useteaching materials and aids, they cannot utilizethem fully (41.7% of all respondents). They saythat they lack the necessary knowledge and skillsfor producing interesting and attractive materialsappropriate to the topics (25.0% of allrespondents). The problem was furthercomplicated since relevant published materialsare, as Teacher 4 declared, "almost un-available".

Third, the effective teachers seldom usededucational technologies such as overheadprojectors, educational television, videopresentations and slides (83.3% of allrespondents). vVhile 25.0% of the respondentssaid that they lack the knowledge and skills inusing the technologies, 50.0% of the respondents

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Mohd. Majid Konting

... now every school emphasizes academicachievement which means that the syllabus mustbe completed before the end of the school year".

TABLE 4Frequency with which 12 respondents citedcategories of teachers' teaching outcomes

when describing effective BahasaMelayu teachers

''Effective'' Teachers versus "Good" and ''Average''Teachers

All but 16.7% of the respondents of the studysaw the difference between "effective" and "good"and "average" teachers of the KBSM. Effectiveteachers are good in many ways compared to

both the good and the average teachers whoexcel in fewer of the qualities. nlike goodteachers, effective teachers are sometimesferocious and firm, and will be appropriatelyinfuriated. There is little difference betweeneffective teachers and good and average teachersin terms of teachers' knowledge bases but

Beliefs about Effective Teachers' Teaching Outcomes

All the effective Bahasa Melayu teachers believedthat effective teachers influence pupils' academicachievement and development (Table 4). Interms of pupils' development, about 50.0% ofthe respondents perceived that effective teachersinfluence pupils' attitude and enthusiasm as wellas their moral development. However, very fewrespondents believed that they influence pupils'spiritual, social, emotional and skills develop­ment, despite the priority they said that theygive to these areas (see Table 1). However, theeffective teachers' perception also indicated thatthey did not refer to the cognitive aspect ofpupils' learning.

100.0100.0

50.050.033.316.716.716.7

Percentageof all respondentsCategory

1. Academic, cognitive achievement2. Pupil's development:

a. Moralb. Attitude and enthusiasmc. Spirituald. Sociale. Emotionalf. Skills

The class timetable is not suitable for the TV[television] programme. Although theprogramme can be recorded, no particularofficer is assigned and is in charge of recording.There is no socket in the classroom. The use ofbatteries is too expensive. To exchange classeswith other classrooms which have a socket wouldcreate the problem of missing pupils' belongingsin those classes and also waste much time duringthe exchange process.

Fourth, some effective teachers (58.3% ofall respondents) have difficulty in organizingand maintaining the group work which isencouraged by the KBSM. The two main reasonsmentioned by the respondents are the limitedtime available (41.7% of all respondents) andthe size of the classes (33.3% of all respondents).

Fifth, the KBSM has commended anintegrated, cross-curricular subjects teachingapproach. Unfortunately, this recommendationcannot be fully implemented, claimed 66.7% ofthe respondents. Not only do some effectiveBahasa Melayu teachers lack the knowledge ofother subject disciplines such as science,mathematics and living skills (the curriculumstructure of the Lower Secondary School itself,which comprises 11 core and two additionaldifferent subjects), they find them difficult, ifnot impossible, 50.0% of the respondents said.In addition, the emphasis on good examinationresults and the repercussions of failing to deliverthem exert a tremendous pressure on theteachers, 41.7% of the respondents said, to finishthe content of the Bahasa Melayu syllabus beforethe end of the school year.

Sixth, 41.7% of the respondents said thatwhile they implemented the KBSM's recommen­dations, they also put additional emphasis onexaminations. As Teacher 3 recalled, "[n]ormallyafter finishing a lesson on a topic, I would askpupils to identify the topic in the examinationpaper".

It can be postulated that there is a tendencyeven among the effective KBSM teachers ofBahasa Melayu towards the examination-orientedtype of teaching which was inherited from thepreceding curriculum. Explained Teacher 8,

said that there was not enough money availableto buy or maintain the equipment. However,their main reason for not using the technologies,mentioned by 66.7% of the respondents, can beinferred in words of Teacher 10:

10 PertanikaJ. Soc. Sci. & Hum. Vol. 6 No.1 1998

Teacher Effecti,'eness: The Beliefs of Effectiye Bahasa Melayu Teachers

effective teachers' command of the knowledgebase can be reflected in terms of their generalknowledge,

Many of the differences between effectiveand good and average teachers are located inthe teachers' behaviour and actions. Thoughboth groups of good and effective teachers wanttheir pupils to achieve the highest successpossible, 83.3% of the respondents of this studysaid that they have different pedagogicalreasoning and actions. For example, said Teacher7, " ... other [good] teachers only deliver theknowledge. At the end of the school year, they[good teachers] just completed the syllabus".There are also differences between effective andgood and average teachers in terms of teachingoutcomes.

CONCLUSION

The effective Bahasa Melayu teachers believedthat an effective teacher possesses most of thenecessary qualities and knowledge bases foreffective teaching. Though propositionalknowledge is important for effective teaching(Shulman 1987), the teachers' possession of it isvariable, as revealed in this study. There isevidence which suggests that little is known abouthow effective teachers develop new knowledgeand skills from their teaching. Furthermore, it isalso evident that they have no clearunderstanding of the relationship betweenteacher effectiveness and teaching outcomes,especially those outcomes associated vvith effectivedomains. They do believe that effective teachersare more goal-oriented, firmer and morecommitted to learning itself than are otherteachers.

While not all factors that might influenceteachers' beliefs about the notion of teachereffectiveness are studied, some of their beliefs,as revealed in this study, are not parallel withthose recommended and expected by the KBSMsuch as in the areas of noble values, pedagogicalcontent knowledge, knowledge of educationalcontexts, classroom organization, lessonpresen tation and classroom in teraction. Thesefindings tend to support those of Anderson andBurns (1989), who concluded that teachers varyon a wide variety of personal and professionalcharacteristics, and that teachers' characteristicsdo not impact directly on pupil achievement.

The mismatch between the effectiveteachers' beliefs and the KBSM's demands of

teacher effectiveness calls for improvement inteacher education, which should considermodifying teachers, especially their prior beliefsand images of teaching (Kagan 1992). Beliefschange gradually. Teachers need time to

accommodate new information, accept and rejectideas, modify existing belief systems, and adoptnew beliefs (Pajares 1993). Furthermore, thebelief system of the school may influence theteacher by itself. Conventional acquisition ofteacher knowledge whereby teachers areintroduced to new ideas and information in thehope of altering their beliefs is unlikely to changebeliefs. An experientially based programme thatinfuses knowledge and experiences aboutworking with economically and culturally diversepupils is critical in preparing teachers (Cabelloand Burnstein 1995). Teachers' educationaltheOl)' and practice must be systematically linkedto the classroom experience with courseworkto foster the acquisition of knowledge and skills.In addition, local research on teaching andlearning strategies should be increased. Furthercurriculum reform should consider earlyinvolvement of teachers at the earlier stage ofits planning. The reform ought to be based ona more limited set of educational goalssupported upon teacher-defined view of goodpractice.

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(Received 9 September 1997)

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