The provision of citizenship education in Malaysia is termed Civics and Citizenship
Education (CCE) and emphasises developing students’ civic knowledge, skills and values.
CCE, a statutory subject in the National Curriculum, was introduced in January 2005 to Year Four to Year Six primary school students aged ten to twelve and to Form One to Form Five secondary school students aged thirteen to seventeen. As indicated in Malaysia’s Third Outline Perspective Plan (2001-2010), due to the rise of free flowing information in the globalised world, developing human resources with positive values and attitudes that are ‘inherent in the religions, cultures and traditions of Malaysia’s multiethnic and multicultural society’ was viewed as ‘an important facet in nation-building and in expediting the moulding of a Bangsa Malaysia’ (EPU, 2001 : 165). In relation to this,
‘a new curriculum combining civics with religious or moral education, will be taught in both primary and secondary schools to inculcate these values, such as discipline, strive for excellence, loyalty and love for the country, unity, good citizenship as well as respect for leaders and elders’ (EPU, 2001 : 165).
Subsequently, as stated in the Malaysia Ninth Plan (2006 – 2010), in order to develop society with strong moral and ethical values, besides the continuation of Moral Education in the school curriculum, ‘the Sivik dan Kewarganegaraan (Civics and Citizenship) subject will be improved and expanded to all students in Years 4 to 6 and all levels of secondary
education’ (EPU, 2006: 33). Moreover, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Education in a Parliament question and answer session, stressed that the ‘purpose of
Pendidikan Moral (Moral Education) is to build good character and the purpose of PSK
(Civics and Citizenship Education) is to build good citizens’ (Malaysia, 2005 : 19). Thus, the aim of CCE in Malaysia echoed Lee (2006) and Kennedy and Fairbrother’s (2004) arguments for the promotion of the elements and values of Moral Education in Asian citizenship education.
In Malaysia’s highly centralised education system, CCE, similar to other National Curriculum subjects is allocated with a specific syllabus, syllabus specification, modules or textbooks written in the Malay language and is supposed to be taught in Malay language, the official medium of instruction in secondary school. Moreover, CCE is also awarded with a financial allocation and 80 minutes teaching time per week. To provide space for the CCE timetable, the Living Skill subject’s teaching time was reduced from 160 to 120 minutes per week. In addition, the lower secondary school timetable was increased from 41 to 42 hours per week, and for upper secondary school students, another 80 minutes of teaching time (2 periods of 40 minutes teaching per period) was also added (CDC, 2004).
The objective of CCE, which is to develop citizens who are united and patriotic, is clearly spelled out throughout the documents analysed. Citizenship in Malaysia’s curriculum refers to the ‘individual’s relationship with his state’ (CDC, 2006a: 1) while civics refers to ‘individual relations with his surrounding society’ (p. 1). Civics education, which had been introduced in the earlier school curriculum, emphasised types of government and its structure. However, in this new curriculum, CCE emphasised present society’s state of affairs and its future needs. The objective of CCE, as clearly stated in the curriculum developed by the Center of Development Division (CDD) is ‘to make students realise their roles, rights and responsibilities towards society and the country and to develop society and citizens who are united, patriotic and able to contribute towards a harmonious society, country and world’ (CDD, 2008: 2-3). Similarly, in the CCE Kurikulum Bersatu Sekolah
Menengah (KBSM) syllabus, the aims of creating united and patriotic citizens are stressed in
the Objective, Foreword, Introduction and the Knowledge objective, Skill objective and Value objective sections. Additionally, these objectives are also emphasised in each
schooling year’s CCE syllabus specifications. It is clear. therefore, that a primary reason for the inclusion of CCE in the curriculum stems from a perceived need to unite the country and is done in the context of growing concern about ethnic tension and inequality (see Chapter Two).
CCE was framed within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Learning to Be, which stressed the principles of learning to know; learning to do; learning to live together; and, learning to be. The application of these principles is to develop students who have the knowledge to be civic minded individuals together with the knowledge and skills for future careers and to face future challenges. Additionally, the development of a wholesome person in the aspects of spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional and social as inspired in the Education Act 1996 and in the National Education Philosophy are also expected to be developed through the principle of learning to be. The importance of unity and living together in peace and harmony in the family and multiethnic society is nurtured through the principle of living together.
To assist teachers in transferring the CCE intended curriculum into teaching and learning practices, schools are provided with:
i) a CCE KBSM syllabus;
ii) a syllabus specification for each schooling year; and iii) a CCE module for each schooling year.
These materials were developed by Ministry of Education CDD officers with the help of school teachers, teacher training centres, university lecturers, other Ministry of Education department officers and individuals representing various organisations and bodies (CDC, 2006a : ix). There are six recursive themes allocated in this CCE KBSM curriculum syllabus which are:
i) Self-achievement
ii) Family Relations
iii) Living in Society
iv) Malaysian Diverse Cultural Heritage
v) Malaysian Sovereignty
These six themes are to be taught in each secondary schooling year. However, in different years, each theme is assigned with different topics and subtopics. In each schooling year there is also a CCE syllabus specification, which sets out the topics and learning outcomes, and suggested teaching and learning activities for each topic and subtopic. For example; the Form Two topics for the ‘Malaysian Sovereignty’ theme are ‘Malaysia’s Parliamentary Democratic System’, ‘Malaysia’s Monarchy’, and ‘Roles and Responsibilities of Malaysian Citizens in A Democratic Country’, while for Form Four students the topics for the same theme are; ‘The Importance of Malaysia’s Constitution’ and ‘The Key Provisions of Malaysia’s Constitutions’. Teachers are given the freedom to begin their teaching with any CCE theme and the freedom to teach these themes in accordance with any activities or celebration organised in or out of school. For example, the teaching of the ‘Malaysian Sovereignty’ theme could be taught in accordance with the school or nation’s Independence Day celebration activities.
Schools are also provided with CCE textbooks and as discussed in Chapter Four, three CCE textbooks had been analysed. Although these textbooks are published by different publishers selected by the Ministry of Education Textbook Department, the learning objectives for each theme and topic do follow closely the syllabus specification developed by the CDC. Indeed, the teaching and learning activities developed in these textbooks do not depart much from the CCE syllabus specifications’ suggested activities. For example, in the ‘Family Relations’ theme teaching activities which are designing a greeting card and creating a poem for the parents found in the Form Three CCE textbooks are also the activities suggested in the Form Three CCE curriculum specification.
In accordance with the CCE objective to develop unity among multiethnic society, in ‘Malaysia’s Diverse Cultural Heritage’ theme, in CCE textbooks students are presented with topics and subtopics on different ethnics’ customs, festivals and heritages which include traditional ethnic musical instruments, cultural dances, architecture, arts and games. In the Form Four textbook for instance, this theme is divided into the topics ‘Important Principles in Diverse Religious Teaching’ and ‘The Importance of Certain Practices in Various Ethnic Festivals’ Celebration’, and are again divided into subtopics that present students with textual and pictorial information of various ethnics’ customs, festivals and religious
living. In one of the subtopics, the concept of open house where students from all ethnic groups are encouraged to visit and celebrate each other’s festival is also promoted. This promotion of unity is also instilled through the theme ‘Family Relations’ where again the aims of providing students with knowledge of other ethnic groups are to deepen students’ understandings of different customs, festivals, heritage and religions, to foster the spirit of toleration, understanding and respect and to be proud of the uniqueness of Malaysian multiethnic society are apparent.
However, in CCE textbooks the promotion of the Malay seemed to be more apparent compared to the other ethnic groups. This is evident particularly through the ‘Malaysia’s Diverse Cultural Heritage’ theme. To illustrate, in the topic ‘The Importance of Certain Practices in Various Ethnic Festivals’ Celebration’, the arrangement of the reading text and illustrations begin with the Malay and are followed with the Chinese, Indian and the others (Ramli et al., 2007: 107 – 111). Meanwhile, in the Form Two textbook, under the subtopics ‘Handicraft, Heritage and Traditional Games’, the text and illustrations presented are only on Malay’s handicrafts and traditional games. Thus, although greater efforts to represent more equal information on various ethnic groups might have been made in these textbooks, the information and illustrations presented seem to put more weight and higher hierarchy on the Malay, the biggest ethnic group population. Consequently, even if not obvious to the reader, there is a hidden message conveyed to students and teachers which is referred to as ‘the hidden curriculum’. This lack of ethnic groups’ representativeness in the textbooks might be because in Malaysia there are yet experts who are aware of the need of promoting diversity in the textbooks and/or who are aware of these hidden messages that might be conveyed through the CCE curriculum.
A specific module on the element of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has also been integrated in the Form Three CCE curriculum under the theme ‘Future Challenges’. This ‘Exploring Humanitarian Law’ (EHL) module used in the EHL program has been translated and adapted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Malaysia, together with Ministry of Education EHL Coordinators and teachers. There are five sub modules with twelve subtopics in this whole module. However, teachers are allowed
to teach only the eight suggested subtopics. The sub-modules included in this teaching and learning module are:
Introductory Exploration : Images and Perceptions
The Humanitarian Perspective
Limits to Armed Conflict
The Law in Action
Ensuring Justice
Responding to the Consequences of War
Closing Exploration : Where do we go from here?
As indicated in the syllabus specification, teaching and learning of CCE should be student centred and oriented towards hands-on activities in and out of the classroom. Moreover, teachers also need to emphasise added value skills which are thinking skills, learning skills, ICT skills, various intelligence theory, learning mastery, constructive learning and self accessed learning (CDC, 2006a : ix). Active participation and creative and critical thinking activities were also provided in CCE textbooks. For example, in the subtopic ‘Let’s Vote’ under the theme ‘Malaysia’s Sovereignty,’ the activity suggested in the Form Two CCE textbook is ‘to plan and conduct an election in electing the school student representatives committee’ (Jantan et. al, 2005 : 98).
Thus, in CCE teaching and learning, besides prioritising patriotism and good values, students are supposed to be involved in active learning activities in order to gain civics knowledge and to develop civics skills and values. Among the activities suggested are brainstorming, role-play, debate, research, discussion, study visits and organising classroom or school events. A teaching guideline booklet which included active learning, using cartoons in teaching and learning and brain-based learning (CDC, 2005) is provided too. However, the way this booklet is structured is more towards reading notes, rather than the promotion of participatory learning. Similarly, despite attempts made, the promotion of creative and critical thinking seemed to be minimal as most of CCE teaching and learning activities presented in CCE textbooks are more towards recalling information and reinforcing the interpretation of information provided in texts. For instance, in the Form Four subtopic ‘The Responsibilities of Malaysia Citizens’ under the theme ‘Malaysian
Sovereignty’, the reading text presented is followed with comprehension questions which among them are:
What is the necessary behaviour that Malaysian citizens must have to defend Malaysia’s
constitution?
List the values that will emerge if every Malaysian citizen obeys the constitution
provision.
Predict what is going to happen if its own citizens do not respect Malaysia’s constitution.
(Ramli et.al, 2007: 138). Despite that these questions seem to provide opportunities for critical thinking, in actuality the answers are clearly stated in the reading texts provided. Thus, critical thinking relies on the teaching and learning approaches adopted by CCE teachers. Subsequently, minimal critical thinking skills would be developed if CCE teachers merely teach what is presented in CCE textbooks. Indeed, although in ‘Malaysia’s Sovereignty’ theme, students are provided with topics such as ‘The Importance of Malaysia’s Constitution’ and ‘Main Provisions of Malaysia’s Constitution’, the emphasis is on the need to understand the history of the Constitution and to uncritically and unquestionably obey the constitution’s main provisions. Moreover, despite the attempt to promote active participation such as through the subtopic ‘Voting’, minimal opportunity is actually provided for students to participate in democratic processes.
As indicated in the CCE syllabus and syllabus specifications, in each schooling year, students need to participate in a minimum of ten hours community service projects that aim to provide opportunities for students to apply the civics knowledge, skills and values in contributing towards society and the nation and to develop patriotic, caring and responsible citizens. Themes for the community service project are determined in the syllabus, which for Form Two is, ‘Living in Society’; Form Three, ‘Malaysian Diverse Cultural Heritage’ and Form Four, ‘Malaysian Sovereignty’. Among the community projects suggested in these documents are helping old folks at the old folks’ home, volunteering at special needs children’s homes or orphanages, organising a Malaysian multicultural exhibition, undertaking Malaysian multiethnic cultural performances or exhibitions on the meaning of independence, and researching the contribution of Malaysia’s leaders. Students
are given the opportunity to discuss and decide on the activities that they would like to do. A simple strategy for implementing the community service project, which includes planning, practical work, reflection, report and acknowledgements are also provided in these syllabus specifications.
Despite awarded with statutory status, CCE is non-examined in any external National Examinations. Analysis showed that the means of assessing CCE is briefly mentioned in only a two line sentence in the CCE KBSM syllabus and syllabus specification. Indeed, the means of assessing CCE is not clearly specified in any document analysed, except that schools are provided with a booklet on the guidelines in assessing CCE. This tells teachers that they are expected to continuously assess their students’ development and achievement in all aspects of civics and citizenship knowledge, skills and values through various assessment instruments suggested, which are internal examinations, assignments, reports, observation and a behavioural checklist. Examples on the ways to assess students’ civics and citizenship knowledge, skills and values in each schooling years’ themes and topics are provided in the assessment guideline. In these examples, teachers are supposed to continuously assess students’ knowledge, skills and values in each topic taught based on the learning outcomes indicated in the syllabus specification. These examples clearly illustrate that assessment should begin by assessing students’ knowledge based on the intended topics and subtopics followed by assessing the skills and values demonstrated in the teaching and learning activities. Guidance for assessing the CCE community service project, which include the grading component and criteria, reporting formats and forms to be used in conducting these projects are also provided. Among the forms provided are a community service project members and task list form, evaluation report, students’ self-reflection form, students’ community service evaluation forms and student’s achievement report form. Examples of filled up forms are also provided in this assessment guideline. It would seem that the package of guidelines, if followed, would support the intention that engagement in CCE should be active, reflective and participative.
As shown in Table 5.1., CCE, similar to other National Curriculum subjects, is allocated with per capita financial aid based on school students’ enrolment.
Table 5.1: Rates for Secondary School Per Capita Aids
Types of Aid Below 100 pupils 101 – 500 pupils 501 – 1,000 pupils Above 1,001 pupils CCE RM1,000 RM1,000 + RM8.00 per students for enrolment over 100 pupils RM4,200 + RM6.00 per student for enrolment over 500 pupils RM7,2000 + RM4.00 per student for enrolment over 1,000 pupils
(Finance Division, MOE, 2005) This financial aid is to be used to purchase teaching resources and equipment for CCE teaching and learning purposes, study visits and activities and CCE community service projects which include organising community service programs, inviting speakers, students’ and teachers’ transport, travel insurances, accommodation and meals (CDC, 2006b). However, in terms of teaching aids, teachers are only provided with CCE videos on the Eduwebtv.com; (http://eduwebtv.com/v2/) the official WebTV developed by the Ministry of Education Technological Division. Before moving to the analysis of citizenship education in England, from the documents analysed it can be concluded that in ensuring that CCE could be successfully transferred into teaching and learning practices, schools have been provided with various guidance and funding such as curriculum specifications, textbooks and yearly financial aid.