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INTERVIEW REPORT Final

1. An interview forum discussed how sociocultural diversity shapes creativity among teachers in Malaysia. 2. Ethnicity and religion were highlighted as main aspects that affect pupils' learning through determining teaching styles and school culture. 3. Teachers must be aware and creative in their teaching methods to accommodate pupils' different backgrounds, such as using pupils' native languages or diverse activities, in order to improve performance and inclusion.

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143 views

INTERVIEW REPORT Final

1. An interview forum discussed how sociocultural diversity shapes creativity among teachers in Malaysia. 2. Ethnicity and religion were highlighted as main aspects that affect pupils' learning through determining teaching styles and school culture. 3. Teachers must be aware and creative in their teaching methods to accommodate pupils' different backgrounds, such as using pupils' native languages or diverse activities, in order to improve performance and inclusion.

Uploaded by

fatimah azzahra
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INTERVIEW REPORT

Introduction

On the 6th of February 2020, a forum of “Sociocultural Diversity Shapes Creativity


Among Teachers” was held at IPGKBM. There were five panellists from various
backgrounds, they were invited to give their insights about the aspects, effects and
implications of sociocultural diversity in the school environment. The panellists were Mr.
Manoharan A/L Naliah; a senior lecturer and previously a teacher-trainer, Mr. Ravindran
Raman Kutty; a Public Realation practitioner, Dr. Raja Rajeshwari Seetha Raman; a famous
poet and researcher, Mr. Aslian bin Pios; an officer at IPGKBA and Mr. Isaac Quek Wern
Han; a second-year student, majored in Bachelor of English at UNITAR. This report will be
mainly about the aspects of sociocultural aspects which are ethnicity and religion and their
effects to the pupils. The implications to the Malaysian school environment would also be
included.

Report

According to E-Forum Discussion Paper (2011), sociocultural diversity consists of


race, class, ability, different learning conditions and styles, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual
orientation, religion, nationality and other dimensions that create the individual student and
impact his or her learning experiences. In Malaysia, a pluralistic and multicultural country, as
reported by Department of Information (2016), there are three main races namely Malays,
Chinese and Indians with their own unique culture and heritage such as language, belief
system, tradition and religion. Indigenous people or Orang Asli are the natives in Peninsular
Malaysia and they also have their own culture. Thus, the difference in their pattern of
lifestyles affects their values and expectation in life.

Firstly, ethnicity plays an important role in determining the teaching and learning
process of the pupils in the class. This was explained by Mr. Aslian who has published many
studies about Orang Asli that to achieve learning goals, the teacher has to be more aware
and creative in developing teaching materials and identifying suitable approaches to be used
in class. He claimed that generally Orang Asli prefer to be taught using diverse and various
methods such as fun learning, holistic and other hands-on activities. For example, singing,
taking tours and telling stories. This was because they were not attracted to the materials
and approaches used in the mainstream system. Thus, this would be an innovative,
interesting and effective teaching and learning process for them and later on improve their
academic performance in class. Other than that, the teacher must also create a good
teacher-pupil relationship with the pupils as this crucial to make sure the flow of the lesson
would be smooth. In this context, Mr. Aslian also stated that Orang Asli would appreciate the
teacher more if him or her could speak in their language. This is because some of them have
difficulty in understanding what is delivered by the teachers in Malay language. This would
cause them to feel isolated and unhappy which would lead to bigger problems such as
dropouts and misbehaviours. Therefore, ethnicity could give big impacts to the pupils’ styles
of learning.

Secondly, religion also can determine the culture in some schools and affect the
pupils’ way of learning. In accordance with Mr. Ravindran, a fellow at IPRM, there were
negative effects if over emphasis on one religion or group at schools. Especially, in our
country, we were prohibited to touch any sensitive issues related to religions. For example,
regarding Jawi issues, some people were ignoring the fact that it was a script to write in
Malay language and turned it into a divisive issue. This can be seen where some SJKCs and
SJKTs were against the implementation. One of the questions thrown to the panellists was
to what extent these sensitive issues should be avoided in the class. Mr. Manoharan,
Director of Teaching and Learning responded that the teacher should acknowledge and
handle these issues wisely instead of turning a blind eye. This is because a teacher plays a
big role in promoting tolerance and acceptance between religions among the pupils.
Moreover, religion also has a hand in education as it creates more positive interactions with
other pupils and also teachers which would result to higher academic performance. Hence,
teachers should be more aware and innovative in selecting appropriate materials and
contents to be taught in classrooms to bring unity in this multireligious country.

Closure

In conclusion, ethnicity and religion were the main aspects discussed in the forum
that have resulted to the effects and implications to the Malaysian school environment.
Diversity is crucial to make sure that there are no pupils of any backgrounds excluded from
the education system. Each panellist has shared their point of views regarding this issue
clearly during the forum.
References

E-Forum Discussion Paper. (2011). Addressing socio-cultural diversity through the

curriculum. International Bureau of Education.

Department of Information. (2016). Demography of population. Retrieved from

https://www.malaysia.gov.my/portal/content/30114
Attachments

Poster

Panellists
Mr. Ravindran (right) and Mr. Aslian (left)

Mr. Manoharan

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