Malaysia is a multicultural country.

The definition of multiculturalism was best

explained by (Najeemah 2008) which is as follows;
Multiculturalism is a system of beliefs and behaviours that recognizes and
respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organization or society,
acknowledges and values their socio-cultural differences, and encourages and
enables their continued contribution within an inclusive cultural context which
empowers all within the organization or society
The main ethnic groups are the native Malays as well as large populations of
Chinese, and Indians. When we look through the structure of the country it is clear
that the ethnicities retain their religions, customs and way of life. The most important
festivals of each group are public holidays. Although growing up, children are
educated in the same schools and will eventually work in the same offices, few marry
outside their own ethnicity. Families tend to socialise within their own ethnic group
and all part of retaining their individual traditions and lifestyles. Despite the ethnic
differences there are commonalities culturally speaking.

As a multicultural country one of the biggest aspect that need to be taken into
account in terms of development and well-being is through education. Marshal
(2002) defines multicultural education as a vision of schooling based on the
democratic ideas of justice and equality. Multicultural education is both a concept
and deliberate process designed to teach learners to recognize, accept and
appreciate differences in culture, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, religion,
special needs and gender (Baruth, L.G & Manning, M.L 2008) and as such we
should be aware of that schools are crucial to laying the foundation for the
transformation of society and the elimination of subjugation and injustice. Thus, it is
decisive that multiculturalism be handled appropriately and wisely. School can make
a difference in assisting on inculcating human understanding, respect for diversity
and peace in the society. As a teacher we play a big part in a multicultural education.
Teachers in multicultural classrooms must be open to their students and put forth the
effort needed to get to know their students inside and outside of class. If a teacher is
hesitant about being open, the class will reciprocate and the students will become
estranged from one another and the teachers themselves.

James A. Banks's Dimensions of Multicultural Education is used widely by

school districts to conceptualize and develop courses, programs, and projects in
multicultural education. The five dimensions are show in figure 1.

Figure 1
Source:
Adapted from An introduction to multicultural education James A. Banks Pearson education,
INC 2002 USA

According to Banks (2002), schools with a rich multicultural focus share five
characteristics. First, content integration which is referring to expanding the
curriculum acknowledge the experiences and contributions of diverse groups.
Second, knowledge construction is about helping students understand how people
create beliefs based on their own cultural biographies. Third, pedagogy is referring to
use strategies that lead to higher achievement for students of all races. Forth,
prejudice reduction is helping students develop more positive attitudes about people
of different races and ethnicities. Finally, an empowering school culture is about
examining the impact of school policies, such as academic tracking and discipline
referrals on students from different backgrounds.

Most people agree that the population of Malaysia will continue to grow more
and more diverse. Schools will be challenged to address the needs of students from
many back grounds. Educators must have a new mind-sets to accommodate the
needs of a diverse population. Therefore, the main goals are to change attitudes
among the multi-ethnic pupils and to develop a pattern of education that enables all
pupils to give their best. Planning instruction and creating good multicultural
education system are at the heart of teaching. Today, teaching requires educators to
examine the curriculum to ensure that the instruction, learning experiences, and
assessment activities are aligned with the standards. There are certain principles the
need adhering to if any parties wishes upon the implementation multicultural
education and as such according to Gorski (2010) principles of multicultural
education describes as below:

Every student must have an equal opportunity to achieve to her or his full
potential.
Every student must be prepared to competently participate in an increasingly
intercultural society.
Teachers must be prepared to effectively facilitate learning for every
individual student, no matter how culturally similar or different from her or
himself.
Schools must be active participants in ending oppression within their own
walls, then by producing socially and critically active and aware students.
Education must become more fully student-centred and inclusive of the voices
and experiences of the students.
Educators, activists and others must take a more active role in re-examining
all educational practices and how they affect the learning of all students:
assessment methods, pedagogies, school psychology and counselling
practices, educational materials and textbooks.
Multicultural education was seen as the pre-eminent solution as it is grounded in
epitomes of social justice, educational equity and staunchness in facilitating and

aiding educational experiences in which all students can reach their complete
potential as learners in an actual holistic way. To address the need of multicultural
education and different races and culture that flourish through the countrys vein the
government has a proposed a plan called the National Education Blueprint. In
October 2011, the Ministry of Education launched a comprehensive review of the
education system in Malaysia in order to develop a new National Education
Blueprint. The decision was made in the context of raising international education
standards, the Governments aspiration of better preparing Malaysias children for
the needs of the 21st century, and increased public and parental expectations of
education policy. The Ministry drew on many sources of input, from education
experts at UNESCO, World Bank, OECD, and six local universities, to principals,
teachers, parents, students, and other members of the public from every state in
Malaysia. The result is a Malaysia Education Blueprint that evaluates the
performance of current Malaysias education system with considerations of historical
starting points against international benchmarks. The Blueprint also offers a vision of
the education system and student aspirations that Malaysia both needs and
deserves, and suggests 11 strategic and operational shifts that would be required to
achieve that vision.

The aim of the National Education Blueprint can be categorize into three. The first
aim is the understanding the current performance and challenges of the Malaysian
education system, with a focus on improving access to education, raising standards
(quality), closing achievement gaps (equity), fostering unity amongst students (unity),
and maximising system efficiency. This is outline in the blueprint as the five
aspiration which in turn the teachers need to implement and follow closely when
carrying out their teaching and learning process. The second aim is establishing a
clear vision and aspirations for individual students and the education system as a
whole over the next 13 years; and the third aim is to outline a comprehensive
transformation programme for the system, including key changes to the Ministry
which will allow it to meet new demands and rising expectations, and to ignite and
support overall civil service transformation.

In order to properly address the needs of all Malaysians, and to prepare the
nation to perform at an international level, it is important to first envision what a
highly-successful education system must accomplish, particularly in the Malaysian
context. There are five outcomes that this Blueprint aspires to for the Malaysian
education system as a whole: access, quality, equity, unity, and efficiency. These
outcomes are in line with the aspirations articulated by participants during the
National Dialogue, and are comparable to outcomes set by other high-performing
education systems. Action across all five areas is important, and no initiative in one
area should detract from or undermine progress in another. These aspirations
comprise two aspects: firstly, those for the education system as a whole, and
secondly, those for individual students. This vision, and these aspirations, will set the
stage for the transformation of the Malaysian education system.

Figure 2
Source: Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025)

Figure 2 shows the five aspiration that bounds the Malaysian education
system that has been implemented which will govern the education change that has
been proposed by the Ministry of Education which will be the guideline in the
teaching and learning process of all teachers in Malaysia.

The first aspiration that is outline in the National Education Blueprint is

access. This refers to every child in Malaysia deserves equal access to an education
that will enable that child to achieve his or her potential. The Ministry thus aspires to
ensure universal access and full enrolment of all children from preschool through to
upper secondary school level (Form 5) by 2020. Access can be promoted not only
from the Ministrys part but also on the teachers part.

The foundation for the

success of a school system lies in its definition of what its students must know,
understand, and be able to do. Malaysian students have historically excelled at
reproducing subject content. However, this skill is less valuable in todays everchanging economy. Instead, students need to be able to reason, to extrapolate, and
to creatively apply their knowledge in novel, unfamiliar settings. They also need
attributes such as leadership to be globally competitive. As such teachers promoting
access to the students is a must as they it is compulsory for them to attend school
and getting the best education quality there is. The best way that the teacher can
provide access is through the Malaysian curriculum.

The first step educators can take is to examine their curriculum and the
methods they use to assess student progress to identify whether any barrier to
learning exist (Rose & Meyer, 2002). One curriculum barrier may be the nature of the
written text used to share content information. Texts vary in length, syntactic
complexity, and coherence; some of these features facilitate understanding, whereas
others hinder it (White, 2012). The second step is to provide students with evidencebased interventions that stimulate the development of their core reading-related
skills. In general, this instruction should be systematic in nature, explicit, and of
sufficient duration and intensity to encounter the needs of the students (Fletcher et
al., 2007; Foorman & Torgesen, 2001). Teachers also need make the school
environment inviting for them so that they are interested in coming to school. Frankly
speaking the rural area with the aboriginal people have the lowest attendance rate.
The main reason is there not enough exposure for them about the importance of
teaching and they are not interested on going to school. As teachers we need to tell
the students about the importance of education as well as making the class
interesting with variety of different and fun activities for them to join in. When there is

enough exposure and teachers are able to implement fun activities surely the
attendance rate will increase.
The second aspiration that is included on the National Education Blueprint is
quality. All children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education that is
uniquely Malaysian and comparable to the best international systems. The aspiration
is for Malaysia to be in the top third of countries in terms of performance in
international assessments, as measured by outcomes in TIMSS and PISA, within 15
years. One of the ways is to provide teaching and learning activities that can capture
the students attention. Most students cannot stay focused throughout a lecture. After
about 10 minutes their attention begins to drift, first for brief moments and then for
longer intervals, and by the end of the lecture they are taking in very little and
retaining less. A classroom research study showed that immediately after a lecture
students recalled 70% of the information presented in the first ten minutes and only
20% of that from the last ten minutes (McKeachie 1999). This shows that students
can handle chalk and talk method more than 10 minutes and such this is where
teachers creativity comes in to help solve the problem.

Most institutions use only end-of-course student surveys to evaluate teaching

quality. While student opinions are important and should be including in any
assessment plan, meaningful evaluation of teaching must rely primarily on
assessment of learning outcomes. Current trends in assessment reviewed by Ewell
(1998) include shifting from standardized tests to performance-based assessments,
from teaching-based models to learning-based models of student development, and
from assessment as an add-on to more naturalistic approaches embedded in actual
instructional delivery. Measures that may be used to obtain an accurate picture of
students content knowledge and skills include tests, performances and exhibitions,
project reports, learning logs and journals, metacognitive reflection, observation
checklists, graphic organizers, and interviews, and conferences (Burke, 1993). A
particularly effective learning assessment vehicle is the portfolio, a set of student
products collected over time that provides a picture of the students growth and
development. Panitz (1996) describes how portfolios can be used to assess an

individuals progress in a course or over an entire curriculum, to demonstrate specific

competencies, or to assess the curriculum.
Angelo & Cross (1993) outline a variety of classroom assessment techniques,
all of which generate products suitable for inclusion in student portfolios. The devices
they suggest include minute papers, concept maps, audiotaped and videotaped
protocols (students reporting on their thinking processes as they solve problems),
student-generated test questions, classroom opinion polls, course-related selfconfidence surveys, interest/knowledge/skills checklists, and reactions to instruction.
This assessment not only help to increase the quality of the students skills and
performance it also increase the teaching quality itself. Using HOTS question can
also improve the quality of education as a whole as PISA and TIMSS contain a lot of
high order thinking skills and as such if students are exposed with HOTS questions
they will be familiarize with the international assessment questions and no doubt can
answer them without much difficulties. The result of international assessment directly
influence and effect our education quality thus realising the aspirations set in the
National Education Blueprint.

Top-performing school systems deliver the best possible education for every
child, regardless of geography, gender, or socioeconomic background. The Ministry
aspires to halve the current urban-rural, socio-economic, and gender achievement
gaps by 2020 (NEB 2013-2025).

Equity as inclusion means ensuring that all

students reach at least a basic minimum level of skills. Equity in education can best
be summarized as follows:

Equitable education systems are fair and inclusive and support their students
to reach their learning potential without either formally or informally pre-setting
barriers or lowering expectations. Equity as fairness implies that personal or socioeconomic circumstances, such as gender, ethnic origin or family background are not
obstacles to educational success. (OECD 2012)

As teachers equity can be categorize through socio-economic backgrounds,

gender, race and also dropouts rate from the students. Teachers can do much on the
problem with socio-economic background, race, and gender of the students other
than not to be bias in class. Valencia (1997) and Solorzano (1997) explain that
teachers deficit thinking causes them to make biased judgements of students
intelligence, ability, and behaviour that are rooted in racial, cultural, and class-based
stereotypes. Darder (1991) further asserts that teachers peer socialization and
educational and race-based experiences influence their ideologies. Furthermore, a
variety of scholars point to the denigrating impact that teacher bias can have on
students, given that a teachers ideology is manifested through his or her
instructional strategies and treatment of students. The growing diversity found within
public schools necessitates that teachers of diverse learners accept responsibility for
the academic success of all students (Fueyo & Bechtol, 1999; Ladson-Billings,
1994). Doing this requires that educators be culturally sensitive and confident in their
own ability to adequately teach diverse learners. Thus, teachers must not only
enhance their pedagogical skills, but also build nurturing relationships with their
students and better understand their racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds
(Bartolome & Trueba, 2000).

Thus, as teachers we must commit to being resistors of the status quo. This
partly encompasses valuing students assets, motivating them to learn, teaching
them to be critical thinkers, maintaining high expectations of all students, and using
culturally relevant pedagogy (Bartolome, 1994). This also can be said for gender and
social-background of the students where if the teacher can get rid of biasness then
the teacher has promote equity in educating the students. As for dropout students
there are a few methods that can be done by the teachers to overcome the problem.
The methods are outline below:
Methods;

Identify and provide systematic help to those who fall behind at school and

reduce year repetition.

Strengthen the links between school and home to help disadvantaged parents
help their children to learn.

Respond to diversity and provide for the successful inclusion of migrants and
minorities within mainstream education.

As such this can help dropout students who fell behind in school to catch up more
easily and the teachers themselves need to be vigilant and diligent in identifying
dropout students and help them in any way possible. These are the steps that
teacher can take to promote equity and realize the dream of the education system
which was also stressed in the National Education blueprint which is Education for
All.

Unity is the fourth aspiration presented in the National Education Blueprint. In the
National Education Blueprint (2013-20250 it has stated that as students spend over
a quarter of their time in school from the ages of 7 t0 17, schools are in a key
position to foster unity. Through interacting with individuals from a range of
socioeconomic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds and learning to understand,
accept and embrace differences, a shared set of experiences and aspirations for
Malaysias future can be built. The Ministry aspires to create a system where
students have opportunities to build these shared experiences and aspirations that
form the foundation for unity. When talking about unity it mainly refers to the culture
and has fate has it Malaysian is a country that has a mash of culture in it.

Heckmann and Schnapper (2003) defined cultural integration as a precondition

of participation that refers to social processes of cognitive, cultural, behavioural and
attitudinal changes of persons they added that, it could also be regarded as
situation whereby, one culture willingly turns to learn the ideas of other cultures
either in production or consumption aspects. In order word, it is seen as a situation
whereby, tangible and intangible cultural aspects of people become related. Looking
at the definition of cultural integration, this does not mean all cultures are brought
together as one snappishly. The process of integration occurs gradually with time.
Salomon (2002) suggests providing maximum opportunities of speaking and
expressing their views to children which may in turn boost their moral courage and
be part of their personality for their later life. So as teachers we need to ensure the
holistic development of the individuals potential, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and

physically. The curriculum is to bring faster the Malaysian citizen who are balanced
and well-rounded individual, trained, skilful and cherishes the national aspiration for
unity. One way the teacher can promote unity in school is through the hidden
curriculum. The Glossary of education reform (2014) had defined hidden curriculum
as the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives
that students learn in school. While the formal curriculum consists of the courses,
lessons, and learning activities students participate in, as well as the knowledge and
skills educators intentionally teach to students, the hidden curriculum consists of the
unspoken academic, social, and cultural messages that are communicated to
students while they are in school. The nature or the entity that embedded in the
hidden curriculum usually deal with attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviour. So the
teacher need to practice the hidden curriculum where the teacher need to instil
values each time a lesson is conducted. By teaching students about values such as
unity the teacher than can indirectly teach students about the importance of unity
and making them more united in class and this also go hand in hand with the
National Education Blueprint where the 3 rd shift wants teachers to develop valuesdriven Malaysian.

Efficiency is the last aspiration outlined in the National Education Blueprint.

Efficiency: The Malaysian education system has always been well-funded, yet
improvements in student outcomes have not always matched the resources
channelled into the system. While the Government will maintain current levels of
investment, the aspiration is to further maximise student outcomes within the current
budget levels as defined in the NEB (2013-2025). The resources and support that a
system provides to schools play a critical role in how the schools perform, by
enabling teachers and principals to focus on their core activities of delivering
effective teaching and learning. Therefore, a systems ability to effectively allocate,
use, and manage its funds is essential to its ability to support schools in achieving
the desired levels of performance. Teachers need to think a way to maximize
students result and performance by being efficient and cutting down cost at the same
time. One of the way to improve efficiency is thorough the use of ICT compared to
pencil and paper teaching method. Teachers can plan their lessons more efficiently
through ICT and it also help teachers to work in teams and share ideas related to

schools curriculum. There is also evidence that broadband and interactive

whiteboards play a central role in fostering teachers communication and increasing
collaboration between educators. Teachers can cut down cost on photos tatting as
well as teacher can acquire more materials online with the minimum use of cost. This
also included in the 7th shift of National Education Blueprint where leverage ICT is
one component that the teacher should exercise in the teaching and learning
process.
In any society, educational systems are closely related to societal needs because
of the symbiotic relationship that exists between them. Educational systems cannot
ignore the political, economic and cultural-ideological spheres that make up their
environments. Population changes, technological advances, and social movements
are some of the environmental factors that influence the functions of education. As a
result, educational systems have environments that give them purpose and meaning
and define their functions, limitations and conflicts. In Malaysia, since independence,
one of the national objectives has been unity; henceforth, all the enacted educational
policies have stated that unity is their overarching objective. The Razak Report of
1956 became the foundation for subsequent national policies on education such as
the Rahman Talib Report (Federation of Malaya, 1958; 1960). Many of its
recommendations were included into the National Language Policy, which made
Bahasa Melayu, as a unifying factor, the national language and medium of
instruction in the national schools and building of sekolah kebangsaan for promoting
every race to join schooling at the age of seven. The centralised school curriculum
and examination, and the inclusion of subjects like civic studies, are attempts to
ensure unity, integration, tolerance, and national consciousness.

It is the responsibility of the teachers to develop and safeguard the education

system which truly promotes the principle of "unity in diversity". The goal is to
maintain national integration in which all the various cultural communities could live
alongside each other while maintaining their own original identities. Schools and
institutions of education are in a unique position to address the teaching and learning
of diversity by creating an environment that will allow positive interaction among
students from different backgrounds (Mustafa & Norzaini, 2009). Unfortunately, we

are more inclined to search for differences rather than recognize commonalities.
Diversity among various groups should be a source of strength. While stressing the
whole, it is recognized that the individual has rights which should be respected and
not lightly encroached upon. We must be aware of the obstacles and difficulties that
lie in front of us in order to circumvent hurdles and strategize our efforts in the most
optimum manner. Co- curriculum activities encourage students to interact with each
other. Therefore, they will be able to get to know each other closely. As a result, unity
can be achieved.
Teachers can enhance students sense of unity when they construct learning
environments that reflect the cultural membership in the class. This strategy goes
further than wall decoration to atmosphere where teachers must attend to all
students and try to include them equally in all class activities. This acknowledgement
gives students a positive feeling about their worth as individuals and as productive
members in their classroom. So one of the strategy to promote unity is through the
classroom environment itself. The teacher can provide a book corner with a variety
and range of culturally diverse literature, fiction and nonfiction. The books that are
chosen must also deal fairly with disabilities and special needs. The characters
should be integrated naturally into the story and not depicted as anomalies or
peculiarities in society (Russell, 1994). Creating a book corner that appeals to all
children can be a challenge for the teacher. The internet has become an excellent
resource for the kind of quality literature that will introduce children to other cultural
contexts. Teachers will find valuable links to appropriate childrens literature that will
help their students appreciate and begin to understand the range of human
experiences and cultural backgrounds.

Current and relevant bulletin boards that display positive and purposeful activities
and events including culturally diverse people. Comprise, for example, newspaper
articles both local and national reporting newsworthy events or accomplishments that
involve people of colour, photographs of community leaders from culturally diverse
backgrounds, student-made posters representing culturally relevant historical events,
and original student-written stories and poems with culturally diverse themes.
Teachers can also decorate the classroom in a multicultural setting where the

students can actually engage and know what unity really is. Seating partner also
plays an important role on strengthening unity among students as different races
who sits together will be able to communicate and build a firm relationship with each
other thus indirectly promoting unity among themselves. Allport (1954) has offered
the most widely recognised theory about the benefits and dynamics of cross- racial
interaction. Through a series of studies, he shows that multiracial interaction can
lead to positive outcomes, but those most benefited from this interaction depended
on the presence of appropriate conditions. Thus teachers need to set the conditions
as such so that students can find themselves immersed in the different races of
Malaysia.
The second strategy that teachers can develop to foster unity is nurture an
interactive classroom learning environment. Students must have opportunities to
interact with each other to engage in shared inquiry and discovery in their efforts to
solve problems and complete tasks. One of the activity for interactive engagement in
the learning process is Cooperative learning groups. Cooperative groups bring
students together within a variety of supportive and collaborative learning activities.
The use of this kind of learning group allows all children to see the benefits of
bringing together people with diverse backgrounds for problem-solving tasks. They
use listening, speaking, reading, and writing together to achieve common goals and
in the process become accountable since their performance affects group outcomes.
They become active language users and learn to respect each others opinions
(Bromley, 1998). For example, the I-Search Strategy (Leu & Kinzer, 1999) is an
interdisciplinary, student-centered inquiry process that emphasizes participation and
sharing of research findings in small cooperative learning groups, as well as in
whole-group settings. To implement this strategy, children choose a motivating theme
with the teachers assistance, they than formulate their own research plans. Next,
they follow and revise their plans as they gather information, and then they prepare
papers, posters, or presentations using computer software, or they prepare oral
reports. This encourages cooperation among them and provides a platform for unity
to bloom.

Guided

and

informal

group

discussions.

Informal

discussions

provide

opportunities for able students and less able students to collaborate in constructing
meaning from text and enable them to learn from each other by sharing their
reflections, opinions, interpretations, and questions. The teacher models discussion
techniques and guides the students through early discussion sessions. As students
develop their discussion skills and begin to feel comfortable talking about story
content and their opinions. This induce collaboration between friends with different
races Collaboration and communication with culturally diverse friends or students are
essential element of culturally responsive classrooms. Instructional strategies and
specific teaching behaviours can encourage all students to engage in learning
activities that will lead to improved academic achievement and also unity among the
students in the class thus teachers as planners need to provide activities such as
collaborative learning to further expand the wings of unity.
The third strategy is that the teacher can enact as an agent of unity is teacher as a
decision maker. The teachers will be able to make decision and have decision
making skills based on the curriculum changes that have been implemented. This is
an important role as participative decision-making as the teacher is believed to have
two potential benefit which are arriving at better decision and enhancing the growth
and

development

of

the

school

in

sharing

goals,

improving

motivation,

communicating and better developing group organizations and improving students

skills. As outline in National Education Blueprint in the fourth shift, where the
blueprint intends to enhance pathways for teachers into leadership, master teaching
and subject specialist roles. They may choose to become subject specialists focused
on developing curriculum, assessment, and training programmes for the broader
system. Regardless of the pathway chosen, the commitment to investing in their
development and in building an environment of professional accountability will be
maintained across their careers so when implementing the curriculum teachers need
to decide how to implement the curriculum and promoting unity at the same time.
Decision making is also needed when implementing the changes in
curriculum during the teaching and learning process. The most significant role of
teacher in decision making can be seen during the choosing of teaching materials.
Teacher should decide which material is suitable for the teaching and learning
purpose for the particular lesson. Hutchinson (1987) states that" Materials are not

simply the everyday tools of the language teacher; they are an embodiment of the
aims, values and methods of a particular teaching/learning situation. As such the
selection of materials probably represents the single most important decision that the
language teacher has to make. This shows that as teachers we need to decide
which materials maximize students learning and is the materials chosen promotes
unity and hinders biasness to be used in teaching and learning an is in line with the
changes made in the curriculum as well as adhere to need of the National Education
Blueprint where in the second wave presented in the blueprint the ministry demands
highly interactive and quality materials to be chosen and used by the teachers in
order to carry out the teaching and learning process. Teachers with low decision
making skills tend to rely solely on textbooks and textbook alone cant promote unity
among students as it does not include all the values needed to foster unity among
the students.
REFLECTION
John Cowan (1998) gives an example of what reflection is:

A student is reflecting when she notes that there is something different about
the case that she is considering, in comparison with the examples she has
encountered in class; and when she also identifies what the difference is, and
what she should do about it.

Redirecting from the statement above all of us can agree that reflection is a way to
improve our self by thinking back on the process of doing the task as well as
identifying strength and weaknesses of the task done and giving some suggestion on
self-improvement. My expression of gratitude goes to Miss Kan who has given a
chance, opportunity and inspiration abound to complete a short course of Teachers
and Current Challenges (EDU3093). There are many benefits that I have gained in
completing the task. This task was done individually. Among the objectives of the
course work is the first teacher to describe the five aspirations that contains in the
national Education Blueprint. Second, explain of unity in education. Third, the

strategies on how to implement unity is school among the students. This task also
aims to hone the basic leadership and professionalism of teachers in to survive all
challenges in real-world jobs. In addition, this task can also help the teachers to
improve their skills to select information relevant to the task, and analyse the
information to be presented as a work of quality. Many new experiences that I gained
during the process of completing a specific work are carried out. Indeed, this task is
significant because through these tasks can I strengthen my knowledge on the topic
of study subjects. This assignment, the teacher will give exposure to my knowledge
to prepare them in facing the working environment better quality teachers and
dedicated. The first thing I do is look for information. The search is done in online as
library contains limited number of resources to work on. The search for articles
relating about unity and multicultural education can be found online whereby using
the article found I can gain insight upon the writing of the assignment itself not to
mention that I can found citation for my literature review through the article itself.
While doing this task, I had a lot of obstacles experienced. The first is due to
the constraints of time whereby we need to finish the assignment in which
supposedly has one month length of time to be done in two weeks. This has really
crippled me to the point where I need to burn the midnight oil every day as I have
other assignments that need to be send. However the guidance of the lecturer Miss
kan and classmates caused me to complete this task successfully. In terms of the
advantages that I gained during the completion of this particular work is the first I
was able to gain a better understanding of the concept of unity as well as how
important it is in terms of education. Teachers challenge now is to ignore the
elements of student differences and not instilling the values of unity among students
has curb a generation full of racism and biasness. This is because; the teachers who
give different treatment will cause the pupils a sense of deprivation. This feeling will
create a gap between students' attention is often given to students who do not have
the proper rights. Sometimes teachers are more in favour of races and genders as
such there is no unity among the teachers as well as students. This should be
avoided altogether. Second, this assignment made me realize the importance and
advantage to the five aspiration in the national education blueprint with my career. In
other words, a teacher must have a teaching values and ethics consistent and
focused on religious values rooted in the nation building process. Since education is

one important aspect in the success of the hopes and aspirations of the country to
become a developed nation and a world- class, teachers should prepare themselves
with the characteristics of the best educators that can help the process of nation
building excellence and teachers can do this by realizing the five aspirations outline
in the National Education Blueprint. The problem with students unity may look trivial
easy to solve, but this task has made a huge impact on me. Awareness of the
importance of creating a united Malaysian can affect the goodness of our nation,
thus creating a multi- ethnic society that is united in line with Vision 2020. Finally,

hope that this task can make me as a human being useful in the future. This new
knowledge made me more mature and eager to face the challenging task after this. I
also hope that this work will become the determining point in life as a teacher of
excellence, glory and distinction later. Finally, I express my gratitude to all parties
involved in order to complete this task which was my lecturer Miss Kan, my friends
because the help me through the thick and thin in finishing up my assignment and
also my parents for their undying support. I hope that this task can be a springboard
for me getting a better future.