TASK 1: Evaluation of master teachers’ roles.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The theme of National Teacher’s Day 2017 is “Master Builder of the State of Nation”. The
government through Minister of Education has stated that priorities have been given to the effort
of building the nation to strengthen the unity, building national identity and developing human
resources in accordance to the country needs in facing globalization challenges. As nation
builders, teachers should focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning by developing
learners with high moral standard and higher order thinking within the teaching and learning
environment in schools. The 21st century witnesses the changes of roles of the teachers
especially the master teachers to realise the education aspirations of the country.

2.0 ROLES OF MASTER TEACHERS

2.1 Master teachers as effective mentors

The highest level of Trotter’s stages of teacher’s development is the level of master teacher.
Being acknowledged as master teacher is the best recognition any teacher can receive. This is
because, Huitt (2007) stated that the master teacher is “the star of the field.” Therefore, master
teachers should become effective mentors for the junior teachers. This is important, to develop
the junior teacher’s pedagogical knowledge and skills. Rudney & Guillaume (2003) stated that
“novice teachers need emotional support, assistance focused on the learning of classroom
routines and processes and experience.” Teaching is a complex skill that is impossible to be
mastered in overnight. Without proper exposure and guidance from the master teachers, novice
teachers will face difficulties to provide quality and meaningful learning experience to the pupils.
This will impede the effort of the government to improve quality teaching and learning as stated
in the theme of National Teacher’s Day 2017.

2.1.1 Master teacher has in-depth knowledge of the subject content

Master teachers are the ones who have in depth knowledge of the content due to their vast
experience in the profession. Teachers who are younger tend to make mistakes due to their lack
of experience thus affecting their teaching qualities. For examples, during practicum period, I
noticed that a young teacher struggled to teach her Year One class. She always looked troubled
and uncomfortable in the classroom because pupils will start to swarm her all over the place to
get attention. As a result, she would waste most of the time to get her pupils to be in their seats
instead of starting to teach. She often expressed her problems to other senior teachers and they
were so cooperative in giving tips and constructive advices to improve her classroom
management skills. This is a classical example on how master teachers can be effective
mentors for novice teachers. Kutsyruba stated that role of senior teacher is to instill confidence
towards the tasks, to strengthen teachers’ professionalism and unleashing positivity towards
learning. (As cited in Khaliza, Mohd Hasani & Abdul Said, 2016)

2.1.2 Master teachers are role models of effortless excellence

Huitt (2007) stated that teachers who have reached this stage “can handle a large quantity
of information and give a very fluid, natural performance”. Therefore, this quality that has been
internalized within the master teachers makes them the most suitable candidates as effective
mentors. Therefore, they will be able to effectively provide helpful guidance for the younger
teachers to develop their teaching skills. For example, in my practicum school, the Head of
English Panel which I considered as a master teacher gave exposure on the effective teaching
strategies and techniques that are parallel to the 21st Century teaching and learning
environment. She always called the English teachers for meetings to provide updates and
shared information of the techniques in 21st century learning. Under her mentoring, she shared
about flipped classroom and how it can be implemented for my pupils. I tried doing flipped
classroom and it was not very successful. Weak pupils (as in my class) needed guidance to
tackle the reading materials the teacher assigned to be read at home. As a result, many of my
pupils did not do the reading. I told her and she provided me with tips to troubleshoot the
problems. She encouraged me to split the reading activities into several parts like vocabulary
activities and reading for understanding. At the end, I received positive feedback from my pupils.
They enjoyed flipped classroom and asked for the reading materials they should be reading at
home.

2.1.3 Master teachers possess updated information about current education practice

Moreover, higher order thinking skills (HOTS) is one of the main components in 21 st century
learning. However, the implementation of HOTS in the classroom will be challenging for the
young teachers since they usually have limited knowledge in their subject matter and are not
well verse with the content of the subject. For example, as a practicum teacher, I did not have
the appropriate knowledge to formulate HOTS questions and implement it in the activities in my
lesson. Working with pupils with low English proficiency is very challenging because they did not
have a lot of vocabulary to state their opinions about the topic being discussed. Therefore,
master teachers will play their role in guiding the young teachers to design tasks or questions
that will promote higher order thinking skills (HOTS) among the learners. To illustrate, my
mentor suggested me to do activities with i-Think maps. In order to help them to articulate their
thought, she asked me to do some brainstorming activities with the pupils. By doing this, pupils
will have more confidence to give their opinion resulting from their critical thinking. Based on the
examples, master teacher is an effective mentor as he/she successfully guided the young
teachers through experience sharing and suggestions.

2.1.4 Challenges faced by master teachers

Nevertheless, the 21st century learning gives emphasis on implementation of technology in

the classroom. Generally, younger teachers are more skillful in using the modern gadgets, in
which most master teachers are struggling. This is because, most of them are baby boomers
and early millennials in which the modern gadgets and software are not trending until early
2000. Sandra, Abu Bakar & Norlidah (2013), stated in their survey that “teachers who do not use
computers in teaching and learning consist of those who have at least ten years of teaching
experience.” Therefore, compared to younger teachers, master teachers may lack the
knowledge and skills to operate the modern gadgets and software, since in they only learn to
use projector and OHP that are no longer relevant for the current time. Master teachers may
have the updated information about the implementation of digital classroom or applying ICT for
the lesson. However, they usually do not have the confidence to operate the gadgets. Hence,
they stick in the approaches that are not related to ICT, which is a waste to their subject-content
expertise, the training they received and the facilities that are available in schools. In
conclusion, younger teachers and master teachers should work hand in hand to contribute the
necessary knowledge and skills for the sake of improving the quality of Malaysia’s education
system.

2.2 Master teachers as excellent facilitators

2.2.1 What is facilitator?

According to Salhah (2006) “facilitators should be able to relate with experience that
utilised contextualised learning approaches, strategies, methods and techniques. This can
provide opportunity for the learners to solve problems that are connected to the real world.”
Teacher as facilitator is a common notion related to the teacher of 21 st Century teaching and
learning. Due to the rich and abundant availability of resources, it will be unproductive
ifteachers are dominating the whole lesson in the classroom. According to Pushpavalli,
Norain, V. Murali, Veloo & Mohd Roslan (2015), “master teachers have broader, interactive
and diverse pedagogical practice”. Therefore, master teachers are excellent facilitators who
provide scaffolding to support students in developing their own personal ways of knowing
and thinking. The diversity of pupils in terms of learning styles, multiple intelligences,
proficiencies or interests are not the main difficulties faced by the master teachers. This is
because, they are able to adapt and adopt the differences by providing scaffolding that
focus on each individual needs rather than generalizing the pupils’ potential and ability. As a
result, pupils will be able to develop holistically since the master teachers provide quality
teaching and learning through their role as excellent facilitators.
2.2.2 Master teachers are knowledgeable and versatile
Elseworth (2001) stated that “teacher as facilitator needs to be knowledgeable.
Knowledgeable teacher has the following traits; firstly, extensive knowledge of subjects
taught and knows when to expedite learning by sharing personal insight and when to allow
students exploration and personal discovery”. As excellent facilitator, master teachers are
knowledgeable as they has “in depth knowledge of the content” (Pushpavalli et al.) due to
their vast experience through practice in the profession. To illustrate, project-based learning
(PBL) is an innovative approach to learning that serves the purpose to prepare the students
with twenty-first century skills in becoming productive members for global societies. In order
to implement PBL, teachers need to equip themselves with in-depth knowledge of the
content to enable relevant pedagogical skills that encourage critical thinking, creativity and
problem-solving skills among pupils. PBL will require teachers to become excellent
facilitators rather than being traditional teachers who makes memorisation as routine
learning activities.
This trait is possessed by master teachers who effortlessly facilitate rather than
lecturing the pupils in the lesson they carried out. I observed the traits of master teachers in
my practicum school. Master teachers in my practicum school usually got to teach the first
class which consist of pupils with high English proficiency. For example, the first class in
Year Six. Year Six is the most critical year in primary education since they will be sitting for
their UPSR. I am impressed with the teacher’s ability to get the pupils to finish the tasks
independently without requiring too much lecturing from the teacher. This is because, the
master teacher used a variety of strategies and approaches to suit the abilities of the pupils.
Despite the excellent role as facilitators, master teachers also faced constraints that
disallow their skills to be put into good use. One of the constraints is pupils’ readiness in to
learn critical thinking skills. The first level in Bloom Taxonomy is remembering. That means we
need to remember the information that was read or heard. Sadly, Malaysians generally do
not give have the information to be remembered since we do not read much. Sinar Harian
Online (2015) featured a statistical report from National Library about the average number
of books read by a Malaysian. Annually, Malaysians only read two to eight books. This
report reflected that Malaysians generally, are not interested in gaining knowledge and
information through reading. Without content knowledge about wide range of topics, it is
unlikely that we are able to put our critical thinking hats. Hence, it is appropriate to claim
that the level of readiness of our learners to learn critical thinking skills is low due to poor
reading habit. Therefore, to develop critical thinking skills for our pupils, inculcating reading
culture among the pupils will be useful.

3.0 CONCLUSION

In a nutshell, it is undeniable that the master teachers play important roles to develop the
national education system. However, the success of education lies in the hands of every
teacher. As teachers, we have shared responsibilities in developing our generation holistically
as preparation for the challenges in globalization. Teachers are truly “The Master Builder of The
State of Nation” regardless the stages of development we are in. Therefore, teachers should
give full commitment, be proactive and work cooperatively in ensuring the national aspirations of
education are achieved successfully.

REFERENCES
Bell, S. (2010). Project-based learning for the 21st century: Skills for the future. The Clearing
House, 83(2), 39-43.

Elseworth, J. (2001). Teacher as facilitator. Retrieved from

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/jde7/ese425/eco/optional/facilitator.html

Huitt, W. (2007). Stages of mastery. Educational Psychology Interactive.

Retrieved from http://www.edpsycinteractive/topics/tched/stgmstry.pdf

Khaliza Saidin, Mohd Hasani Dali & Abdul Hadi Ambotang. (2016). Peranan guru cemerlang
Malaysia di sekolah. MANU Jurnal Pusat Penataran Ilmu dan Bahasa, 161-177.

Kunter, M., & Baumert, J. (2006). Who is the expert? Construct and criteria validity of student
and teacher ratings of instruction. Learning Environments Research, 9(3), 231-251.

Lawson, T. (1999). Individual action planning in initial teacher training: empowerment or

discipline?. British journal of sociology of education, 20(1), 89-105.

Pushpavalli Appoo, Norain Md. Noor, V. Murali Tharan, Veloo Ragavan & Mohd. Roslan Abd.
Razak. (2015). Leadership and teacher professional development. Selangor: Pelangi
Professional Publishing Sdn. Bhd.

Rakyat Malaysia ‘memilih’ dalam membaca. (2015, October 8). Sinar Harian Online.
Retrieved from http://www.sinarharian.com.my/nasional/rakyat-malaysia-memilih-dalam-
membaca-1.438156

Rudney, G.L & Guillaume, A. M (2003). Maximum mentoring: An action guide for teacher
trainers and cooperating teachers. California: Corwin Press. Inc

Salhah Abdullah (2006). Guru sebagai fasilitator. Batu Caves, Selangor: PTS Professional
Publishing Sbn. Bhd.

Sandra Rahman, Abu Bakar Alias & Norlida Nordin. (2013). Penggunaan ICT merentas
Kurikulum Standard Prasekolah Kebangsaan (KSPK): Tinjauan di prasekolah
Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia. Jurnal Kurikulum dan Pengajaran Asia Pasifik, 1(4),
12-20.

TASK 2: Critical Review

INTRODUCTION / OVERVIEW OF THE THEORY

Teachers usually struggled to look for the best teaching approach despite holistic and
intensive training they have received from their colleges. However, due to some constraints,
teachers need to teach the subject that they are not specialized in. Therefore, there are several
effects to this practice that potentially compromise the quality of our education system. This
situation is closely related to the Fuller theory of concern (1969). This is a stage-related and
concerns-based model that sequenced concerns of beginning teachers as related to
themselves, their tasks, and the impact they were having on their students. In spite of the
situation, teachers need to possess integrity and accountability while dealing with the matters.

2.1 Teachers will have less confidence and commitment to their teaching

Non-optionist English teachers refer to “the teachers who have not received any proper
training to teach English because they were originally trained to teach other subjects such as
Science and Mathematics to overcome the shortage of English teachers in the schools in the
country.” (Noor & Mohd, 2015). Therefore, non-optionist teachers will be less confidence and
have less commitment to the subjects they need to teach due to their lower competencies.
Competency according to Juliyana, (2006) is “the combination of knowledge, skills and personal
attributes that should be possessed and practiced to carry out a task or attitudes.” In this case,
non-optionist teachers have lower competencies due to the lack of knowledge and skills in the
subjects they need to teach. This is because; the teachers are not equipped with the correct
content and have the required syllabus knowledge of the subject they need to teach.

2.1.1 Discussion of a case

In a rural school in Kedah, an Islamic education teacher volunteered to teach English

due to lack of English teachers in that school. However, the school administrators were reluctant
to give the position because her expertise (Islamic education) is very different from English. She
took the responsibility anyway because she believed that she could speak English fluently.
However, she admitted that she was facing difficulties to teach her new subject. For example,
when the pupils asked about tricky English grammatical rules, the teacher was anxious and
trembled since she does not know the answers. She was worried that the pupils will lose
respect to her and get belittled by her pupils. Not long after that, she requested to stop teaching
the subject, realising her incompetency that might affect her teaching performance.
2.1.2Theory of concern: Concern towards self

Based on the example, Frances Fuller explained this situation as the first type of
concern (concern towards self) that teachers faced as part of stages of sequential teacher
development in her theory. Watzke (2003), stated that teachers “reflect on experiences
concerning survival in the classroom, receiving good evaluations, being accepted and their
personal feelings of adequacy.” The dismissal from her new teaching position, showed that she
was expressing her concern towards self since she was worried about the acceptance of her
pupils, their evaluation about her teaching content and she realised that she was not good
enough to teach the subject. However, her effort to volunteer teaching the subject should be
complimented. This is because, despite her incompetency she was displaying a sense of
accountability towards school. Pushpavalli, Norain, V. Murali, Veloo & Mohd Roslan (2015),
listed being “optimistic and show strong interest in carrying out their duties as teachers in
school” is one of the characteristics of the teacher that has accountability towards school.
2.1.3 Ways to address the problem
As teachers who have sense of responsibility, we should take the initiative to improve
our professional efficiency through different means such as conducting research, doing
fieldwork and attending professional course so that our teaching quality will be upgraded to the
highest level. For example, a non-optionist teacher can go for in service training (LDP) courses,
attending conferences relating to new subjects and participating in innovation creating
competition. By doing this, we will gain more respect and acknowledgement from our pupils,
colleagues and community because they see us as versatile and knowledgeable teachers.
Nowadays, our education is undergoing rapid development and transformation. For examples,
21st Century classrooms and higher order thinking skills (HOTS) are among the popular topics
being discussed by the teachers. It is a bonus point for teachers who have adequate knowledge
and skills to conduct 21st century classroom since this practice is new. To become effective and
competent in teaching the subjects, knowledge content of the subject matter is not enough, but
every teacher needs to update themselves with the latest knowledge and skills of the 21 st
century classroom and implementing HOTS strategies to the learners.

2.2 Affect negatively to the pupils’ performances.

Living skills (Kemahiran Hidup) or Reka Bentuk dan Teknologi (RBT) is a favourite
subject for most of the pupils. This is because, the subject involves a lot of hands-on activities.
Cleaver, (2007) stated the benefits of hands on activities for different learners. According to her
“hands-on projects obviously engage kids who are tactile or kinesthetic learners, who need
movement to learn best. They also engage students who are auditory learners, who talk
about what they're doing, and visual learners, who have the opportunity to see what
everyone else is creating.” Hence, based on my observation, the pupils usually anticipated
for the lesson because they will get the chance to use the tools to create, repair and conduct
maintenance of simple and practical projects. Teaching RBT will require the teachers to have
specialized, correct and adequate knowledge and pedagogical skills. If teachers are not well-
trained, RBT will become a dry, dull and boring subject. This is because, mastering theories is
simpler that mastering the skills to implement the theories.

2.2.1 Discussion of a case

In a school that I previously done my practicum, I noticed that the teacher who teach
RBT is a non-optionist. Teaching RBT for primary school pupils is not supposed to be very
challenging nowadays. This is because; the Ministry of Education has provided the guide books
and teaching modules as incentives for the schools to carry out the lesson successfully. Despite
that, the teacher was not interested to teach the subject since she has no confidence in
attempting to operate the tools. Therefore, the lesson only focused on learning the theories.
Teacher explained the lesson in the textbook and followed by pupils completing the workbooks
or worksheets. Then, teacher discussed the answers with the pupils. The lessons are
unproductive, because pupils will not be able to understand how the project works. When the
written assessments are done, pupils will not be able to give the answers correctly. Apart from
that, pupils got bored with the lesson that the teacher tried to deliver. As a result, pupils lose
motivation to learn and it affected the performance of the pupils in the subject.

2.2.2 Theory of concern: Concern towards task

Based on the example, the teacher did not show attributes of a teacher with integrity. As
a teacher, she should perform her duties with dedication, such as implementing suitable
teaching strategies to ensure success of the pupils academically. The second stage of theory of
concern is concern towards task. In Fuller’s model, a teacher will start to worry or focus on the
task related issues after dealing with his or her self. According to Boz (2008), task related
concern “focus on task that will need to be completed in a teaching situation on a daily basis,
referring to duties, materials, methods, the number of students and classroom management.”
This means, when teacher has reached this stage, she will make sure that she accomplishes
the task entrusted well. Thus, teacher should focus on improving the approaches, strategies and
methods used for teaching and learning. In the case discussed, the teacher did not have this
kind of concern. Even though the syllabus required the teacher to conduct the lessons
according to the syllabus and modules provided, she did not do so. She neglected her
responsibilities to provide a meaningful lesson for her students. Even though the teacher was
not skillful in teaching the subject, she should be putting effort to teach her pupils with honesty,
responsibility and dedication. This is because, teacher is the role model of the pupils, and hence
integrity is one of the most important aspects that contribute to the professionalism of the
teacher.

2.2.3 Ways to address the problems

Not specializing in the subject taught is not necessarily bad for the teachers and the
pupils. Teachers nowadays should be the Jacks of all trade. That means whatever jobs we are
entrusted to do, we should be able to carry them out successfully. Despite the unpleasant
circumstances, being a non-optionist teacher should not be an excuse for any teacher to
dismiss from their responsibility in giving quality and meaningful learning experience to our
pupils. This is because in the 21st Century, there are a lot of opportunities for the teacher to
enhance their teaching competency. For example, in school itself non-optionist teacher can
seek guidance from the subject teachers on ways to enrich their content knowledge of the
subject and mastery of the syllabus. One of the good practices that every non-optionist
teachers can implement is the collaboration and cooperative culture. Teacher should not work
alone. Teachers can always refer to the senior teachers or colleagues if they need to deal with
an issue. In this case, the non-optionist teachers can always discuss and get advices from the
colleagues to improve their teaching and learning activities in the classroom. Other than that,
teachers can get connected with other teachers who are facing the same issues through social
media platform. The sharing of information is beneficial for the teachers in order to make better
decision in the classroom while teaching for the subject he/she is not specialized in. Eventually,
teachers will be more resourceful and creative in the lesson due to their exposure to a variety of
teaching tips and techniques. As a result, pupils’ performance will get better since teacher is
good in adapting the lesson based on pupils’ interest and motivation.

3.0 CONCLUSION

Access to success is one of the aspirations outlined in Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013.
Every child in Malaysia regardless their background, races or religion deserve equal access to
quality education in Malaysia to unleash their potential. Teachers play the most important role to
realise the aspiration through teaching and learning process in the classroom. As teachers,
there are hurdles and stumbling blocks that we need to deal with. These hurdles can be
overcome with knowledge. Regardless the circumstance, we should not stop seeking for
knowledge because knowledge seeking is a lifelong process. Let us work together to ensure a
brighter future for our pupils.
REFERENCES

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comparing regular and academic student teachers’ changing concerns (Master's thesis.
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Boz, Y. (2008). Turkish student teachers’ concerns about teaching. European Journal of
Teacher Education, 31, 367–377.

Cleaver, S. (2017). Hands-On Is Minds-On: Want to Engage Every Student? Break out the Old-
Fashioned Scissors and Glue. Retrieved from
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Pushpavalli Appoo, Norain Md. Noor, V. Murali Tharan, Veloo Ragavan & Mohd. Roslan Abd.
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Watzke, J. L. (2003). Longitudinal study of stages of beginning teacher development in a

fields-based teacher education program. The Teacher Educator, 38, 209-229.