ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACED BY A TEACHER IN TERMS OF INTEGRITY IN

KEEPING THE GOOD NAME OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE

INTRODUCTION

A teacher is a well-known figure in society and holds the title of a public servant. When an
individual becomes a teacher, it is not only the respect gain; however, a teacher should have
the integrity and follow the rules and regulations amended. Based on the Educational Act 1996
(Act 550), “A person who on the appointed date was registered or deemed to be registered as
a teacher under the Education Act 1961 [Act 43 of 1961] shall be deemed to have been so
registered under this Act and shall be subject to this Act.” Any wrongdoings by the teacher will
affect his or her name, and at the same time, the good name of the public service will be
affected. Based on the Cambridge Dictionary, integrity is the quality of having strong moral
principles and being honest. Without having this trait, it will lead to many problems such as
corruption. Transparency International, an organisation that is working on the issue,
mentioned that corruption is “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain” (as cited in
Denisova-Schmidt, Elena & de Wit, Hans, 2017). Meaning that, as a teacher, we must uphold
the power and the name of the public servant accordingly. However, there are still some issues
and challenges faced by a teacher regarding integrity, which includes pupils’ assessment
aspects, integrity in teaching and learning, favouritism and bribery.

INTEGRITY IN ASSESSMENT

As we all know, pupils will always be assessed whether at the school level, national or
international level. As for an example, primary school pupils sit for UPSR by the end of their
Year 6. It is the same set of questions distributed at all schools. Thus, sometimes a teacher
tends to neglect his or her integrity when they exposed the questions earlier than the
examination day. One of the cases regarding this issue happened in 2014; a teacher is
accused of possessing UPSR questions in his handphone before the examination took place
(Bernama, 2019). It is an ongoing case until 2019 and has affected the teacher professionally
and also the good name of the public service. Other than that, the government has introduced
the school-based assessment (SBA) and being implemented in schools nowadays. However,
one of the challenges faced by the teachers is, to be honest when observing a pupil despite
time consuming and the number of pupils. This issue is due to the lack of understanding
regarding SBA itself, the proficiency of the teacher and the management of the assessment
(Faizah A. Majid, 2011).

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INTEGRITY IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

One of the main concern in the integrity aspect is in teaching and learning. Some of the issues
raised are the amount of time a teacher spent in the classroom, the content of the teaching
and learning session, absentee of the teacher and teacher’s attitude presented to the pupils.
This problem is the cause of other workloads received by the administrators, the teacher’s
attitude and also the lack of passion and patient towards teaching. As reported in a newspaper
in 2018, a student sued the teacher because of not attending the class for almost seven
months already (The Star, 2018). The issue affects people perception towards the teachers’
community and assumed that most of the teachers behave like that. In my point of view, that
is one of the reasons that caused the teaching profession is not a respected career nowadays.

FAVOURITISM

Favouritism resulted from the teacher expectations and judgments related to student
achievements (Urhahne, 2015). The attitude or the accomplishment of a pupil tends to make
a teacher favour him or her more. It is an issue to be avoided when a teacher chooses to
prefer to a specific pupil and neglect or ignore the others. Favouritism is one of the issues that
teachers faced in terms of integrity. Bias leads to many adverse effects such as the classroom
will be conducted unfairly and contributes to inequities that affect pupils’ success and failure.
Other than that, it will develop negative attitudes towards the teacher and the school among
other pupils that are not being favourable. As a result, this will affect the teacher and the
school’s reputation.

BRIBERY

Bribery is one of the most common issues when it comes to integrity. According to Woolf, 1980
“Bribery is defined as an inducement to engage in illegal or inappropriate behaviour” (as cited
in Angeleque Akin & et.l, 2004). Bribery is not in the form of money only but could be in giving
services or another thing. It is also one of the most challenging issues faced by a teacher.
Being a teacher in public service can be one of the reasons that triggers some irresponsible
teachers to involve in this issue. The pressure of gaining extra money and comfort in life
caused some teachers to take this immoral way. Bribery could take place among teachers,
teacher and administrators, teacher and suppliers, teacher and parents or even teacher and
pupils.

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RATIONALE

All of the issues and challenges fall back to the teachers ourselves. It is essential to develop
good quality of leadership as being a teacher and a public servant. A teacher should be able
to differentiate between professional and private life. It is very vital for the teacher to
understand well his or her role as an educator in the system. For example, the first issue
discussed, in terms of assessment, the teacher should not only focus on the product and act
illegally to increase the school’s reputation. Supposedly, the teacher focus on the process of
getting the result, which includes improving teaching practices, give reinforcement and
motivational support for the pupils to learn. Other than that, the teacher should develop the
passion and patient in being a teacher. This way, it will prevent issues of integrity in teaching
and learning. By having these attributes, a teacher will prepare for his or her classes and
enter it according to the time allocated for them.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, to shape a culture of integrity in society, it starts with educating people at a

very early age. The input they gained is essential for preventing corruption in the future. Thus,
it is crucial for the teacher to have integrity in their personal life and work to be a role model
for his or her pupils. Other than that, the teacher also should include and exposed pupils to
regarding integrity and the importance of practising it in their daily life. With the actions taken,
the teacher will be able to face the issues and in keeping the good name of the public service.

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REFERENCES

Angeleque Akin-Little, K., Tanya Eckert, L., Benjamin Lovett, J., & Steven Little, G. (2004a).
Extrinsic reinforcement in the classroom: bribery or best practice. School Psychology
Review, 33(3), 344–362.

Bernama. (2019, January 16). Court sets Feb 20 for additional submission in UPSR leak case.
Retrieved March 12, 2019, from https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-
courts/2019/01/451130/court-sets-feb-20-additional-submission-upsr-leak-case

Denisova-Schmidt, Elena & de Wit, Hans (2017). The global challenge of corruption in higher
education. IAU Horizons, 22 (1). 28-29. ISSN 2076-2194

Education Act 1996 (Act 550). (1996). Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Service

Faizah A. Majid. (2011). School-based assessment in Malaysian schools: the concerns of the
English teachers. US-China Education Review, 393–402.

The Star. (2018, October 30). Student sues former English teacher who 'skipped class' for 8
months. Retrieved March 10, 2019, from
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/10/30/student-sues-former-english-
teacher-who-skipped-class-for-8-months/

Urhahne, D. (2015). Teacher behaviour as a mediator of the relationship between teacher

judgment and students’ motivation and emotion. Teaching and Teacher Education,
45, 73-82. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2014.09.006