European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1 (2009)

Belief in God Based on the National Philosophy of Education Amongst Malaysian Secondary School Teachers
Habsah Ismail Department of foundations of Education, Faculty of Educational Studies Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia E-mail: habsah@educ.upm.edu.my Tel: +6-03-89468209; Fax: +6-03-89468246 Aida Suraya Md. Yunus Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia Wan Zah Wan Ali Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia Ramlah Hamzah Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia Rosini Abu Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia Hapsah Nawawi Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia Abstract The National Philosophy of Education (NPE) formulated in the year 1987 is the most important document that guides and reinforces the direction and goal of education in Malaysia. With the belief and devotion to God as its main principle belief, this document directs the goals and mission towards accomplishing the educational aim of the country, that is, to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. This paper seeks to discuss the findings of a study conducted on twelve Malaysian secondary school on their belief and devotion to God based on the NPE. This qualitative study uses the interview method to solicit the teachers belief and devotion to God. The findings show that the belief is accepted by the teachers although they are faced with several constraints in fully implementing it in their teaching.

Keywords: National Philosophy of Education, Teachers Beliefs, Devotion to God

Introduction
Education in Malaysia in perspective should reflect the ideals of the Malaysian National Philosophy of Education (NPE) which focuses on the humanization of education (Cabinet Report, 1979). Thus every component of the education system should aim at producing individuals who are not only knowledgeable and competent but with a strong belief and devotion in God as explicitly stated in the 160

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1 (2009) NPE formulated in the year 1987. The belief in God is also the first statement of the National Ideology or Rukunegara which was formulated in 1970. As a country which practices religious freedom, the people of Malaysia of various ethnic background are believers of 3 main religion with Islam being the official religion. This is followed by Buddhist, Hinduism, Christianity and other minor religions like Sikhism, Bahai and others. As followers of multi-faith the importance of the belief in God is upheld and prescribed in the syllabus of the subjects taught at both the primary and secondary school levels. In upholding this principle belief, the aim of the national education system is towards the development of a well-balanced individuals with an outlook that integrate the spiritual, physical, emotional and intellect dimensions and at the same time having a strong national and patriotic sense of pride and commitment towards the nation (Sufean, 1993). The importance of the belief in and element of godliness is also present in other parts of the world where spirituality and religion related to the belief in god had been highlighted (Fukuyama and Sevig, 1999; Olson, 2000). As asserted by Fukuyama and Sevig (1999, p. 4), spirituality refers to the individuals search for meaning and values in life and relationship with a transcendent power and may be experienced and expressed through religion. In the same note, based on a survey data from the Gallup Organization, Hoge (1996), highlighted the importance of the belief in God in America with the following findings: 95% of Americans profess a belief in god, 91% of Americans surveyed expressed a religious preference and 87% say that religion is very important (58%). The belief in God among the Americans as seen in these findings is further supported by a study of student religiosity conducted by the University of Californian-Los Angeles (UCLA). Based on these findings, 80 percent of students express a strong interest in spirituality. Almost 8 students in 10 stated their belief in god. The belief in God by the students was further strengthened by findings of this study which claimed that that 80 percent of professors considered themselves to be spiritual persons and have not forgotten the Big Question (Astin et al. 2005). In their views on the importance of religion which has connotation of godliness, Lykoff, Turner, and Lu (1992) emphasize the role of religion and spirituality as part of a persons worldview: According to them, religion and spirituality are among the most important factors which structure human experience, beliefs, values and behaviour, as well as illness patterns. In the Asian context, the importance of religious beliefs is also highlighted by a study by Kim (2003) on the influence of the religious principle on the harmony and well-being of individuals in South Korea. In this study, it was found that Korean citizens who had strong religious principle experienced a higher satisfaction and harmony in life compared to those who did not adhere to any religious belief.

The Malaysian National Philosophy of Education (NPE)

The National Philosophy of Education (NPE) formulated in the year 1987 is the most important document in Malaysia that guides and reinforces the direction and goal of education in the country. Its formulation is also seen as an attempt to bring the separate, ad hoc and implicit aims into a clear statement of national educational policy (Ahmad, 1991; Mohd. Said, 1991). In fact there is a relationship between the philosophy of education which was unwritten and previously based on national documents such as the New Economic Policy, the Five-Year Malaysian Plans and the National Ideology. At present, the philosophy of education based on these documents, has now been written and has become the national philosophy of education (Langgulung, 1993, p.25). With the new written national philosophy of education religious and moral values are taken seriously and given emphasis in the Malaysian educational system with the belief in and devotion to God and also encompassing other aspects of the individual holistic growth namely: competence, responsibility and possession of high moral standards. 161

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1(2009) Clearly, the NPE aims at developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. This is also in line with the first principle of the National Ideology or the Rukunegara which states the belief in God as the first principle followed by other principles namely: the belief and loyalty to the king and the nation, the supremacy of the constitution and its legislation and the importance of ethics and morality. The NPE which was inspired by the Mecca Resolution of 1977 had historically evolved from a long process of nation building in the country since the time of her independence in the year 1957 and is spelled out as follows: Education in Malaysia is an ongoing effort towards further developing the potential of individual in a holistic and integrated manner so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possesses high moral standard, and who are responsible and capable of achieving a high level of well being to contribute to the betterment of the family, society and the nation at large. (Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) 1990) The essence of the NPE is to develop the potential of Malaysian citizens in a holistic and integrated manner so as to be intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. To translate this philosophy into the teaching and learning, each subject matter in the national curriculum must formulate their aims that reflect the NPE. After 20 years of the implementation of the NPE, the introduction of the Integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools in 1988, followed by the Integrated Primary School Curriculum in 1994, is a concerted effort to translate the ideals of the NPE into practice in secondary and primary education. The effectiveness of this implementation should be studied particularly in the teaching and learning of the subject matter in the primary and secondary schools.. The infusion of the belief in God is to be concurrently carried out with the inculcation of the sixteen universal core values which are: cleanliness of body and mind, compassion/empathy, cooperation, courage, moderation, diligence, freedom, gratitude, honesty/integrity, justice, rationality, self-reliance, love, respect, public-spiritedness and humility and modesty. The introduction of these core values in the Integrated Curriculum for Secondary Schools is aimed at eliminating the notion of value-free knowledge (Nordin, 1993) and building a morally-based education system. This process must cut across all subjects taught at the secondary school level through the Integrated Secondary School Curriculum (ISSC) (Habsah, 2000). Thus, it goes without saying that the inculcation and infusion of these two important dimensions, belief in god and inculcation of core values of the National Philosophy of Education (NPE) (Habsah et al, 2003) addresses the fact that character formation based on moral and religious values are deemed important besides academic excellence. The emphasis of this belief can be seen in the following illustration of the subjects taught at the secondary school level in the country. The syllabus of the subject Science though aimed at nurturing scientific and technological culture with emphasis on the development of competitive, dynamic and individuals with high level of perseverance and who can master scientific knowledge and technological competence (Curriculum Development Centre, (CDC, 2006), emphasizes the belief in God is evident in the following topics in the Science subject. As specified by the Curriculum Development Centre, (CDC, 2006) students should be made to realize that the wrong use of knowledge in genetic may result in destruction to human lives. Thus in the teaching of the topic genetic, teachers should infuse this belief., Thus it is pertinent that in conducting scientific experiments and research not only is the belief in God to be instilled, but the moral and ethical principles should also be closely adhered. Though scientific and technological competence are emphasized in line with the world technological and scientific development, the 162

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1 (2009) inculcation of noble values and belief in god must not be overlooked in the teaching of the Science subject. However, the metaphysical position adopted by the CDC (2006) in the teaching of Science is not devoid of its pragmatic dimension. Integrating these two perspectives, in the topic related to natural resources, the belief in God is infused in the learning activities which involve students discussion of the problems highlighting the reality human beings have to face in the depletion of minerals such as petroleum. The learning outcomes expected from these learning activities are the realization of the usefulness of natural resources for human benefit without which human lives are gravely affected. Hence, out of this learning activities students are encouraged to use their rational thinking to analyze and evaluate the importance of these resources to human lives. In doing so, students are concurrently instilled with the belief that these natural resources are endowed by God as the creator of the universe for the benefit of mankind. In essence, the science syllabus focuses on the acquisition of scientific knowledge through critical and creative thinking skills which includes mastery learning, problem-solving, inquiry and discovery learning without sacrificing the inculcation of noble values and belief in god. Thus from the syllabuses of the subjects taught at the secondary school level in Malaysia, the belief in God is concurrently instilled with the 16 noble values as stated earlier. The inculcation of noble values especially patriotism is clearly evident in the syllabus of History. Patriotism in the History syllabus includes the understanding and appreciation of the Malaysia in the light of world history and civilization. Historical development of the nation is discussed from the political, social, economic, religious and social aspects and how the nation patriotic spirit is seen from these dimensions. The current teaching of History is a marked contrast from the subject taught in the earlier years when too much appreciation were centered on the colonial masters (The British) who were once the ruling power of the country. Local warriors which had in the 1960s labeled as pirates are now looked upon as heroes and mytars who had fought for the nation cause. A great sense of pride in being a Malaysian citizen is strongly injected in the teaching and learning of history together with the infusion of belief in God as practiced according to the various faiths: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. In the teaching of the world great religion for instance, students are required to discuss in depth the principles of every religion discussed, hence inculcating the belief and devotion to God amongst the students. The belief in God is definitely emphasized in the teaching of the subject Islamic Education. Islamic belief and values constitute the core of syllabus and aimed at producing Muslim students who are knowledgeable, competent and pious with moral and ethical values based on the teachings of the alQuran and al-Sunnah. This is in accordance to Islam being the official religion in the country whereby Muslim students are made to realize the importance of assuming the responsibility of being Allahs vicegerent and who can contribute towards the nation and civilization at large (MOE, 2000). However, values based on other religious beliefs are not neglected as these are also imbued in the teaching of Moral Education to the non-Muslim students. The syllabus of the subject Moral Education is definitely value-laden. As the name suggests, the aims and objectives of this subject strive towards the formation of a morally-abiding student with an understanding of both the cognitive and affective domains of the moral and ethical values in line with NPE (Curriculum Development Centre, 2000). As an example of the learning outcome to be achieved at the end of the teaching and learning of the topic, Role and Responsibility, students are made to realize and accept the reality that man is entrusted with the duty and responsibility of protecting and preserving the world and its inhabitants. The belief and devotion to God is also infused in the teaching of the topic by making the students realized that this responsibility duty and responsibility is entrusted by God.

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Objective of Study
This study aims at eliciting the views on how the Malaysian secondary school teachers infuse the belief in God based on the Malaysian National Philosophy of Education in their teaching

Methodology
The following discussion will cover methodological aspect of the research including the research design, respondents, interview protocol, collection of data and analysis. Research Design A qualitative research method was deemed suitable in eliciting data on the belief in God held by the Malaysian secondary school teachers in Malaysia. Interviews based on semi-structured open-ended questions were administered to obtain participants view of this belief. Interviews were used in this qualitative study as they permit the participants to describe detailed information on the questions asked. The interviewer also had better control over the types of information received as she/he could ask specific questions to elicit this information (Creswell, 2008). The questions on the one-page teacher-interview schedules mainly focused on the process of teaching and learning in translating the notion of belief in and devotion to God, the school environment, students holistic development as prescribed by the National Philosophy of Education and the constraints teachers faced in carrying out these tasks. Based on the participants feedback and suggestions in the pilot study conducted, the interview schedule was refined by the research team to improve its validity and reliability. Confidentiality was assured to the participants when the interviews were conducted. Data from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and classified into themes and categories based on qualitative approaches. The data and translations were also checked and validated by the research team consisting of lecturers and Associate Professors with expertise in the subjects Mathematics, History, English and Malay Language, Agricultural and Technical Science and Islamic Study. Respondents of Study The respondents of this study consisted of 12 secondary school teachers teaching the subjects representing the science, humanities, technical and religious disciplines. On this basis, the researchers in this study selected teachers teaching Biology, Islamic Education, History, Technical Subject, English Language, Malay Language and Mathematics from the southern state of Negeri Sembilan. Of the total 12 teachers, 2 were History teachers, 2 Mathematics teachers, 1 English Language teacher, 2 Malay Language teachers, 2 Biology teacher, 2 Islamic Education teachers, 1 teaching Agricultural Science teacher and 1 teacher teaching technical subject from a Technical Secondary School. The respondents of the study were from 5 schools in the state chosen. These thirteen respondents were randomly chosen based on the subjects mentioned above from five schools under the following categories: National Secondary School (3), National Secondary Religious School (2) and Technical Secondary School (1). Respondents consisted of four male and eight female teachers with age ranging from 36 and 50 and with five and the half to 30 years of teaching experience. It may be useful to note that the schools and the state chosen are representative of schools of other states in the country as they implement the same curriculum and syllabus which are handed top-down from the Ministry of Education, Malaysia.

Data Collection
The teachers involved in the study were contacted by telephone after getting the approval from their respective school Heads. The semi-structured questions in the interview protocol were set up by the 164

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1 (2009) researchers in this study. They were assigned to conduct the interviews on the 12 participants mentioned above. For each interview, the time taken was about 45 minutes to an hour.

Data Analysis
A thematic analysis method was used to analyze data of the study and the transcribed interviews were done case by case. A research assistant was assigned for the transcribing process.

Findings
Based on the interviews conducted on the 12 teachers on their belief in God as stated in the Malaysian National Philosophy of Education, some common themes were developed from the data. The use of themes is one of the methods of analyzing qualitative data and they form a core element in qualitative data analysis (Creswell, 2008). The following themes described provide an in depth understanding of the central phenomena.

Belief in God from the Perspective of Religion

Almost all of the 12 teachers interviewed believed that all religion teach good values. Hence, the belief in God as prescribed by the Malaysian National Philosophy of Education, should be instilled together with the inculcation of noble values as explicitly stated by the curriculum in the Malaysian secondary schools. All religion believers believe in God and it is important that this belief to be imbued in their teaching to evoke an inner sense of spiritual consciousness amongst the students. In doing so, most of the teachers interviewed were of the view that this belief could be instilled using an integrated approach in teaching (Habsah, 2000) and the following excerpt highlights this point. To me the belief in God is very fundamental for both students and teachers in order to create the love and devotion not only to the Creator but also to mankind. If we do not have this belief, it can lead to other social problems among which are the lack of respect for teachers and also among students themselves as there is no sense of responsibility towards work and the environment. (Biology Teacher 1)

Belief in God from Subject Matter (Biology)Perspective

Each of the12 teachers interviewed presented the following views on the phenomena studied as seen in their content teaching. Teachers teaching Biology agreed that the inculcation of the belief in God was easily integrated in the Science subject especially Biology as the subject centers on living things. Several topics were illustrated which depict the greatness and might of God. Teachers teaching Biology agreed that the belief in God is inherent in every topic of Biology. For instance, the topic on digestion is an illustration of Gods creation of the complex and unique human physiological system as claimed by one of the teachers of the subject in the excerpt below. Man cannot measure to the might and greatness of God even if one is endowed with the greatest knowledge. This can be seen in the work of some scientists whose ability to create and invent is not at par with Gods power to create life. It is easy to instill this belief as it evokes a sense of inner realization and subjugation that our complex being or natures are created by the Creator. I try to instill this in every topic I teach The teacher further illustrates that belief in God is very clear in the teaching of Biology. This is seen in the movement of the birds wings depicting the movement of the airplane and how this had inspired man to invent the airplane. 165

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1(2009) The topic on the human reproduction system particularly the formation of the embryo and life are depictions of Gods creation and the Biology teacher interviewed supported her view by quoting verses from the Holy Quran which assert the following metaphysical truth. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, Proclaim (or Read!) in the name of thy Lord and Created man out of a mere clot of congeal. (Surah Al-Alaq) Biology teachers in this study believe that the content of other Science subjects which are mainly based on facts and objective in nature are explication of the natural phenomena with God being the sole creator. In Biology teaching per se, a sense of gratitude towards God the Almightys benevolence and love for his creations are constantly being evoked. The teachers interviewed felt that this belief is not easily infused in the teaching of the technical subjects.

History
In history teaching, teachers perception of their belief in God are reflected in their views pertaining to civilization, culture and moral values which are constantly being reflected by man. This pint is further supported when the History teachers interviewed pointed out that the subject Islamic education, can also be integrated with History in the teaching of the topic The rise of Islamic Empire where the transmission of Islamic and moral values can take place. Ethical and moral concern which also reflect religious principle and rule are inculcated in one of the topics in History, that is, the murder of the British Resident, J.W. Birch in the year 1874. In this incident as written in the Malaysian history, the killing of the resident as pointed out by one of the respondents, was not morally and religiously justified. This is seen in the following view: For instance, lets look at the topic on Malaysia history on the killing of James Birch by the British resident Datuk Maharaja Lela, a Malay warrior. Though the killing was in the name of Malay pride and bravery, it was not right in terms of religious value and belief as nobody has the right to take another persons life this is one of the moral teachings of any religion which ever it may be.

Islamic Education
Besides Biology, Islamic Education teachers believed that the belief in God is also best instilled in the teaching of the subject. Islamic Education as this belief is directly dealt with according to Islamic religious principles and the Islamic Prophetic tradition. However, teachers teaching this subject also expressed their belief that Islamic Education can be integrated with other subjects like Geography where Gods creation of the universe is reflected in the existence of the rivers, mountains and other forms of landscape. Islamic Education teachers also felt that the ability to use the reasoning faculty in Mathematics is an illustration of Gods gift or endowment to man, hence teachers should highlight this point in their teaching.

Agricultural Science
In the teaching of the subject Agricultural Science, the teachers interviewed agreed that the subject is God-related as it deals with nature, food cultivation, life-stock which are manifestation of Gods creation of life.

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Mathematics
In Mathematics, teachers believe that the precision and perfect nature of mathematical rules and formulas depict Gods perfection. Gods rule and regulation should be followed in the same precise and perfect manner as the rules of Mathematics. This is illustrated in the following. In the teaching of the topic on bearing, if the bearing is 70 degrees, we cannot change it to be 80 degrees, so the path to God is perfect and we must not be swayed from the original straight path as how we cannot change the above bearing

Geography
In the teaching of Geography, one of the respondents presented the following view: It can also be done in the teaching of geography the landscape, the terrains and mountains. Why are these created in a particular geographical pattern by God must have wisdom behind it. As in the Arab lands where wheat is the staple food as the arid land is suitable for wheat cultivation depiction of Gods wisdom in His creation of the universe

Technical Subject
Only 1 respondent out of the 12 interviewed is of the opinion that the technical subject he taught had no bearing at all to the belief in God. According to him, this is due to the technical nature of the discipline and it is totally irrelevant to infuse this belief in his teaching.

Teachers Attitude
Teachers attitude is another theme which reflects the extent of their effort in instilling the belief in God according to the data gathered in this study. Most of the teachers interviewed felt that the main factor in determining the success or failure of instilling this belief depends on the teachers themselves. Since the teachers agreed that belief in God is the central tenet of the NPE, it should be inculcated together with the transmission of the 16 noble values across the curriculum. As majority of the students are believers of various religion namely Islam, Christianity, Buddhist and others (Habsah et al., 2006). Teachers in this study believed that students knowledge can be enhanced with Gods blessing. Hence, it is pertinent that this belief forms a religious obligation on the part of the teachers to have it carried out. Teachers felt that the schools should not only focus on academic and content but strive towards achieving a more balanced curriculum as prescribed by the Integrated Secondary School Curriculum (ISSC) aimed at achieving a holistic and well-balanced students even though this goal may be difficult to achieve. The extent to which the belief in God is infused in the teachers teaching lies in the role teachers as moral exemplars in the classroom. This, according to the respondents interviewed, is important as teachers belief in God must first and foremost be exemplified in their actions in the classroom implementation before instilling it on the students. Hence, regardless, of the teachers religion, belief in God must be manifested in their teaching. On the contrary, there are some respondents of study who did not see it important to instill the belief in God in their teaching. As pointed out by a respondent, the explanation of a certain scientific or geographical phenomena by some teachers was done merely through recollection of facts from the textbooks. This was even seen in the case of the teaching of Islamic Education where no refection was made on Allahs greatness apart from the narration from the texts as seen in the following remarks. I think it all depends on the teachers. Sometimes I see that the Science teachers tend to relate more of the belief in God compared to the Islamic Education teacher. So, I think it all depends on the teachers as some of them only teach what is inside the textbook 167

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1(2009) without relating the content to the spiritual dimension, that is the belief in God. Islamic Education teachers assert that Allah is the Almighty but does not relate the Creators greatness to the students lives. The teachers merely teach directly from the text and the students seem to understand what is inside the text alone For instance, one of the topics in Islamic Education is fear of Allah the Almighty which is found in the textbook. But the point is, to what extent can this belief be manifested and implemented in the lives of the students? If the students do not have a strong value-system or belief, they are devoid of the spiritual element which constitutes the well-balanced personality as desired by the NPE. They have got to be shown good examples to have the intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and physically balanced attributes.

In-Service Courses Attended

Out of the 12 teachers interviewed, only 1 teacher claimed to have attended a course which was related to the belief in God. In the Science in-service course attended, the teacher was asked to reflect on the existence of man with God as the creator. However, most of the in-service courses attended according to the respondents, had very little notion on the belief in God even though this forms the pivot of the NPE and emphasis in the secondary school curriculum as discussed earlier. The belief in God had not been given a specific emphasis in most of the courses attended according to the teachers in this study in spite of its importance as stated in the curriculum. As agents of change in the lives and well-being of the students, this belief must be emphasized.

Constraints
Almost every respondent interviewed in this study expressed their views on the constraints they faced in their effort to instill this belief. Much as they strived to infuse the belief, they were constantly faced with several problems such as the urgency to complete the content in the syllabus. As the education system of Malaysia is very examination and content focused, teachers in this study were faced with the dilemma of having to complete the syllabus and the need to infuse belief with the former always being given the top-most priority. Even if the statements of the NPE is value-laden with the belief in God being its central tenet, the contradicting reality is that there had never been any question in the examination so far which was related to belief in God apart for the questions in the Islamic Education subject. Furthermore, the method of inculcating this belief is not clearly prescribed as claimed by one of the respondents interviewed. Hence, it is not surprising that very little effort had been taken by teachers in general in instilling this belief. Looking at the infusion of the belief in God from the school practice context, all the respondents in this study agreed that they had to face the dilemma of having to be actively involved in too many co-curricular activities while maintaining to achieve outstanding academic records based on the national examinations. Due to the constraint of time, teachers in this study felt that completing the syllabus was their most important task followed by obtaining outstanding success on the part of the students. Hence, very few activities in the co-curriculum were belief-in-God based as the schools they were teaching were always in favour of academic rather spiritual or religious activities. Belief in God as claimed by some of the respondents was mainly done spontaneously and more often, priority was always given to additional classes on the teaching and guidance of various in subjects instead of religious or spiritual-based activities. An interesting point to highlight in this paper is that only one respondent out of the twelve interviewed was of the opinion that the technical subject he taught had no relation at all to the belief in God. According to him, this was due to the technical nature of the discipline and it was not relevant to 168

European Journal of Social Sciences Volume 8, Number 1 (2009) infuse this belief in his teaching. He agreed that the belief in God was easier done in the content of other subjects. However, he also asserted like the other respondents that the main constraint he had to face was completing the syllabus and obtaining success in the examinations.

Conclusion
This study had shown that teachers belief in God which is the main principle underlying the Malaysian National Philosophy of Education is firmly adhered by the teachers except for 1 teacher who had a rather contrasting view. Infusion of this belief as discussed above as perceived by them can be done across subjects predominantly in the Science subject, Biology, Islamic Education, Moral Education and Agricultural Science. The findings of this study supports the findings of the study by Habsah et al (2003) which showed that secondary school teachers in Malaysia held a strong belief in God. However, in infusing this belief teachers are faced with many constraints, the main ones being having to complete the syllabus and to eventually achieve outstanding success in the national examinations. Thus, the belief in God as explicitly stated in the Malaysian National Philosophy of Education together with the aim of an effective inculcation of noble values needs to be further reexamined at the ministry level if Malaysia is indeed serious in translating the ideals of the philosophy with belief in God as the central tenet into real classroom implementation.

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