Teo-Education.Com

29th July, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Society needs to be made aware of the importance of protecting and empowering children to enable them to fulfill their future potential as productive human beings, said the prime minister’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

She said children were the most sensitive and vulnerable segment of society and this made them an easy target of crimes and victims of violence.

“Crimes against children are the most appalling problems globally. We are constantly being inundated with news about how children are being abused in different ways, be it mentally or physically.

“Hence, we need to forge forward and create a society that is sensitive towards the prevention of crimes against our children.”

Rosmah said this in her speech at the MoU-signing ceremony between the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation and Axxa Affin Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad for the “My Child Safety Programme” campaign, here, yesterday.

Rosmah said society should develop skills and identify the resources they required to understand children’s needs so that they were able to effectively shield their children from being harmed.

“Another possible measure in creating a crime prevention-sensitive society is by encouraging the public to get involved and expose the wrongdoings,” she said.

As such, she wants the media to continue playing a critical role in highlighting the issues in order to generate public awareness and educate society on violence and crime against children and their protection.

Read more @ http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/40992

SETTING the minimum age for marriage at 18 seems the enlighted and modern thing to do, but that and other demands of the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) could go against long established Muslim conventions. A solution to this dilemma may be found through the concept of maqasid, or higher goals, of the syariah.

With child marriage, Muslims who believe that syariah is a blessing to the world are forced to embrace a few lecherous old men who want to marry defenceless young girls. They inevitably have to hear that Aishah, wife of the Prophet, was married at a young age. While there are historical pieces of evidence that she was anywhere from 9 to 19 or older when she was married, the real issue is not the age of the girl, but maturity, and together with maturity, a guarantee that her interests are defended.

Aishah, in any case, is sui generis, and famous for her sense of right. Whatever her age, she was never one to be pushed around.
On the other side, Cedaw originates from an idea that there are universal truths, which just happen to have arisen in a secular, Western context. In this context, the focus of providing for women’s rights in marriage is age. Right now, the syariah court has the opportunity to assess marriage applications, conduct interviews, and take time to decide whether a young female is fit for marriage. The worldview of Cedaw says we should fix an age, and that’s the end of the story.

Also, we find a tendency to want to push age limits up — to try to make laws stricter, in order to accomplish other things that may be desirable. We know that children born to girls just after puberty are not as healthy, and we know that marriage is difficult in modern societies and requires the resources (financial, psychological, etc) that generally come later in life rather than earlier.

by Dr. Eric Winkel, a principal research fellow at the International Institute of Adanced Islamic Studies Malaysia.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/17chide/Article/

THE dour-looking participants trooped into the cavernous hall at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre and arranged themselves around a large oval table for the roundtable.

It was an overcast Tuesday morning and they were there for the second and final session organised by the Education Ministry to glean feedback on whether the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah and Penilaian Menengah Rendah examinations should be scrapped.

Thirty-three of the 100 attendees were picked by Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom, who chaired the session, to present their arguments. Most spoke over the allotted time and had to be “ding-dinged” off by a warning bell. The rest were told to fill in their thoughts on a form. The time given to each participant to speak might have been short but their message was clear — retain both exams.

The prevailing sentiment was why fix something that ain’t broke.

Some of the participants shared what they said during the session. Among them:
- “If the exams are scrapped, what kind of creature are we going to replace it with?”;

- “Set up a royal commission of inquiry on education”;

- “Are teachers ready? No, they are not.”;

- “We were shown several slides by the ministry of the new school-based assessment system in full detail before the session began. Does this mean there is already a decision to abolish?”;

- “We must first have a competent teaching workforce. If we do not, it does not matter what policy is introduced. It just won’t work. I’ve asked several teachers how events in World War 1 led to World War 2 and none of them could give me the answer. But ask them the dates and they have it.”;

- “I was called a Bengali (by some teachers). They can’t even tell the difference between Bengali and Punjabi.”;

- “The ministry is to be blamed to a certain extent for fanning the obsession with As. These days, we even have A+.”;

- “Students are not participating in sports not because the system is exam-oriented but because there are not enough facilities in schools.”;

- “Publishers will not be able to cope if school-based assessments are suddenly introduced. We need at least until 2012 to be ready.”; and,

- “Shouldn’t this question be answered by the experts and not all of us?”

Participants at the first roundtable on July 19 did not share the same views and said that the two exams should go. The composition of attendees differed vastly, however, and comprised senior officials of the ministry, state education directors, teachers unions and associations, principals, headmasters and school counsellors.

by Chok Suat Ling.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/17sli/Article/

THE move to allow graduate teachers to participate in politics has been met with a mixed response. As schools are for education, not for politics, and it would be unprofessional and unethical for those at the chalkface to use the schoolyard as a political barnstorm, the understandable concern is that these teachers cum politicians would not be able to leave their political hats at the school gate and behave as professionals in the classroom. Clearly, it’s legitimate to expect teachers not to be partisan or prejudiced, racist or sexist, unfair or unjust.

As a general rule, civil servants must refrain from any activity which is likely to interfere with the impartial discharge of their duties or which could give rise to the impression of bias in the eyes of the public. Indeed, in line with the ethos of political neutrality, regardless of changes in the legislative branch of government, the public rightly expects those working in the civil branches of government to offer objective advice to the elected leaders and conscientiously implement their policies.

However, this is an argument for strictly excluding the bureaucratic branch from partisan political activities rather than a blanket ban on the entire body of those employed in the civil service. Certainly, the statutory intent of Regulation 21 of the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993 was to ensure political impartiality and prevent divided loyalties and prejudiced service. However, the principle seems to have been to impose political restrictions on those in the higher levels of the hierarchy who could influence policy and affect implementation but to exempt those in the clerical grades and support staff who carry out the routine work as directed by the higher-level administrators.

NST Editorial.

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Teachersinpolitics/Article/
Read more: Teachers in politics http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Teachersinpolitics/Article/#ixzz0v7Q0Z7VP

Jainab (centre) flanked by Kamaruzaman (2nd from left), Bormer (left), Balakrishnan (2nd from right) and Asmady during the launch.

KOTA KINABALU: Unemployment among Sabahan youths is still occurring despite the various efforts undertaken by Resource Development and Information Technology Ministry to address it.

Its assistant minister, Datuk Jainab Ahmad Ayid said at the launch of the Regional Conference entitled ‘Partnership Between Industry and Community’ at 1Borneo near here yesterday that they have organized courses to help the unemployed youths eventually find employment.

“However, we are still finding out that some of the youths who have taken up the courses remain unemployed,” she said.

She attributed that the youths unemployment were possibly due to their attitude towards work.

“I have received a lot of requests from youths wanting to work for the government. But there are a lot of opportunities available in various other venues. The hotel sector for example, plantation and factories,” she said.

She added that Sabah higher learning institutes such as Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) produces between 3,000 and 4,000 new graduates annually.

Many of these new graduates are eyeing to nab jobs at the public sector, she said.

She said that these graduates should become more innovative, creative, and diligent and ready to grab the opportunities that present themselves to them.

Read more @ http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/40993

Many college students struggle with their reading assignments. As a teacher educator with expertise in reading development and disability, I find it useful to model effective reading strategies and provide immediate feedback on those strategies frequently used by students. One versatile method I use with undergraduates involves examination of what they underline (or highlight). Throughout the semester, I ask students to refer to their assigned readings and share with the class passages they underlined and reasons for their selection. In this way, the types of thinking that accompanies purposeful, active reading become more apparent.

Students underline passages in the reading for a variety of reasons. They may underline based on prior knowledge. In these cases, my feedback explicitly encourages them to make these connections and prompts them to draw upon what they know as they read in all their classes. Other times, students underline what they think is an important point. I see this as an opportunity to build content knowledge. My feedback often takes the form of questions and aims to help them examine concepts and relationships expressed in the text in greater depth or from a different perspective.

When students highlight too much
Sometimes students underline what they don’t understand. They might highlight secondary points or, more typically, they highlight too much, leaving few sentences untouched. On these occasions, I try to demonstrate how I approach the text. I think aloud as I read and make my thinking visible as I switch back and forth from actually reading phrases, sentences, and passages to interpretation. I make predictions and confirm or revise them as I read on. I paraphrase and evaluate my own ability to infer the author’s points. In this way, students observe a model of active meaning construction.

Through my demonstrations and feedback, students learn to become more purposeful and selective about what they underline. They become more aware of their level of understanding, knowing when to reread and seek clarification.

I use material from the text selectively but consistently, and the approaches I demonstrate evolve across the course. Passages selected for class examination relate to essential content. Thus, reading demonstrations and discussions are targeted and kept short, usually lasting less than 20 minutes. At the beginning of the semester, an examination of text underlines is used as a review; later it is a previewing strategy before a reading assignment is completed. After a few demonstrations, I ask students to work with a peer and compare passage underlines, noting what was of interest, of importance, or would benefit from clarification. The approach includes other reading comprehension strategies, such as self-questioning. Following instructor modeling, students write questions that they have about the text in the margins or on sticky notes. Through repeated practice, students become more independent and confident readers.

By semester’s end, there are fewer students who fail to bring the assigned reading material to class and even fewer with clean texts, free of markings and notes. Students quickly learn that assigned readings are an integral part of class and become more accountable for their own learning.

Dr. Lydia Conca, a professor at Saint Joseph College, CT.

Read more @ http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/helping-students-understand-what-they-read/

Here are my top ten ways to prevent first year teacher burnout. All of these ways have made my first year a success so far. By no means am I perfect, but I am learning each day and I am loving every minute of it!

1. Simplify your life! You will need lots of extra time outside of school.
2. Continue your hobbies or interests outside of school for leisure time.
3. Stay positive and stay around positive people. Negative feeds negative.
4. Time management. Always use your time wisely. It is amazing what you can accomplish in a 30 minute break!
5. Set priorities. Concentrate on what needs to be done for the day. Work on  what comes next later. Don’t try to do everything at once and don’t expect to be perfect just yet.
6. Self – evaluate! Reflect! Do not be overwhelmed by “bad days.” Reward yourself for the “good” things you did each day and learn the “mistakes”.
7. Organize! Have a specific place for everything!
8. Ask lots of questions! You never know until you  ask!
9. Reach out for support both in and out of school!
10. Get plenty of rest, exercise, and eat healthy. Your students need you each and every day!

Teaching has been the most rewarding thing in my life! Knowing that I am impacting someone else’s life makes all of the time and money I spend worth it!.

by Tara Hollomon

Cedar Road Elementary, Chesapeake.

Read more @ http://www.jmu.edu/madison/teacher/advice/TopTen%20Burnout.pdf

1. Good teaching is as much about passion as it is about reason. It’s about not only motivating students to learn, but teaching them how to learn, and doing so in a manner that is relevant, meaningful, and memorable. It’s about caring for your craft, having a passion for it, and conveying that passion to everyone, most importantly to your students.
2. Good teaching is about substance and treating students as consumers of knowledge. It’s about doing your best to keep on top of your field, reading sources, inside and outside of your areas of expertise, and being at the leading edge as often as possible. But knowledge is not confined to scholarly journals.
3. Good teaching is also about bridging the gap between theory and practice. It’s about leaving the ivory tower and immersing oneself in the field, talking to, consulting with, and assisting practitioners, and liaisoning with their communities.Good teaching is about listening, questioning, being responsive, and remembering that each student and class is different. It’s about eliciting responses and developing the oral communication skills of the quiet students. It’s about pushing students to excel; at the same time, it’s about being human, respecting others, and being professional at all times.
4. Good teaching is about not always having a fixed agenda and being rigid, but being flexible, fluid, experimenting, and having the confidence to react and adjust to changing circumstances. It’s about getting only 10 percent of what you wanted to do in a class done and still feeling good. It’s about deviating from the course syllabus or lecture schedule easily when there is more and better learning elsewhere. Good teaching is about the creative balance between being an authoritarian dictator on the one hand and a pushover on the other.
5. Good teaching is also about style. Should good teaching be entertaining? You bet! Does this mean that it lacks in substance? Not a chance! Effective teaching is not about being locked with both hands glued to a podium or having your eyes fixated on a slide projector while you drone on. Good teachers work the room and every student in it. They realize that they are the conductors and the class is the orchestra. All students play different instruments and at varying proficiencies.
6. This is very important — good teaching is about humor. It’s about being self-deprecating and not taking yourself too seriously. It’s often about making innocuous jokes, mostly at your own expense, so that the ice breaks and students learn in a more relaxed atmosphere where you, like them, are human with your own share of faults and shortcomings.
7. Good teaching is about caring, nurturing, and developing minds and talents. It’s about devoting time, often invisible, to every student. It’s also about the thankless hours of grading, designing or redesigning courses, and preparing materials to still further enhance instruction.
8. Good teaching is supported by strong and visionary leadership, and very tangible institutional support — resources, personnel, and funds. Good teaching is continually reinforced by an overarching vision that transcends the entire organization — from full professors to part-time instructors — and is reflected in what is said, but more importantly by what is done.
9. Good teaching is about mentoring between senior and junior faculty, teamwork, and being recognized and promoted by one’s peers. Effective teaching should also be rewarded, and poor teaching needs to be remediated through training and development programs.
10. At the end of the day, good teaching is about having fun, experiencing pleasure and intrinsic rewards ... like locking eyes with a student in the back row and seeing the synapses and neurons connecting, thoughts being formed, the person becoming better, and a smile cracking across a face as learning all of a sudden happens. Good teachers practice their craft not for the money or because they have to, but because they truly enjoy it and because they want to. Good teachers couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

by Richard Leblanc,

York University, Ontario.

Read more @ http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/topten.htm

MALAYSIA hopes to cooperate more with South Korea in education and an agreement on technical assistance in the field is on the cards.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan, whom he met yesterday, had reacted positively to a Malaysian proposal for such an agreement.

“We are to sign a significant memorandum of understanding on education, hopefully before the official visit of South Korean president (Lee Myung-bak) later this year,” he said at the end of his working visit here. Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, stressed it was important for Malaysia to learn from successful South Korean education initiatives such as its National Education Information System (NEIS).

NEIS is an integrated computer system where information on students are stored and could be accessed and utilised through the Internet by the teachers, parents and education authorities.

All schools in South Korea have been connected to the Net since 10 years ago, while almost all households have the same access. Muhyiddin said the pending agreement on cooperation between the education authorities of the two countries would also include matters such as co-curriculum, teachers’ training, vocational education, sports and the use of information and communication technology in education.

He said Chung had indicated that South Korea had always been keen to enhance its bilateral ties with Malaysia and promote interaction between the leaders, peoples and businesses of both countries.

Earlier, during his visit to South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group at Samsung City near here, Muhyiddin said Kuala Lumpur would continue to make it easier for foreigners to plan and operate their investments in Malaysia by cutting red tape and coordinating investment administration between the federal and state governments. He said he told the Samsung management that the government was very supportive and appreciative of its investments in Malaysia.

“We will do our best to make it easier for Samsung to operate in our country and expand its investments.”

Read more @ http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/4ss/Article