Bases For Curriculum Change and

Improvement
Dr Abdul Rahim Hamdan

PSYCHOLOGICAL BASES
Children and youth are continually changing in biological,
intellectual and other ways. Physically, children and
youth are taller, heavier, healthier than they were a few
decades ago. Puberty and sex drives appear at an
earlier age.

Implications on the curriculum.

Intellectually, children are developing faster. Teaching

strategies has to be adapted to cater for the children's

changing intellectual needs.
With the advance of technology, there are a wide and
varied source of information accessible to them.

Implications on the curriculum.

To make up for the lack of attention and monitoring at home,
school needs to provide an environment more conducive for
healthy growth, psychologically.
The following school practices have negative psychological
impacts on students and therefore need revising.
i. Rigid teaching strategy
ii. Overcrowding, with results in heavy class loads, pupil
anonymity, shallow teacher-pupil relationships and loss of
privacy.
iii. Curricular-tracking or `streaming'.
iv. Single textbooks and one-way experiences, leading to
conformity and boredom.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FORCES

The following are some of the major societal
forces affecting our curriculum.
1. The need for greater racial integration is
increasingly more evident as studies have shown
that our racial unity is at an all time low at the
present.
2. Globalization is a world wide phenomena. There
is an urgent need to equip our workforce with the
necessary skills and ability to survive the global
competition.
3. Nation building is another role entrusted by the
society upon the schools.

THE NATURE OF SUBJECT MATTER

The nature of subject matter is becoming more

important as a criterion of content selection, and
thus of curriculum improvement.
This is because the explosion of knowledge is
reaching a point at which it is necessary to
select for teaching those items of knowledge
that seems most significant and to eliminate
much that is inconsequential.

The following are examples of curriculum changes

implemented in Malaysia over the recent years due to
the nature of subject matter.
1.

2.

Acquisition of knowledge in science and technology is recognized

as the most important prerequisite for any nation to move forward
in terms of economic development. Knowledge in science and
technology is exploding at an unprecedented rate. The MOE had
set the ratio for students enrollment into the `science stream' to
be sixty percent of the total intake for any year.
Subject matter as a learning content, can be divided into two. One
is those subjects dealing with `substance' the other those dealing
with ` process'. For example, mathematic theories are `substance'
while reading skill is `process'.

Changes and improvements undertaken in

our
curriculum.
1.
Smart
schools and 'Sekolah Bestari' are two examples

where the advancement in information technology is

brought into classroom to enhance learning experience.
Another example is the continuous 'in-service training' to
equip teachers with the necessary ICT skills needed for
classroom teaching.
2. The recent emphasis on `values education' whereby a
teacher has to incorporate at least one moral value in
every teaching and learning session.

Changes and improvements undertaken in

our curriculum.
3. Single session school is gradually being implemented. All new

schools in Malaysia are now `single session school' which means

that the school premises will not be used for another session of
school in the afternoon. This allows for extra curricular activities
being conducted in the afternoon. This practice has various positive
implications, one of which is nurturing better social and leadership
skills among students. With less free time in their hands, students
are forced to focus on the important things. This is seen as a
solution to the social ills mentioned above.

Changes and improvements undertaken

in our curriculum.
4. The recent installation of 'cctv' in school premises. The gadgets

are installed not only at the school entrance. Some schools go

further by installing them at various spots in the school , the most
common is atop the stairs. This is a step taken to curb the
worsening disciplinary problems in school.
5. Small class size, with no more than thirty pupils per class. Small
class size has various positive implications, one of which is greater
individual attention beinggiven to students, deeper and more
meaning interrelationships between teacher and students and
among peers.

Changes and improvements undertaken

in our curriculum.
6. Continuous research on improvements in teaching method is

being carried out by 'EPRD'. The branch of MOE ensures that every
academic department in school produces at least one `action
research' a year. Action research is the form of research suitable for
finding better teaching method for a particular topic in a subject.
7. The recent emphasis on the usage of various teaching materials
in classroom activities. Teachers performance evaluation takes into
account his/her usage of teaching materials in teaching and learning
activities.
8. Fifteen minutes of every Friday morning is allocated for `moral
education' whereby all the different races are given their own
respective `religious guidance'.