Wednesday, October 3, 2007

malaysian education-again

ok,this is like...a *milder* topic..*shrug* anyway, i dont know..maybe im wrong or too innocent-minded...i'll as well invite you to see it yourself and comment on it...




i'll talk about 'foundation'...

you see,the way they write the syllabus N.O.W is so obviously wrong...i mean,have problem.

1. do you ever remember that the lecturer told you to forget about the 'science' you learnt in lower grades and accept the new ones with different concepts? even maths? like...they tell you to froget about light goes in straight line and instead it is...(bla bla..) what's that?are you supposed to tell you're student those? and the science books now, lots of errors and unsynchronised- does coffee dissolves or not?(well,then the teacher'll say instant ones will and the others wont since different books have different answers,and they will ask-mam,how do i differentiate instant ones from non-instant ones...its not written there...???)..what..just straight tell them it does...it creates speculation on those who write the books man...

2. history. need i say more or what?

3. specifically-english. sounds,build up the reading and speaking skills first instead of writing and exams. because you see, the problem is such big now that they cant continue to learn in class for the weak ones..because their foundation is not well-built..i.e. you bla about this and that hoping they will accept,absorb and know while all they can do is stare at you..coz they dont understand a word of yours!!! i took a book from 1970..guess what?i feel awed at the quality...so well structured!! you have to get in pace with the young brains,not as you thought!! LUCKILY, though,i still see some good books, a phonics one..the teacher apparently is really experienced and understanding...(ahem,now the speculation on how did they choose the writers?)

-sigh-starting it right is so important..

and when i talk to my mum,all she said is if you think you're so right then go ahead and write the syllabus,i said of coz i will..duh..

11 comments:

Gilgamesh said...

Hey.. Mind me asking who's facing these problems? A friend or relative of yours? Just 38...
Hmmm... Let me see... A lot has changed since the beginning of time.. Hahaha.. I mean the beginning of our generation's education structure...
About textbooks now right... There are alot of so-called facts but it's just that the ppl that wrote the textbooks haven't done much research in the first place! I know what you mean about the coffee dissolving issue... Hahaha.. I've been thru situations like these before... No wonder kids nowadays are so confused cos their teachers are not sure themselves!
I overheard a parent saying to my mom the other day... "What is happening to the education system now?" Then she started complaining about how irrelevant info can get into science and maths books especially...
Btw... Sometimes we tend to think that the old way was better and maybe you're right but wouldn't that be a little one-sided? I mean don't get me wrong here, there are good stuff in those old books but don't push aside new developments either...
Like you said.. You CAN change the syllabus if you want to... It's not easy but you can try... I'll back you up in case you need help... Hahahaha...
You touch on 'building the foundation' right? Yeah, I would agree with you that having a strong foundation is important but if we're talking about sec. school kids then my question would be how can we help them?
Of course you'll say that "That's y foundation is SO important!" but these kids r the 'unfortunate' ones who DID NOT have the base...
I'm sure you'll be able to think of something right? Hahahaha...

ViViEnNe said...

yup..when i look at them..so unfortunate ones..and its not that they dont want to study but they dont understand a word..and we did counselling on them helping them out on every problem..but,we cant do it for long...well,if i get into the edu ministry =p heheh..dreaming...but then i'll b invovled or seeing the *bad* things inside..ya know what i mean..sigh...

ViViEnNe said...

oh and specifically,my students are facing those,and i myself had faced those before.

KahJoon said...

my suggestions are read more newspapers, encyclopedias, books, magazines and watch more tv..don't just depend on textbook and teachers..kids nowadays so bengang bcoz everyday stuck in front of pc ma..this duno that duno..

ViViEnNe said...

yo!!i agree n totally support ur idea kj!!haha..ya,watch more of other things,that's wt i did too 'when i was young'..hahah..

Mc Chaoz said...

Texbook please lah. How sure are we that what we learn is the truth. The hartal thing showed me that what we learn is not the truth. It is want we are sppose to learn. Memang betul cakap Kah Joon.

ViViEnNe said...

i think there ARE truths but nt fully revealed?

Gilgamesh said...

Hmmm... I think Viv has a point here...

I mean think about it... It's kinda typical for higher authority to 'educate' the new generation the 'right' way... U know what I'm saying...

To them, it's not like they're hiding info but rather it's not as important as the other facts, i.e. the history books...

So I guess it's up to us to find out from the elders and of course for the elders themselves to really come out of the spotlight and share what they've been thru... It's a lot of work, and passion is required, i.e. HR...

But at least now, we're all pretty aware of the situation in M'sia right? Have pride in knowing all these and spread the word... Hahahaha.. I sound like some evangelist! Hahaha... Just KK..

Carmen N said...

Mich is absolutely right about the govt always trying to teach its citizens the "right" way.

Take the example of Japan. When I went to college, I had a best friend, Junko Kimura, who was from Osaka. We were talking about what we learnt in schools one day, comparing the different systems... somehow, a bunch of us from Asia ended up talking about the Japanese occupation of Asia and how the Japanese army brutally tortured a lot of people, including Malaysians.

You know what? Junko was stunned! She literally could not understand what we were talking about. She said... wait a minute... Japanese were the victims during World War 2. We were bombed in a nuclear attack and we suffered too.

Apparently, the Japanese Ministry of Education FAILED to give their students textbooks that said THEY colonized Asia and tortured people. The textbooks said NOTHING about what the army did. It focused mostly on the nuclear attack and the attack on Pearl Harbour, which was seen as a pre-emptive strike on America.

hahahahah.... SEE???

History is always told from the point of view of the victors as I mentioned in another comment. But that's not my quote though. Someone famous said it but I don't remember who.

Needless to say, Junko was terribly upset that she didn't know that aspect of her country's history. And from then on, she would always read up on her own to find out the "truth" not told in textbooks.

So, should we trust our textbooks? If the Japanese govt can do it, why not ours??

amy2kyo said...

I was shocked to know that the Jap's gov could just forget about what the armies did back then. Jap Occupation is horrible, so I guess that is why they hid it from the citizens. Else maybe those people would rebel.

But then, what's the point of hiding the truth under the pillows? You can hide it from the people around you but sooner or later you'll find out about it. Right?

We can trust our textbooks, why not? The gov doesn't change the history but to censor them. The only thing that bothers us is the untold stories.

I wonder if other countries besides ours and Jap did the same thing, burying the truth of everything 6 feet under. Shrugs.

Gilgamesh said...

I believe not only M'sia and Japan are going thru this kinda stuff... Other countries like Korea and China too have some difficulties when publishing history textbooks...

Take the Nanjing Massacre for instance... Many Chinese and Japanese were not aware of that incident, and even if they knew, the facts just weren't all right...

Sad to say that these governments are just like humans... They have their own reasons to NOT disclose such stuff to the ppl...

Maybe it's just that the gov. are scared... Scared that it'll ruin their reputation as the good guys and tarnish their credibility.. You know what I mean?

It's just like us, if we did something (usually something bad), we'd most likely not tell ppl about it but rather the improv. version which makes us look better...

Or maybe, sometimes ppl just want a fresh start to life and they just keep it a secret... Who knows? Maybe there's good, maybe there's bad... Perhaps, our country needs a very super-genius-critical-thinking philosopher and historian to guide the new gen. when reading up about our history... That way, if any negative reaction comes up, they have a panel, sort of like a moderator, to explain things...

Sometimes ppl go berserk and crazy cos they're not well informed about certain issues... They don't know enough facts... Cos we can have facts without thinking but we can't have thinking without facts... Hahaha... But can't blame them really.. Hahaha...

But of course, I think it's not appropriate to 'bury' our past because for those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it, am I right?

Like Amy said... What Japan did was horrible... Haih... I feel sometimes ppl just wanna forget... The feeling of sadness and despair was just too overwhelming... But I guess that doesn't give them the right to keep it from the young ones... Hmmmm....

(I need to think hard and long on this issue...)