Preliminary-Blueprint-Eng

5-9
The Roadmap: Transforming the teaching
profession into a profession of choice
The Ministry remains committed to its long-standing policy
of strengthening the teaching profession to make it a vibrant,
rewarding, and prestigious profession in Malaysia. Drawing on the
successes of previous efforts, and preliminary engagements with
teachers and teacher unions, the Ministry proposes rolling out a new
Teacher Career Package in waves. This Career Package will address
challenges currently faced by teachers at each point in a teacher’s
career, from recruitment and teacher training through to retirement.
It encompasses raising entry standards, increasing individualised
continuous professional development opportunities, enabling teacher
progression by competencies and performance, and creating a peer-led
culture of excellence.
Wave 1 (2013 to 2015): Improving standards
and support systems
Wave 1 will focus on raising professional standards, and improving
support systems and working environments. Four measures will
be taken: (i) raising entry standards; (ii) linking performance to
competencies; (iii) increasing investment in continuous professional
development; and (iv) reducing the administrative burden on teachers.
Collectively, these measures are intended to provide teachers with the
support and opportunities needed to boost their skills and excel at
their jobs.
Raising entry standards for teacher trainees and new intakes
The Ministry will further tighten its selection process for IPG intakes,
with the intent of moving to an end-state where teacher trainees are
only selected from the top 30% of any graduating class. The Ministry
may also reduce the size of its intake if the applicant pool for any given
year has fewer qualified candidates. Further, the Ministry will work
with IPTAs to ensure that comparable entry standards are set for their
teacher training programmes.
The Ministry will also put in place more stringent standards for
graduation from teacher training programmes into teaching roles at
the Ministry. This means that in the near future, graduates will only be
hired if they can demonstrate, through their practicum placement and
ongoing coursework, that they have met the minimum competencies
expected of a fresh, incoming teacher. This is to ensure that only the
best and most qualified teachers enter the system. Existing teacher
trainees in IPGs and IPTAs will not be affected by this policy.
The Ministry is also looking into gradually scaling back its annual intake
of approximately 15,000 teachers by up to 50% over the next five years.
This is due to the fact that absolute teacher shortages are no longer
an issue for the system. Coupled with normal retirement rates, this is
projected to lead to a net reduction of the current cohort size by at least
10% by 2025. The Ministry will monitor these changes to cohort size to
ensure that any reduction will not come at the expense of class sizes or
student outcomes. Rather, this cohort reduction will be made possible
by optimising how teachers spend their time, and improving their
productivity.
Strengthening the link between performance and competencies
Improving the quality of teachers starts with a clear articulation of
what excellence in the teaching profession looks like. The Ministry will
then be better able to identify which areas teachers need support in,
and will then provide as much targeted support as possible.
To that end, the Ministry will develop a single instrument that clearly
articulates the competencies expected of teachers of different tenure levels
across four dimensions: teaching and learning, professional values, nonclassroom
activities, and professional contributions. This instrument will
be piloted in 2013 and rolled out by 2014. The intent is for this instrument
to replace all other instruments currently in use, including the LNPT.
EXHIBIT 5-10
Example of competency expectations against proposed dimensions
Dimensions
Level
1 2 3 4 5 6
I
Teaching and
Learning
▪ Lesson plans have
clear objectives.
Choice of
▪ Lesson plans have
clear objectives that
can be measured.
▪ Lesson plans have
clear objectives that
are measurable and
▪ Lesson preparation
▪ …
instructional tools
may not be
appropriate
Activities planned to
meet objectives with
appropriate
tailored to students’
abilities. Activities
planned to meet
instructional tools objectives using
engaging
instructional tools
▪ Unable to give full ▪ Sometimes gives ▪ Gives full dedication
contribution to contribution to and contribution to
assigned tasks assigned tasks his assigned tasks
Professional
II
values
▪ …
▪ …
Non-classroom
III
activities
▪ …
▪ …
Professional
IV
Contributions
▪ Unable to prepare
special task plan
▪ Does not reflect on
self improvement
▪ Prepares a plan for
special tasks but not
comprehensive or
clear.
▪ Seeks out self
improvement for
career learning
▪ Prepares full
special task plan
that is clear, precise
and
comprehensive.
▪ Seeks out relevant
self improvement
for career
Under the new evaluation instrument (see Exhibit 5-10), it is proposed
that ~60% be based on the teachers’ effectiveness in teaching students.
This will be determined both by observations of the teacher in the
classroom, as well as the student outcomes of the classes the teacher
works with. The Ministry also proposes using more than one evaluator
for each teacher, including a peer evaluator, and creating an appeals
process for teachers who disagree with their evaluation. The objective is to
create an approach that ensures greater consistency and objectivity across
evaluations and to instil a stronger performance culture in schools.
Emphasising continuous professional development
The Ministry recognises that teachers may need assistance in meeting
the new competencies expected of them, and is deeply committed to
providing teachers with the support they need to succeed. As such, the
Ministry will build up its portfolio of training programmes to address
each aspect of the competency requirements in the new instrument.
Some of these modules will cover fundamental competencies expected
of all teachers, such as pedagogy to support development of students’
higher-order thinking, and will therefore be made compulsory.
Others will be electives that teachers can choose from depending on
their personal strengths and interests, or the areas for development
identified via the new instrument. In developing this portfolio, the
Ministry will focus more on school-based learning programmes
which international research shows to be the most effective form of
professional development.