Page 136 - Jurnal Kurikulum BPK 2020

Reminiscing The Transformation Of Curriculum Design In The Malaysian
National School Curriculum
From 1980s To 2010s

Ng Soo Boon, PhD
Curriculum Development Malaysia
sooboonng@yahoo.com

Abstract

There are four important elements in a curriculum, these are learning objectives, content
matter, organisation and delivery of the content matter to bring about most impactful learning
and assessment of the learning. Curriculum designing is the process of conceptualising and
organising these elements into a coherent system based on the aspiration of the nation, local
and global community, as well as the discipline of knowledge itself. This complex process is
influenced by multiple factors also known as sources of curriculum design including
philosophical, societal, political, cultural, historical, developmental psychology, futuristic and
disciplinary knowledge itself. The Malaysian national curriculum has evolved since
independence of the country, various changes in the curriculum design have been formulated
in accordance to the perceived current and future need. This paper attempts to capture these
changes across 3 ½ decades, analysing rationale of the changes and its effect onto the
Malaysian education system. The experience and wisdom accumulated through the
transformations from Integrated Curriculum Design (1980s) to the Discipline-cognitive Design
(1990s) to the current Standard-based Design (2010s) has prepared the Ministry in its future
exploration and deliberations of curriculum design to cater for the dynamic needs of the
individual, nation and global world.

EPILOGUE

Curriculum is generally accepted as the plan of learning, the plan that describes the
aspired learning outcomes to be achieved through the learning processes ascribed to a set of
learning principles determined by experts and stakeholders according to the need of the local
communities and country. In the Malaysian context, ‘curriculum’ is defined as “the educational
plan consisting of the knowledge, skills, values and norms, cultural elements and beliefs which
are the choices of the society to be passed on to its member” (KPM, 1979, p. 66, translated).
The same definition was amplified in the Education Act 1996 and the Education (National
Curriculum) Regulations 1997 as “An educational programme that includes curriculum and co-
curricular activities which encompasses knowledge, skills, norms, values, cultural elements and
beliefs to help develop a pupil fully with respect to the physical, spiritual, mental and emotional
aspects as well as to inculcate and develop desirable moral values and to transmit knowledge”.
In a nutshell, curriculum in Malaysia encapsulates the total experience of a student while they
are still in the schooling system. Curriculum is not static, as its purpose is to prepare the young
generation for a future envisioned and anticipated by the adult of the country, and thus,
curriculum has to evolve with time and needs of society. Schools have existed in Malaysia since
pre-independence day (prior to 1957) and in the post-independence era till now, Malaysia had
crafted its own education system through a number of transformations. As the writer of this
paper has been involved in curriculum transformation since the end of 1980s till now, this paper
is a reminiscence of the changes that has occurred especially in terms of curriculum design.

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