Page 142 - Jurnal Kurikulum BPK 2020

Education as subjects in all national schools, MOE Malaysia also provide Islamic education
through specialised Islamic Schools where other related Islamic subjects are offered there.
Moral value is also an element to be infused through all subjects (PPK, 2001c), each
subject is required to identify values or attitudes that can be imparted through the
implementation of the subject. Examples of such learning outcomes are: ‘Thankful for our
wisdom bestowed by God to conceptualise idea about the orderliness and uniqueness of atomic
structure (PPK, 2000c, p. 36, translated)’, ‘Justify the practice of ethics in genetic engineering
technology (KPM, 2018, pg 65). Inculcation of these divine and eternal values is anticipated
to follow several stages (PPK, 2000a, b, c). Firstly, students begin to realise and understand
the importance of these values, then, they would begin to pay attention and respond to these
values, subsequently process of internalisation would probably take place, and logically they
would begin to practice these values and made it as part of their everyday living culture (PPK,
2000a, b, c).

Society as a Source

Educators must be in touch with the need of the society (Dewey, 1944; Dworkin, 1959;
Handlin, 1959), without this, education would become like the story of the Saber-toothed
curriculum by Peddiwell (Benjamin in Golby, 1975) which became irrelevant and meaningless.
Schools is an agent of society, thus curriculum should draw its idea from the social needs and
social situation, one must not forget that schools are designed to serve the broad social interests
of the society (Ornstein & Hunkins, 1993). Society changes with time, every curriculum change
in Malaysia is always in tandem with national developmental plan which focuses on local needs
as well as global needs. There are basically two categories of societal needs relating to
education: the national manpower needs and the social and emotional needs of the society at
large.
In fulfilling the national manpower needs for economic and structural development of
the nation, there is a clear shift towards STEM through changes in the core subjects as well as
elective subjects offered from KBSR KBSM to the revised KBSR KBSM and subsequently
KSSR KSSM. The inherent traditional disciplinary structure comprising the essential
framework and concepts of the discipline which some called it the generative knowledge
(Resnick & Klopfer, 1989) is no more enough. More technologically upfront knowledge such
as knowledge about computers, the use of information and communication technology in
teaching and learning, knowledge of biotechnology, microelectronics, genetic engineering and
advanced material are included in the revised KBSM (PPK, 2000 a, b, c). This continues on to
KSSR and KSSM where coding and elements of Artificial Intelligence is being taught through
subjects such as Design and Technology in both Primary and Secondary School and Computer
Science in the secondary school (BPK, 2016 a, b).
National curriculum also plays a crucial role in en-culturing the society to live
harmoniously with each other to develop a civic conscious nation, caring and respecting each
other. The KBSR and KBSM were designed in early 1980s where Malaysia as a nation realised
that national unity is of utmost importance and a decision was made to design a national
curriculum for every child regardless of race and background, every child in Malaysia must
take the same curriculum and the same examination (BPK, 2016 a, b). The overarching mission
at that point is uniformity and national unity. This same mission is still very much at the
background through the revised KBSR and KBSM (2000s) and KSSR and KSSM (2017).

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