Curriculum Materials for National Integration in Malaysia: Match or Mismatch?

Abstract

Education in a multiracial and multicultural society needs to reflect that kind of environment. In Malaysia, the curriculum is expected to play an important role in the formation of fundamental attitudes and images and in promoting national unity and integration. This paper examines the role of textbooks in addressing the above issues from the point of view of a minority community. An analysis of selected Lower Secondary School textbooks is carried out using quantitative content analysis and qualitative strategies. The paper concludes that some textbooks provide curriculum content appropriate for a multicultural society whereas others have concentrated heavily on majority race identity. Textbook writers should be made more sensitive to the nation-building intent through provision of and adherence to a set of guidelines.

Descriptors::

• Textbook analysis
• education
• minorities
• multiracial settings
• Malaysia