Volume: 8 Issues: 54 [July, 2023] Special Issues pp.

11 - 17
Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED)
eISSN: 0128-1755
Journal website: www.jised.com
DOI: 10.55573/JISED.085402

MODERN EDUCATION AND PRAGMATISM IN MALAYSIA

Sakinah Munarwarrah Hashim 1
1
Student Development, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (E-mail: [email protected])

Article history To cite this document:

Received date : 15-3-2023 Hashim, S. M. (2023). Modern Education And
Revised date : 20-3-2023 Pragmatism In Malaysia. Journal of Islamic, Social,
Accepted date : 1-7-2023 Economics and Development (JISED), 8 (54), 11 - 17.
Published date : 20-7-2023
___________________________________________________________________________

Abstract: Since independence, Malaysia education system has undergone numbers of changes
and modifications. As known to many, the British colonial authority left behind the former
educational system. However, in 1961, there was a gradual transition from the British (English
School) education system to a Malaysian school system focusing on unique Malaysian-oriented
curriculum. In 1979, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, a former prime minister of Malaysia,
introduced curriculum changes for the country's education system. He placed an emphasis on
all levels of schooling on a holistic approach which includes intellectual, spiritual, physical,
and emotional development for humans across all cognitive, affective, and psychomotor
domains. As discussed above, Malaysia has already had a sound and stable educational
system. However, in light of the current state of globalisation and recent insightful findings in
relation to the world of education, it is necessary to implement pragmatism in Malaysia's
education system in order to give students the best possible preparation for their futures. In
particular, this study focuses on Malaysia's education system in light of the current state of the
modern world, which is constantly changing and challenging. It is intriguing to see how
pragmatism is applied and how things are going in Malaysian education landscape. The
purpose of the study is to analyse and assess how pragmatism is applied in Malaysia's
education system, specifically for Muslims. The elements and significance of pragmatism on
education are further examined, and will interview people who have background of Islamic and
non-Islamic background. And then followed by insightful discussion on pragmatism and Islamic
education for Muslims.

Keywords: Education; Malaysian Education; Islamic Education; Issues of Pragmatism;

Pragmatism in Education
___________________________________________________________________________

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 Volume: 8 Issues: 54 [July, 2023] Special Issues pp. 11 - 17
Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED)
eISSN: 0128-1755
Journal website: www.jised.com
DOI: 10.55573/JISED.085402

Introduction
As previously mentioned, despite the variety of its cultures, religions, and people, all
Malaysians are constitutionally reserved the right for education, particularly when it comes to
receiving Islamic education. Before exhaustively discussing the Islamic education and its
connection to a pragmatic education system in Malaysia, it is best to firstly understand the
public school system in Malaysia. Briefly, Malaysia has established six regulatory frameworks
to develop people's potential in a holistic and integrated way. This is done in order to create
people who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and physically balanced based on a
strong belief and devotion to God. These are the six regulatory frameworks according to
Kamaruddin et al. (2005):
1. Education Act, 1996
2. Private Higher Educational Institutions Act, 1996
3. National Council on Higher Education Act, 1996
4. National Accreditation Board Act, 1996
5. Universities and University Colleges (Amendment) Act, 1996
6. National Higher Education Fund Board Act, 1997.

Education System in Malaysia

This section will provide details on Malaysia's education system. As known to many, Malaysia
offers a comprehensive curriculum or syllabus that corresponds to each student's degree of
development. For instance, it offers early childhood education for children between the age of
4-6, known as kindergarten. The children will then attend primary school beginning at the age
of 7 years old until they are 12 years old. This primary school has its own curriculum, Ahmad
(1998). Although this approach to education can be said pragmatic, most education institutions,
from my opinion, place more emphasis on theoretical knowledge mastery than practical
application of the knowledge.

Pragmatically, the Malaysian government shoulders responsibility to ensure the relevancy and
practicality of the education system in accordance to transformation as well as globalisation
taking place in the modern world, and at the same time still focuses crucially on Islamic
education policy as well (Se et al., 2021). This article demonstrates how, as globalisation
policies have evolved, some aspects of educational philosophy have been applied. In general,
pragmatism has not been completely abandoned, and other philosophical perspectives such as
idealism, realism, and existentialism have also been considered. Now that we have come to this
understanding, it should be noted that this country is genuinely revising its policy in a way that
also takes Islamic principles into account.

In keeping with the argument given above, it should be noted that the Malaysia education
system strikes a balance between revelation and reason as the curriculum or education system
in Malaysia is inclusive and suited for all nationalities. This is due to the government's efforts
to promote unity and harmony among Malaysia's various races through the platform of
education. Below are the four concepts in education:
1. creativity
2. reflectivity
3. reciprocity
4. Responsibility. One of these four concepts, reflection, is a concept from John
Dewey's 1993 book "How We Think," and it is one of the four. As a result, as we
can see once more, some components of pragmatism are used in Malaysia's
education system. In order to occasionally improve the work, it is necessary to apply
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 Volume: 8 Issues: 54 [July, 2023] Special Issues pp. 11 - 17
Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED)
eISSN: 0128-1755
Journal website: www.jised.com
DOI: 10.55573/JISED.085402

this notion to both students and teachers. Additionally, despite providing

appropriate education for everyone in Malaysia, according to the majority of
articles about the Malaysian education system, some of the education systems
focused more on Islamic education as a reaction to globalisation. However, because
Muslims make up the majority of the country's population, Islamic education plays
a significant role in this context.

Islamic Education System in Malaysia

Muslims are constantly confronted with challenges in life, most recently the modern world and
globalisation. Therefore, it is important to review the educational system in terms of the use of
various pedagogical approaches, particularly with regard to the education of Muslim youth in,
among them are pedagogy of philosophical inquiry and the pedagogy of Islamic philosophical
inquiry as part of the Malaysian educational system today, apart from other aspects of education
system.

From these angles, it is clear that there are some practical components to this discussion, and
that we are employing the appropriate techniques to address any societal concerns that students
may be experiencing today. A dialogue between two people will, for instance, take place in this
method, and an instructor will undoubtedly serve as their guide. Hashim (2009) As a result, we
can say that once the lecture or class is over, the students can apply the lesson, engage in peer
discussion, and possibly come up with a solution to any problem while also making use of the
Qur'an and Hadith. These papers suggest that this methodology can be used for all subjects,
including Islamic Education, language, and science. I believe that we also need to use this
strategy in all lower and higher education institutions to help students understand concepts
better, as long as it does not go against the Islamic principles, especially for Muslims. This is
due to the fact that some academic programmes offered by institutions in Malaysia still use
outdated curricula from the colonial era, such as the secular curricula.

Pragmatic Issues and Challenges of Education in Malaysia

As we are all aware, several other nations, like Malaysia, are also struggling with the rise of
social problems among the people. Education is thought to be an effective tool in combating
this problem, notwithstanding the role that religion has in shaping good behaviour. The
education system in Malaysia needs to be strengthened, as claimed by Nik Rosila. There are
numbers of articles and studies emphasising on the importance of providing students with a
pragmatic education in order to improve the education system. However, in order to assess
whether or not all forms of pragmatic education are appropriate for Muslim students in
particular, we as Muslims must also consider the following. Before getting into the specifics of
this subject, it can be helpful to recap the importance of education in Islam and how it differs
from the education system in Malaysia, as stated in the previous explanation.

Significance and Applications of Pragmatism in Malaysia Education

As everyone is aware, certain educational philosophy and practises are based on a pragmatic
worldview. Additionally, the curriculum and teaching strategies used in Islamic education are
where the majority of the issues with the system reside. In general, Prof. Rosnani mentioned
that Islamic education has not been able to develop pupils who can think critically or come up
with fresh and creative ideas. Hashim (2002). This can be clearly exemplify from the findings
disucssed in this study which show that the system has not been able to adequately educate
Muslim young and prepare them to confront the challenges of their time. Additionally, as we
cannot prevent the globalisation of information and communication technologies, we also
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 Volume: 8 Issues: 54 [July, 2023] Special Issues pp. 11 - 17
Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED)
eISSN: 0128-1755
Journal website: www.jised.com
DOI: 10.55573/JISED.085402

cannot stop the ideas and cultures of any nation in the world. The fact why Muslim youth and
people today still prefer Western ideology or pragmatism is due to the fact that they do not think
clearly or critically. Many Muslim youngsters or individuals believe in metaphysics which
claims that change is the very foundation of reality and, as a result, there are no unchanging
principles. As a result, all values are relative. Hashim (2004).

Therefore, the only way to get people to stand up for their own views and values is to teach
them how to critically analyse, assess, and pick and choose the information they use. Muslim
youth's ability for critical and creative thought may therefore be developed in this regard
through pragmatic education. Additionally, there are evidences showing that Islam does not
disagree with pragmatism's concepts in any way, according to its own epistemological
framework. In fact, research has shown that the Islamic worldview contains many of the key
components of pragmatism. The Islamic worldview is predicated on thinking and the ability to
apply critical thought to problem-solving. Muslims should therefore not find it weird when
Dewey or other pragmatists ask for critical or thinking intelligence. As we can see, we have
already applied this pragmatism for better understanding in accordance with Islamic principles.
A few Muslim scholars, including Al-Attas and al-Faruqi, claimed that the root cause of the
division of Muslims is the dualistic educational system that includes both traditional, religious
and liberal, secular educational systems. Al-Attas claimed that the loss of "adab" (discipline)
caused by the confusion over knowledge is where the problem lies. Meanwhile, al-Faruqi linked
the root cause to the liberal, secular educational system. The best solution that both have
suggested includes an integrated educational system and the Islamization of modern
knowledge. We all know from the explanation above that Islam does not reject pragmatism,
but this time, the issue is the metaphysics of pragmatism and there are other civics on pragmatic
by the West. Nevertheless, according to Prof. Rosanani Hashim, pragmatic education is
necessary for the development of the Ummah.

Before analysing the details of pragmatic education, it is vital to look at the Ummah's
educational growth in order to bolster the aforementioned statement. With regard to religious
science, it was initiated in the late Umayyad period, and with regard to the natural and
mathematical sciences, it was initiated throughout the Abbasid period, up until the initial
attempts of reformation by Ibn Taymiyah against the corrupted system during his time.
Additionally, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jamauddin al-Afghani, Sayyid Ahmed
Khan, and Muhammad Abduh made some attempts at reforming the educational system. If we
looked at these three academicians from that era, they were practical. They implanted the notion
that the ummah must be intelligent and educated.

Despite the reform movement, many Islamic institutions continue to use instructional strategies
that lean toward moral prescription or unquestioned indoctrination. Prof. Rosnani again gave
an example from one tragic incident: a number of schoolgirls in Saudi Arabia were burned to
death during a school fire, and they were already at the front gate of the school running for their
lives when they were stopped by this mutawwif who chased them back inside because they
wore no head covers. They passed away since it was too late by the time they received their
head coverings. From there, we can observe that the mutawwif acted wrongly in resolving the
issue. Is wearing a hijab more significant than girls’ lives? It is obvious that Islamic religious
principles are being imposed in this situation without using logic.

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 Volume: 8 Issues: 54 [July, 2023] Special Issues pp. 11 - 17
Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED)
eISSN: 0128-1755
Journal website: www.jised.com
DOI: 10.55573/JISED.085402

In addition, she emphasised that the issue stems from the Malaysian education system itself
because teachers are not inventive and creative in coming up with efficient ways to teach
subjects that could be related to the Quran and Islamic history. In addition, some Islamic
religious schools do not place a high priority on teaching mathematics and natural science in
comparison to the teaching of religious sciences. From my personal standpoint, Malaysian
education has placed a greater emphasis on cognitive syllabuses than on problem-based
learning or the project approach, even though we are beginning to practise the practical
approach to learning, like the fact that some subjects do not have final exams and all
assessments are measured by projects or something similar. Prof. Rosnani argued that despite
all of these observations, we can still recognise some aspects of pragmatism, particularly its
concern with critical and creative intelligence, its support for the scientific process, and its
encouragement of an inquisitive mentality. By establishing a religious curriculum that is sound
in its metaphysics and Quranic ethics side by side, we need to check and balance things at the
same time.

In addition, further analysis on the National Education Policy in Malaysia revealed that there is
another article that highlights the Islamic Education Policy in Malaysia. Several elements,
including social, political, economic, individual, and universalism, are mentioned in this article
that affect that policy. According to what I've been led to believe, curricular integration is
essential for all forms of education in this world, particularly Islamic education in Malaysia.
Because of this, Malaysia's Islamic education policy is influenced by a number of issues. This
study underlines the importance of adhering to the following four philosophies or
characteristics for Islamic education policy in Malaysia: responsibility, reciprocity,
contemplation, and innovation. Despite these four philosophies or characteristics, it was also
claimed that teaching and learning must be combined in order to develop good students both
internally and externally and to foster knowledge, critical, creative, and innovative thinking as
well as good morals based on religion. So, as we can see, Prof. Rosnani's statement above really
emphasises the value of being pragmatic.

Furthermore, Salma in his paper on the idea of thinking ability also underlined another
relevance of pragmatism. She discussed the applicability of Lipman's pragmatism and the
applicability of philosophy to kids in her paper. Ismail (2020) Once more, she claimed that
Malaysia's education system is still majorly exam oriented. As a result, kids will only memorise
what they learn and respond to questions to ace the exams. As a result, it is challenging to gain
support for teaching philosophy to children from groups other than parents, teachers, and the
community. Finding educators interested in incorporating philosophy into children's activities
might be difficult. Teachers already have a lot on their plates, so it is unreasonable to expect
them to take additional training classes in philosophy for kids and then expect them to
implement "philosophical thinking" in their classrooms. Because of this, Prof. Rosnani Hashim
argued that training the teachers is the simplest approach to introduce philosophy back into the
classroom in Malaysia.

Both kids and adults can learn different perspectives on how to see and comprehend the world
through philosophy. Instead of blindly accepting presumptions and preconceptions, philosophy
teaches how to critically assess assertions made by others and how to think critically.
Philosophy must be reintroduced to society, starting with schoolchildren, as it is highly relevant
to Malaysian culture today. Thus, there is a need for the teaching of philosophy for children in
the Malaysian context, but there is still a need to step back and re-examine some of the
fundamental foundational aspects of philosophy for children and how it might be helpful to the
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 Volume: 8 Issues: 54 [July, 2023] Special Issues pp. 11 - 17
Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED)
eISSN: 0128-1755
Journal website: www.jised.com
DOI: 10.55573/JISED.085402

Malaysian education system, given the distinctive characteristics of Malaysia. Again, this
demonstrates the significance or value of pragmatism in having the capacity for both creative
and critical thought. However, according to another paper, the education philosophies
highlighted do not complete the wholeness of human life as they do not pay attention to the
spiritual aspects of human entity, Sultana (2014) and that is the reason, Prof Rosnani mentioned
why we need to check and balance things at the same time as a Muslim. Another paper also
mentioned that there are some proponents of pragmatism believing that knowledge is integrated
between acquired and revealed knowledge, therefore claiming that Islamic philosophy of
education is essentially pragmatism because it combines acquired knowledge and revealed
knowledge, which cannot be separated.

Conclusion
As a whole, this topic has focused on the Malaysian education system and its emphasis on
educating Muslims in particular. From these angles, it is clear that the Malaysian education
system seeks to achieve the goals set forth by the Islamic education system, which is to establish
a balanced education system. The Malaysian education system, however, is not fully capable
of realising it due to the aforementioned problems. It is critical to remember that teachers play
a vital role in educating children. According to the statistical data provided, there are students
who continue to mix up some of the Western education philosophy with Islamic teachings or
the Islamic root of education when it comes to "knowledge of pragmatism and Islamic
perspective." In addition, this chapter discussed the goal of Islamic education from the
viewpoint of a Muslim scholar and made comparisons to Western education. If we can properly
comprehend from the foundation of Islamic teaching, the pragmatic term in education is
actually quite plain. We do require Prof. Rosnani Hashim's explanation of the pragmatic phrase
in terms of education, but we also need to be explicit and adhere to the law as Muslims. In other
words, the government must understand how to educate and develop children who will be
worthy representatives of the Muslim community or Ummah in the future and are not easily
influenced by Western beliefs, particularly when it comes to education. This is the rationale
behind Syed Naquib al-Attas' desire to Islamize secular concepts derived from any Western
philosophies. It is desired that Muslim students and the Muslim community in Malaysia would
be a well-balanced and moderate community, with a strong educational system that primarily
highlights and appreciates the role of the teacher in education.

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Journal of Islamic, Social, Economics and Development (JISED)
eISSN: 0128-1755
Journal website: www.jised.com
DOI: 10.55573/JISED.085402

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