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multi-cultural education
education for sustainable
development
teacher education
inclusive education
values/character educa-
tion
multiple literacies
language and literature
culture in education
mathematics education
science education
social studies
classroom practice
technologies in education
action research
classroom-based research
current issues in educa-
tion
global issues in education
Education insti-
tutions are becoming in-
creasingly aware that to-
day’s generation of learn-
ers is different. With the
widening of access to edu-
cation and greater expo-
sure to technology, to-
day’s learners are not only
much more diverse but
more wired as well. Add-
ed to this, the
21st century workplace
also poses knowledge and
skill demands that are dif-
ferent from the previous
century. Educators have
been cautioning that un-
less the challenges posed
by this new education
landscape are addressed,
they can result in dire
consequences. Bored with
traditional methods, this
new generation of learn-
ers may withdraw from
studies and go in search of
activities that are more en-
gaging and interactive. For
some, this may mean that
they leave formal education
altogether. The need to rev-
olutionise approaches to
learning and teaching is
therefore now more urgent
than ever.
This international confer-
ence aims to draw attention
to the need to transform
learning and teaching to
meet these new challenges.
The conference organisers
therefore invite submissions
through one of the following
sub-themes to address the
challenges:
curriculum development
blended learning
leadership in learning and
teaching
teaching approaches
educational assessment
2 0 1 3 I S S U E 2
ICLT PHOTO GALLERY
Coordination Meeting
YB Datuk Mary Yap, Deputy Minister of
Education Malaysia
OPENING
CEREMONY
SOME GUEST SPEAKERS AND FEATURED SPEAKERS
PROF DR JENS RASMUSSEN, AR-
RHUS UNIVERSITY, DENMARK DR LOGENDRA STANLEY PONNIAH,
TAYLOR’S UNIVERSITY
PROF EMERITUS DR ABDUL RAHMAN
MOHD AROFF, UNIVERSITY PUTRA
MALAYSIA
ASSOC. PROF DANIEL TAN TIONG
HOK, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SIN-
GAPORE
Some Paper Presenters
P A G E 4
Featured Article : Holistic Education—A Brief Introduction By Ms Kasthoori B.M.N
Education in the 21st century is experiencing yet
another perceptual change. Acquiring sound knowledge of
various disciplines and sets of skills to put the knowledge into
practice is slowly but surely losing its novelty. The common
perception of education as a commodity that ensures success
in career, finances and life in general is becoming extraneous
as it does not provide solutions for the challenges that the 21st
century life has begun to throw our way.
However, it‟s not just recently that the relevance of
mainstream education has been questioned; a prevalent notion
of mainstream education being too „mechanistic‟ and too
„reductionist‟ began to emerge during the fourth quarter of the
20th century. Critics realized that mainstream education does not
completely address all the different issues that had begun to
force their way into our lives and also saw the need to re-think
and re-design the mainstream education philosophy and ap-
proaches.
Hence, the notion of holistic education emerged as a
challenge to the mainstream education. Holistic education dis-
putes the obsessive focus on churning out individuals who look
at every aspect of life mechanistically, lack creativity and sub-
scribe to reductionists views where various aspects of life are
simplified and seen as different and detached from one another.
It also disputes the obsessive focus on standards and testing
which reflects a consumerist culture that has reduced schooling
to the training of individuals to compete and consume in the
global marketplace (Miller, 2004).
Holistic education addresses the wholesome devel-
opment of individuals, giving equal importance to the cognitive
and affective aspects of an individual‟s development. It focuses
on cultivating the whole person and helping individuals live more
consciously and harmoniously within their communities and
natural ecosystems. Holistic education is based on the premise
that each person finds identity, meaning, and purpose in life
through connections to the community, to the natural world, and
to spiritual values such as compassion and peace (Miller, 2004).
The Intellectual Underpinnings of Holistic Education
Although the advent of holistic education seems
quite recent, its foundations are entrenched in well accomplished
philosophical and pedagogical perspectives. One of the major
underpinning is drawn from the “perennial philosophy” which
advocates the concept of oneness and interconnectivity of life.
The conviction is that the world and its
experiences are all interconnected
forming a dynamic balance of forces
and nothing exists without context.
Therefore it is important to perceive life
as a complete unification of many
different aspects. Advocates of holistic
education see the world as a perfect
synthesis and integration of all forms
and experiences. Accepting and ap-
preciating every aspect of life and
nature as parts of a complete whole is
one of the most pertinent philosophies
of holistic education.
Another major philosophy
that defines holistic education is de-
rived from scientific studies, particular-
ly from the relativity theory and quan-
tum mechanics. Proponents in these
fields of study reject both the mecha-
nistic cause-and-effect and the reduc-
tionist perspectives; they are very
much against the idea that all of life‟s
events and processes can be ex-
plained by applying the cause-effect
rule or by taking apart every phenome-
non to the smallest possible compo-
nents. Similarly, holistic educationists
propound that the world and its pro-
cesses in all its diversity and complexi-
ties are knitted together in mysterious
ways; oversimplifying is neither possi-
ble nor acceptable.
One other pertinent philos-
ophy that underpins holistic education
is ecological literacy. Proponents of
holistic education believe that ecologi-
cal awareness and understanding
should go beyond learning of simple
scientific facts about nature and the
natural processes. Education should in
fact, nurture a direct, engaging experi-
ential relationship with nature and the
processes of life. It should promote
compassion and love for nature and
foster a deeper, meaningful relation-
ship with nature and other life forms.
Global humanity that
embraces diversity is one other philo-
sophical underpinning of holistic edu-
cation. The global perspective pro-
posed by holistic educationists is quite
unlike the current trend of globalization
which places considerable significance
on economic gains. This perspective
accentuates the shared commonalities
among diverse cultures and human
needs. It does not, however, totally
cast aside national citizenship and
cultural heritage but advocates for
more inclusive human family in a
broader context.
In addition to the above,
contemporary feminism is also another
philosophy that influences holistic
education. This perspective reflects
acceptance of traditional feminine
concerns such as gender equality,
inclusiveness, cooperation, emotional
expression, and peace. It also embrac-
es qualities which used to be de-
nounced by the masculine frame of
reference, which include explicit dis-
play of care and concern for others,
importance for relationships, bonding
among people and non-violence.
Drawing from all these
philosophical underpinnings, the holis-
tic vista offers a vastly different direc-
tion for education, inspiring a sense of
wonder and enchantment for people,
other life forms and nature, giving
priority for experiential learning and
T E A C H E R T A L K
Workshop@IIUM
P A G E 5 I S S U E 2
Rohaizan binti Baharuddin from School of Education received a num-ber of invitations to share her knowledge and experience with stu-dents at the International Islamic Uni-versity Malaysia (IIUM) as Speaker for Study Skills Workshop Series orga-nized by Student Learning Enhance-ment Unit. She was the speaker for the Note-Taking Strategies Work-shop and Effective Stress and Time Management workshop, both held on 27 February and 13 March 2013 respectively. In the first workshop, she spoke about and demonstrated on various note-taking methods such as Cornell, Mapping, Outline,
Sentence and Charting Methods while in the second workshop, she presented on sev-eral techniques to master stress and time management such as Distress Relief Strate-gies, Circadian Rhythms, Pareto Rule, etc.
Rohaizan is a regular speaker at the workshop series since 2008 and has presented numerous other modules on study skills and motivation such as How to Score in Your Final Exam, How to Write an Impressive Assignments. Know Thyself and Creative Thinking & Problem Solving.
Inspiring Video Watch-ing entitled “The Imam and the Pastor”
Group discussion using D.E.E.P Method (description, emotion, evaluation and pre-scription)
Reflective Stage Perfor-mance
On that note, the organizing committees would like to con-vey their gratitude to all the parties involved who have made this programme a great success.
.
On 15 June 2013, Citizenship Values Education (CVE) under the School of Education again had proudly hosted The 4th Breaking Walls , Building Bridg-es Programme. This annual programme which solely orga-nized by CVE's academic staff with the help from Taylor’s Sekretariat Rukun Negara mem-bers have invited around 100 students from Taylor’s ADP as well as from SMK Seafield, Subang Jaya and SMK La Salle, Petaling Jaya as participants. This one day programme aims at instilling awareness on the importance of unity within a multi-racial society. The activi-ties organised were:
The 4th Breaking Walls , Building Bridges
P A G E 6
TOP NEWS
T E A C H E R T A L K
Diploma in Education Orientation: 15-16 Aug’13
P A G E 7
The first batch of Diploma in Edu-
cation students attended their Ori-
entation today, Thursday 15th of
August 2013 at Taylor’s University,
Lakeside Campus.
The Dean of School of Education,
Prof Dr Malachi Edwin Vethamani
welcomed the students in his wel-
coming speech this morning.
The ice breaker session was
conducted by Ms Kasthoori.
Students were to complete a
“BINGO” card by asking
their new-found friends
questions.
Ice Breaker session
Prof Malachi Edwin Vethamani giving his welcoming speech
to the new Diploma in Education students.
Second part of the Ice Breaker—
“Public Speaking” and others ask
questions.
Students get to know each other
better.
I S S U E 2
Enrollment & Admissions Services
Department
No.1 Jalan Taylor’s,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Phone: 555-555-5555
Fax: 555-555-5555
E-mail: [email protected]
Equips teachers to harness the
power of technologies
We encourage our students to use a vast array of
technology to enhance their teaching and learning
initiatives. The promotion of technological re-
sources is supported by the “Apple campus expe-
rience”. Each student receives an iPad which is to
be used as an Educational Tool in their teaching
and learning of Net-Geners students.
Taylors Education
Transforming destinies one classroom
at a time