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: someone@example.com

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