Music Education in Malaysian Schools

This assignment delves into the topic of music education within Malaysian schools. It requires an in-depth analysis of provided research articles focusing on various aspects such as the current status of music education, the impact of educational reforms, student engagement, multicultural influences, and the role of community perceptions. Students are expected to critically evaluate the research findings and synthesize their understanding of music education's significance in Malaysian schools.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
Role of music and art education in the development of child .........................................................1
Education curriculum in Malaysian schools ...................................................................................2
Current issues in arts curriculum of Malaysian schools .................................................................3
Strategies to encourage music and arts in schools ..........................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
The education is defined as the method to facilitate the knowledge, skills, learnings,
beliefs, values and habits. The academic curriculum plays a significant role in formulating the
strong education base and the overall development and growth of the children. Thus it is very
essential that these curriculum must include various subjects such as arts, literature, science,
sports as well as music (Augustine, Yi & Wong, 2016). However corresponding to the
importance of primary subjects, music and arts are given less priority in academics.
The essay will discuss the importance of these subjects in the complete growth of child
and its current perspective in Malaysian schools. It will also discuss various challenges which are
faced by the authorities to implement such courses in education. Thus the thesis statement for the
essay is : “Significance of arts and music in education and its implementation in Malaysian
schools”
Role of music and art education in the development of child
Art education and music are not mere entertainment or light hearted subjects instead they
are among critical subjects which not only groom the knowledge of child but also encourages the
positive and innovative perspective towards life. In primary schools this education motivates
child to adopt school environment more easily and comfortably (Barton, 2018). For example
there are many children who do not enjoy the complex subjects but are ready to attend school for
a half hour music or art lecture. These subjects also helps students to identify their excellent
innovative and musical skills.
For the development of young children music can help in developing a better
understanding of words, sounds, language. Thus their inclusion in academics from primary level
can improve the cognitive and learning capabilities of child (Getting in tune with music
education, 2018). However most of the people assumes that these two subjects are not beneficial
instead they are mere wastage of time. The knowledge of arts from childhood can also motivate
students to take their skills at tertiary level which can help them in future to adopt it as bright
career option.
The musical training to students in early ages leads to better growth of brain areas
associated with reasoning and language. Skills such as co-ordination, emotional bonding, pattern
recognition, team work and creativity cannot be developed effectively without having good sense
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of music and arts. The current education system focuses on making the child highly skilled so
that they can sustain their value in this globally connected world. For this purpose multiple
languages and technical skills are taught to child (Ghazali & Bennett, 2017).
However with such pressure of academics everyday sessions of these subjects can make
this education journey of the child quite relaxing. Irrespective of future path of careers the artistic
skills are essential in every aspect of life for making life innovative and joyful. It is important
that the equal efforts must be given to these non-summative subjects. Unlike maths, science and
language subjects arts may not provide the solutions to real life problems but it can help children
to understand the problems with more positive approach and peace.
Art education supports the growth of cognitive skills, verbal abilities and critical thinking
in child. Thus the role of art education or music cannot be denied in school curriculum. If
schools does not provide the knowledge of music and arts then it is quite possible that most of
the students may not develop creativity and efficient skills which can become their career option
in future (Ooi, 2017). It is also possible that the children who does not belong to wealthy families
may never get a chance to analyse and experience these beautiful aspects of life which are
involved in every phase of the life.
Education curriculum in Malaysian schools
In Malaysian primary schools music and arts are the compulsory subjects, however they
are not given the same level of importance and attention as the other subjects which have
summative examinations. Music, arts and cultural knowledge can help Malaysia to establish
itself as culturally strong and to educate its young generation about the cultural value and history
of their nation. Music curriculum is implemented in both primary and secondary schools of
Malaysia.
The musical course in schools of Malaysia includes the aspect such as artistic and
creativity development and expression, aesthetic perception and experience of different types of
music. These aspects are for the primary level schools (Wen, 2016). For secondary level
Malaysian schools the subject includes the traditional music, instrumental knowledge and
learning of musical skills. In primary schools music education is essential for the students and
thus they have to learn it. However the time allocated for such activities is very low like one hour
in a week which makes it less effective in terms of delivery of knowledge.
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In secondary schools the music subject is elective and thus only students who are
interested in the area elect it. As per the latest curriculum of 2017 music and visual arts are
integrated as a single subject so that the students can be groomed in terms of creativity,
information technology as well as entrepreneurship (Here’s why malaysian schools need
performing arts in their curriculum). The art education of Malaysia for the students of schools
focuses on language skills, art creation and appreciation. However both of the discussed subjects
are not included in exams for the primary level. The current education system of Malaysia has its
key attention on only major academic subjects which contributes to the academic scores.
Current issues in arts curriculum of Malaysian schools
Since the implement of arts and especially music in academic curriculum has been
introduced there has been constant debate over the issue. The parents are not supporting to accept
that their children must learn these subjects or time is wasted to focus on these non summative
areas. One of the key reason for this is that parents as well as majority of teachers assumes that
these subjects are not vital for the academic excellence and focus of child towards these areas in
childhood can affect the academic excellence in important subjects (Young, 2016).
A very limited attention to art education in school such as just for one hour in week as
well as their exclusion from the examination represents these subjects as the least prioritise
subjects. Malaysia communities consider music as the way of entertainment only thus it is
strongly believed that most of the people are not ready to accept is as a part of education. As the
subjects are not supported by the people and educational institutes, the trainers or the
professionals of music education and arts not provided sufficient exposure to their subject and
experience. Thus the trainers available in the schools are not also highly effective which can
inspire students to take these subjects seriously. There is no doubt that summative subjects are
top most priority for the educational institutes as well as for the parents.
Thus in order to enhance academic performance art education is always suppressed. For
example most of the Malaysian schools assumes that as music is not important it is enough to
give subject just a few minutes a week (Augustine, Yi & Wong, 2016). In case if there is
requirement of additional time period for completion of other courses then this limited time
period for music can further reduced. Another issue which affects the music curriculum in
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Malaysia schools is the lack of effective administrative system. Most of the schools provide time
for the music or art but they do not have necessary music instruments or trainers.
It makes the entire music session mere waste of time for both students as well as school
administration. In order to fulfil the requirements of education curriculum many schools hire
unprofessional music trainers which are not committed to their professional roles. As a result
from childhood and primary schooling students are not aware of the importance and essence of
the music (Jelani, Tan & Mohd-Zaharim, 2015).
The students who have keen interest in art education and music are often not supported
by parents and teachers. They are constantly demotivated and scolded for utilising their time in
such less recognised subjects. The lack of effective and influential teaching methodologies is
also another reason which suppress the involvement of art education in main stream of
academics.
For instance in most of the schools the art education is limited to drawings and paintings
only. The education providers does not take any efforts to explore the subject to visual arts or
integrating arts to enhance the writing and creative skills (Augustine, Yi & Wong, 2016). The
limited time duration for the subjects prevents many students and dedicated teachers to explore
the subjects. For instance as subjects are not compulsory many students who desire to learn the
subjects are not allowed to pay attention because they are not provided regular slot for music in
their school. The music teachers who are very dedicated also find it impossible to deliver the
detailed subject knowledge within short span of time.
The cultural diversity of Malaysia is also one of the issue which influences the music
education and art in the schools. The Malaysian schools consist of students from different
cultures and language background (Wong, Pan & Shah, 2016). The teachers who are recruited
for music does not have detailed knowledge of these diversities and they may fail to deliver same
quality knowledge to each and every student. This affects the interests of students and they pay
less attention to such lecture sessions.
When from primary school level these issues are accumulated the interest of child
towards arts get vanished with time. In the learning age they assume that as the subject is
considered least important by their parents and teachers they should also neglect it and follow the
main stream only. The same attitude is carried by the children in secondary level education as
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well. This attitude is taking the art education far away from the future generations. The role of
responsible authorities is also one of the challenging issue which needs to be addressed for
improving the education curriculum of the schools. These subjects are very broad as per the
curriculum which is not possible for the schools to cover up in short duration. Thus efforts must
be made so that the art education is also treated with equal importance.
Strategies to encourage music and arts in schools
The professional and personal development of the child is greatly dependent upon the
quality and level of its educational environment. Thus it is required that above discussed issues
must be addressed so that the learning and development phase of the child is improved. The first
initiative must be taken by the communities (Müller, Nutting & Keddell, 2017). The people must
change their perspective towards music.
There is great need that parents recognises the benefits of music and more than a burden
it is treated as one of the growth need and opportunity. Malaysian society perceive musical and
artistic education as irrelevant, unnecessary and distinct element from education. The situation
can be changed to a great extent if this image of public is changed. For this purpose the music
educators must interact with parents and provide them information related to benefits of it for the
child. The misconceptions related to music such as with music one cannot achieve success or the
music and arts have bad impact on performance of child must be clarified by the experts.
The policy makers can be considered as the driving force for bringing changes. The
regulatory organizations such as Malaysian association for music education (MAME) can work
in coordination with education ministry of Malaysia to modify the curriculum in a way which
gives equal priority to these additional courses in education (Yusoff & Fazliani, 2016). The
children and parents are not concerned with arts education because these subjects does not hold
weight in their marking evaluation.
However the curriculum can be improved and these subjects must be delivered as
examinable. Malaysia is diversified and rich in its cultural value. One of the reason that students
are not interested in learning music is that the existing curriculum does not include this cultural
diversity. The music involved in the syllabus is very broad but is not in alignment with the
cultural variation. The inclusion of variety of music and literature such as English, Chinese,
Islamic and Tamil can make it interesting for every community to associate music with their
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cultural value. This can be effective in pursuing the communities for encouraging music
education.
The schools must be provided with the necessary resources which can assure the quality
education of arts. Another improvement step which can be taken by the policy makers is that
only skilled music teachers must be recruited in the school. It will help student to understand the
real meaning of art education (Yu & Leung, 2019). The professional music experts and artists
will also be encouraged by this effort and for them more job opportunities will be opened. An
awareness must be created among people that these subjects can also be used as choice for the
professional career. For this purpose they seminars can cultural events can be organized.
For instance when parents will be informed that the talented students can get the
opportunities to participate in music festivals or can represent the Malaysian culture on
international levels as well then they will also be motivated to support these skills. The training
sessions can be conducted for the teachers so that they can provide better education to the
students as per the latest trends and culture.
The music educators have strong impact on society and the psychology of child. For
example when musicians are given respect in society and they perform their talent on national
level then children are inspired that these subjects are not mere a formality but can also help
them to achieve their goals. The Malaysian government must also encourage such cultural events
and they must be promoted in schools as well (Wright, 2015). The policy makers must also
amend the curriculum. Till primary education level these subjects must be taught with sufficient
numbers of lectures instead of teaching once in a week. The curriculum developers can also seek
help from the music instructors for framing more effective course work for the art education.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it can be concluded that arts subject and music are equally
important for the development of child. These subjects play crucial role in improving different
aspects of personality of an individual. Thus it is very essential that these must be included in
academic curriculum from primary level of education so that children can understand the value
and scope of these subjects. It has been also analysed from the essay that there is need to change
the perspective of people towards these subjects. For this purpose an awareness must be created
in society as well as students so that they can realise the benefits of these additional subjects.
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It is also concluded from the above study that the child development is incomplete
without artistic approach and music. The education providers must believe that it is not
necessary that scientists cannot be artistic rather they both can align together for better outputs
and quality of life.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Augustine, C., Yi, W. H., & Wong, C. (2016). Music Teaching Readiness among Non-
Specialised Music Teachers in Government Preschools. Malaysian Music Journal. 5(2).
54-69.
Barton, G. (2018). The Importance of Exploring How Culture and Society Impact on Music
Learning and Teaching. In Music Learning and Teaching in Culturally and Socially
Diverse Contexts (pp. 3-22). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Ghazali, G., & Bennett, D. (2017). Employability for music graduates: Malaysian educational
reform and the focus on generic skills. International Journal of Music Education. 35(4).
588-600.
Jelani, J., Tan, A. K., & Mohd-Zaharim, N. (2015). Demand for extracurricular activities
amongst primary school students: Exploratory evidence from survey data in Penang
(Malaysia).The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. 24(1). 125-135.
Müller, E., Nutting, D., & Keddell, K. (2017). Understanding ArtAbility: Using qualitative
methods to assess the impact of a multi-genre arts education program on middle-school
students with autism and their neurotypical teen mentors. Youth Theatre Journal. 31(1).
48-74.
Ooi, P. S. (2017). Music in Malaysian higher education: the relationships among personal
environmental factors and measured achievement of students’ music
performance(Doctoral dissertation).
Wen, L. L. (2016, November). Designing Teaching Sequence for Primary Year 1 Pupils: An
Action Research in a Malaysian Chinese Primary School. In Conference MPAC (Vol. 22,
p. 177).
Wong, K. Y., Pan, K. C., & Shah, S. M. (2016). General music teachers' attitudes and practices
regarding multicultural music education in Malaysia. Music education research. 18(2).
208-223.
Wright, S. (2015). Children, meaning-making and the arts. Pearson Higher Education AU.
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Young, S. (2016). Early childhood music education research: An overview. Research Studies in
Music Education. 38(1). 9-21.
Yu, Z., & Leung, B. W. (2019). Music teachers and their implementation of the new Music
Curriculum Standards in China. International Journal of Music Education,
0255761418820647.
Yusoff, W., & Fazliani, W. (2016). Community's perceptions towards learning music in
schools/Wan Fazliani Wan Yusoff.
Online
Getting in tune with music education. 2018. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://www.nst.com.my/education/2018/08/399244/getting-tune-music-education>
Here’s why malaysian schools need performing arts in their curriculum. 2017. [Online].
Accessed through <http://eksentrika.com/4473-2/>
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