Multicultural early childhood education: practices and challenges in Malaysia

Multicultural early childhood education: practicesand challenges in Malaysia

Hooi San Phoon • Melissa Ng Lee Yen Abdullah •

Anna Christina Abdullah

Received: 13 November 2012 / Accepted: 16 August 2013 / Published online: 22 August 2013

� The Australian Association for Research in Education, Inc. 2013

Abstract Multicultural early childhood education is necessary in a culturally

diverse country like Malaysia. Preschool teachers play an important role in

implementing multicultural education in the classroom. This paper reports the

findings of a self-report questionnaire involving 854 preschool teachers in Malaysia.

The preschool teachers disclosed their current multicultural education practices as

well as the challenges they encountered when implementing multicultural educa-

tion. While the majority of teachers claimed that they implemented multicultural

education, a closer examination revealed that most of them used the tourist or

contribution approach which focuses on only the outward manifestations of a cul-

ture when dealing with multicultural education. The transformation or anti-bias

approach was used by only a small number of teachers. The teachers identified some

challenges in multicultural education implementation, such as lack of instructional

resources and the lack of stakeholder support. Thus, it is important to ensure

teachers develop more critical understandings of multicultural education through

teacher education training and programs. Other efforts to help teachers overcome

challenges in implementing multicultural education include producing and devel-

oping more instructional materials and learning aids, which are suitable for young

children and appropriate for the local context. Preschool teachers also need stake-

holders to give more support and to acknowledge the importance of implementing

multicultural early childhood education.

H. S. Phoon (&) � M. N. L. Y. Abdullah � A. C. Abdullah

School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia

e-mail: [email protected]

M. N. L. Y. Abdullah


A. C. Abdullah


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Aust. Educ. Res. (2013) 40:615–632

DOI 10.1007/s13384-013-0120-1

Keywords Multicultural education � Practices � Challenges � Preschool �Early childhood

Introduction

Most countries in the world today are made up of heterogeneous populations. As a

result, multicultural education has gained attention globally. Schools are the second

most important player after parents or family to shape individuals with good moral

values and attitudes. In light of this, there is a need to incorporate programs and

practices that are reflective of multicultural education principles into early

childhood education as these early education centres will be the starting points

for propagating multiculturalism.

Multicultural early childhood education is necessary in a culturally diverse

country like Malaysia. The Malaysian population is multiracial and multicultural.

The Population and Housing Census (2010) of Malaysia showed that the Malaysian

population is made up of 67.4 % Malays, 24.6 % Chinese, 7.3 % Indians and 0.7 %

other indigenous groups. There are approximately 2.42 million and 2.66 million

children between the ages of 0–4 and 5–9 in Malaysia respectively, which account

for 18 % of the total Malaysian population. Multicultural education should begin in

early childhood education as the primary goal of early childhood education in

Malaysia, as stated in the National Preschool Standard Curriculum, is to develop

children of age 4–6 in a holistic and integrated manner in terms of physical, spiritual,

social and intellectual domains through a safe and conducive learning environment,

and fun, creative and meaningful activities. Social development is closely related to

children’s self-concept, and culture plays an important role in the formation of self-

concept and self-identity. An infant posseses the cognitive ability to differentiate

himself or herself from others in the early stages of development (Alcock et al. 2005).

Toddlers are capable of distinguishing racial and gender differences (Ramsey 2004),

although they do not fully understand what these differences mean (Sprung 2007).

Children undergo an enculturation process in the early years and their understanding

about their own cultural identity is established by age five. Children as young as

3 years old could notice the differences in their skin, eye and hair colour (Glover

1996; Palmer 1990; Ramsey and Myers 1990), which demonstrated that young

children are susceptible to bias and prejudice. Targowska (2001) found that young

children are sensitive to social attitudes that surround them, attitudes that will

influence their perception of differences. Therefore, early childhood education

should include the meaning and the application of multicultural understanding in the

teaching–learning process to encourage children to view others as individuals,

without preconceived bias or prejudice.

Conceptual framework for multicultural early childhood education practices

There are a number of conceptual frameworks for multicultural education. One of the

most pervasive is Banks’ (2004) four-level approach, that was developed in the United

States. The first level which is known as the contribution approach, focuses on ethnic

616 H. S. Phoon et al.

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heroes or ethnic holidays. The second level, which is the additive approach, involves

content, concepts, themes and perspectives being added on to the curriculum without

changing its basic structure. The third level, which is the transformation approach,

changes the structure of the curriculum and encourages pupils to view concepts, issues,

themes, and problems from several ethnic perspectives and points of view. The fourth

level, social action approach, is where pupils learn to take political action within their

schools and communities to address social problems resulting from racism and

oppression. Among these approaches, the contribution approach is less favoured as

this approach reflects the least amount of meaningful engagement of pupils with

others. An approach that is comparable to Banks’ (2004) contribution approach is the

tourist curriculum approach. The tourist curriculum approach emphasizes only on the

outward manifestations of a culture which results in stereotypes. The other model of

multicultural education is the anti-bias approach (Derman-Sparks 1989). The anti-bias

approach was also developed in the United States, and aims to change social

inequalities by guiding children to develop positive attitudes towards social diversity.

The anti-bias approach provides a means to help young children deal with the diversity

embedded in society via activites that are rooted in child development principles.

Curriculum in the anti-bias approach emerges from four main sources: children’s

cultural realities, experiences, behaviours and interests; the families’ interests, beliefs

and concerns for children; societal events, messages, and realities that surround

children; and teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and values. Derman-Sparks (1989)

reported that teachers who used this approach found themselves eliminating

prejudices related to ethnic differences. The anti-bias approach (Derman-Sparks

1989) was claimed as an excellent strategy for the preschool classroom.

The third and fourth level approaches, which are transformation and social action

approaches as proposed by Banks (2004) share a parallel view with the anti-bias

approach as suggested by Derman-Sparks (1989). These approaches emphasize that

multicultural education should be an integral part of the total curriculum, rather than

an add-on component in the existing curriculum. It ought to be integrated holistically

in all aspects of daily classroom life. Additionally, the anti-bias approach puts more

emphasis on the individual’s actions in response to discrimination and prejudice, by

challenging the individual’s critical thinking and activism. Although Banks and

Derman-Sparks’ models were developed in the United States, both the transforma-

tion and anti-bias approaches should be adopted universally, inclusive of Malaysia,

in view that most countries are becoming increasingly pluralistic with transmigration

and the phenomena of the global village more apparent with each passing day

(Abdullah 2009). Thus far, the use of these models in Malaysian contexts has not

been explored, as most of the multicultural early childhood studies have not

explicitly discussed them. Therefore, it is worthwhile to look at whether these models

are applicable or implicitly being applied in Malaysian settings.

Multicultural early childhood education practices and challenges in Malaysia

Multicultural early childhood education in the Malaysian context has captured the

attention of scholars over the past few years. There are a number of multicultural

early childhood education studies which focus on different aspects. However,

Multicultural early childhood education 617

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studies focussing on the implementation and challenges of multicultural early

childhood education in Malaysia are scarce. Thus far, there has been a critical

overview of multicultural early childhood education in Malaysia by Abdullah

(2009). She discussed the issues and challenges in implementing multicultural

education in early childhood in terms of the provisions for early childhood

enrollment and access, curriculum orientation, language development and early

childhood staff professional development. Abdullah et al. (2010) and Hashim et al.

(2010) respectively conducted surveys on 119 preschool teachers to investigate their

attitudes pertaining to multicultural education as well as the extent to which

multicultural components were incorporated into activities and assessment in the

classroom. Another study examined the perceptions of 67 preschool principals to

look into whether professional training is helpful in assisting the implementation of

multicutural education (Tang et al. 2011). Thus far, none of the studies investigated

the practices and challenges of multicultural education among Malaysian preschool

teachers. In view of this, the extent to which the Malaysian preschool teachers have

been implementing multicultural education is still unknown. It is uncertain how

many of them have well intended behaviour, and how many of them are still lacking

the knowledge base of multicultural education. In addition to this, the types of

approaches or frameworks for multicultural early childhood education practices

which have been adopted while implementing multicultural early childhood

education are also under-explored. Since implementing multicultural education is

not an easy process, it is also worthwhile to look into the problems and challenges

that preschool teachers are facing while implementing multicultural education. The

findings in these aspects would provide useful information to prepare preschool

teachers to implement multicultural education in a more effective manner.

Research aims

The purpose of this article is twofold: to discuss the current practices of

multicultural early childhood education and to identify the problems and challenges

that preschool teachers encounter while implementing multicultural early childhood

education. To that end, the following questions were addressed:

1. Do preschool teachers incorporate practices of multicultural education during

the teaching and learning process? If yes, what kind of practices have been

incorporated? If no, what are the issues that hold back their implementation?

2. What are the challenges or problems that preschool teachers encounter while

carrying out activities on multicultural education?

Method

Participants

A total of 854 preschool teachers from 267 private and government preschools in

the states of Perlis, Kedah and Penang in the northern region of Malaysia


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participated in the survey. Stratified sampling was used to ensure that the sample

represented different types of preschools in the three states. The return rates for the

different types of preschools were calculated based on the total number of

preschools in Perlis, Kedah and Penang as reported in Educational Statistics of

Malaysia 2010. The responses were 100 % for Department of National Unity and

Integration, 26.9 % for Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, 4.4 % for

private preschools and 31.3 % for Ministry of Education. The significantly high rate

of response from teachers from the Department of National Unity and Integration

was mainly because the data collection was done on-site when the teachers were

gathered for a workshop. The other possible reason could also be that these teachers

might be more passionate about multicultural issues in keeping with their

department’s mission to foster national unity and integration. The significantly

low rate of response from private preschools was mainly because there was no

specific gate-keeper who could help in disseminating and collecting the

questionnaires.

The demographics of the participants in the present study are illustrated in

Table 1. The participants consisted of 33 males and 814 females, representing

different ethnic groups: Malays (N = 786, 92.0 %), Chinese (N = 25, 2.9 %),

Indians (N = 31, 3.6 %) and others (N = 2, 0.2 %). The majority of the participants

were between 31 and 50 years old (N = 573, 67.1 %). The majority of the

participants had either a certificate (N = 393, 46.0 %) or diploma (N = 277,

32.4 %) in early childhood education. The participants’ preschool teaching

experience ranged from less than 5 years to more than 25 years, with the largest

group comprising of teachers having less than 5 years experience (N = 246,

28.8 %).

Instrument

The present study utilized a self-report teacher questionnaire to elicit responses from

teachers regarding their current practices of multicultural education. The question-

naire comprised two open-ended questions including ‘Do you incorporate practices

of multicultural education during the teaching and learning process? If yes, what

kind of practices have been incorporated? If no, what are the issues that hold back

your implementation?’ and ‘What are the challenges or problems that you encounter

while carrying out activities on multicultural education? The content of the

questionnaire as well as the clarity of language were validated by three experts with

an educational studies and psychometric background. All the specific items on the

questionnaire were inspected to ensure that every item corresponded to a desired

measurement.

Data collection

The self-report teacher questionnaires were sent to the preschools using either

conventional post or given to the participants through their respective gate-keepers

in their respective ministries. The primary role of the gate-keepers was to

disseminate questionnaires in a manner that could reach as many of their teachers as


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Table 1 Demographic data of teachers

Demographic representations (N = 854) %

Type of preschool

Department of National Unity and Integration 262 30.7

Ministry of Rural and Regional Development 292 34.2

Private 31 3.6

Ministry of Education 269 31.5

Gender

Male 33 3.9

Female 814 95.3

Unknown 7 0.8

Age

20 years and below 12 1.4

21–30 years 174 20.4

31–40 years 274 32.1

41–50 years 299 35.0

51 years and above 92 10.8

Unknown 3 0.4

Ethnicity

Malay 786 92.0

Chinese 25 2.9

Indian 31 3.6

Others 2 0.2

Unknown 10 1.2

Early childhood qualification

Certificate 393 46.0

Diploma 277 32.4

Degree 37 4.3

Postgraduate 1 0.1

None 64 7.5

Others 25 2.9

Unknown 57 6.7

Academic qualification

PMR/SRP/LCE 29 3.4

SPM/MCE/GCE 374 43.8

STPM/HSC/A Level/Matriculation 95 11.1

Diploma 210 24.6

Degree 122 14.3

Others 4 0.5

Unknown 20 2.3

Preschool Teaching Experience

Less than 5 years 246 28.8

6–10 years 151 17.7

11–15 years 119 13.9


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possible. The questionnaires were completed anonymously by the teachers and sent

back to the researchers or the respective gate-keeper. As a result, the confidentiality

of the responses was preserved. This measure could also minimize the likelihood of

social desirability bias as there were no face-to-face interaction with the researchers

(Nederhof 1984) and the respondents’ identity was not revealed. Nevertheless, the

potential issue concerning self-report responses is acknolwedged in the present

study. The respondents may still gave a more altruistic and socially desirable

response.

Data analyses

The responses to the questions were analysed using conventional qualitative and

quantitative methods as well as thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is a qualitative

analytic method which was used to identify, analyse and report themes within the

data in the present study. A theme captures something important about the data in

relation to the research question and represents some level of patterned response or

meaning within the data set (Braun and Clarke 2006, pp. 82). The responses were

identified, sorted and classified based on the themes and subthemes following the six

steps suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006):

1. Become familiar with the data.

2. Generate initial codes.

3. Search for themes.

4. Review themes.

5. Define and name themes.

6. Generate the report.

Examples of statements were provided to support the themes. The total number

of responses according to themes were also counted.

Results

Teachers’ practices of multicultural early childhood education

All the 854 preschool teachers answered the first question ‘Do you incorporate

practices of multicultural education during the teaching and learning process?’.

Approximately 82.8 % (N = 707) of them affirmed that they did incorporate

Table 1 continued

Demographic representations (N = 854) %

16–20 years 101 11.8

21–25 years 28 3.3

[25 years 78 9.1

Unknown 131 15.3


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practices of multicultural education during the teaching and learning process,

whereas 16.3 % (N = 139) of the preschool teachers did not. The remaining 0.9 %

(N = 8) were unsure about this.

Table 2 displays the responses pertaining to the practices of multicultural

education of the preschool teachers. These teachers can be divided into two major

groups: those that implement multicultural education, and those that did not

implement multicultural education. For preschool teachers who implement multi-

cultural education, they mentioned two major aspects, which were curriculum, and

beliefs and attitudes. In terms of curriculum, preschool teachers implemented

multicultural components through thematic teaching as stipulated in the official

curriculum. For instance, teachers introduced festivals, rituals, customs and artefacts

of different cultures to the pupils. These lessons were conducted by using teaching

aids such as pictures and videos, or through activities such as story-telling, songs

and role play. In addition to this, teachers also used multiple languages in the

classroom, so as to accommodate pupils who were not competent in using the

language of instruction. The other aspect was to inculcate positive beliefs and

attitudes in pupils about the cultures of other people. This was done by encouraging

peer mixing, teaching pupils to respect other people and overcoming prejudice and

racism among pupils.

Preschool teachers who did not implement multicultural education raised three

major issues: unclear policy and practices, doubts about children’s readiness and

concerns about children’s background and levels of acceptance. According to these

preschool teachers, the limited implementation of multicultural early childhood

education was due to a vague understanding of the direction and recommended

practices in this area. Additionally, the limited implementation was due to lack of

awareness about multicultural education. Teachers’ personal beliefs about their

pupils may also have held back its implementation. These beliefs included the

perception that preschool children are not ready to learn about multiculturalism,

lack exposure to multiculturalism, are slow in understanding multiculturalism, have

prejudiced feelings towards others, are not interested in multiculturalism, are

unfamiliar, and afraid to mingle with peers from other ethnic groups. Other beliefs

that discouraged teachers from fully embracing and implementing multiculturalism

were that it is too early to start multicultural education at the preschool level and

preschool children have different levels of acceptance towards multicultural

education, especially those from the rural areas.

Challenges in multicultural early childhood education

In the present study, teachers were asked to identify the challenges or problems that

preschool teachers encounter while carrying out activities on multicultural

education. These are shown in Table 3. Generally, they identified instructional

challenges and lack of stakeholder support as barriers to multicultural education

practices at the preschool level. Among the instructional challenges highlighted by

the teachers were mono-ethnic settings in some preschools, children’s lack of

attention and uncooperative behaviour during cultural activities and the emphasis on

the academic component rather than aspects of multicultural education in most


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preschools. Besides these, a major instructional challenge highlighted was the lack

of resources to implement multicultural education. Teachers did not have enough

instructional materials, learning aids, time, and financial support to implement these

activities. Language issues were also regarded as a potential hindrance to

multicultural education practices by the preschool teachers because some teachers

felt that language proficiency is a necessary prerequisite for children to learn

whatever is being presented in the classroom, including multicultural education. For

instance, a child who did not speak the Malay language, the language of instruction,

needed to acquire the language first before he could learn about multicultural

education. In addition to this, teachers also highlighted the lack of stakeholder

support as one of the major challenges. Apparently, they needed more support from

the relevant authority and stakeholders, particularly parents, to carry out multicul-

tural activities in schools.

Discussion

The first research question in this study was Do preschool teachers incorporate

practices of multicultural education during the teaching and learning process? If

yes, what kind of practices have been incorporated? If no, what are the issues that

hold back their implementation? The study showed that the majority of the

preschool teachers reported that they implement multicultural education. It is worth

noting that although teachers claimed that they implemented multicultural

education, the researchers had to treat this finding with caution as observation of

actual practices was not carried out in the present study. The investigation of

teachers’ actual practices of multicultural education in classroom settings was not

within the scope of this study. However, this could be done in future studies through

systematic classroom observation. In the present study, there are two groups of

teachers who viewed multicultural education from different perspectives. One group

used the tourist curriculum approach or the contribution approach (Banks 2004),

which focuses on only the overt manifestations of a culture when dealing with

multicultural education; while the other group used the transformation approach

(Banks 2004) and anti-bias approach (Derman-Sparks 1989), which involved

intensified socialization opportunities among pupils, and promoted cross-cultural

relationships to enhance awareness and understanding of other cultures as well as

overcoming prejudice among pupils. The tourist curriculum approach and

contribution approach commonly add ethnic content to the curriculum and focus

on only the surface peculiarities or manifestations of a culture. As we can see from

the responses of many teachers, the basic practice of this kind is to add a single unit

in curriculum, by either teaching festivals or a religious celebration, or by having a

performing arts or food day. However, such approaches may only lead to and

reinforce stereotypes, whilst highlighting differences between cultures. It is

necessary to move beyond the tourist or contribution approach, to one that will

foster a more cohesive and meaningful intercultural engagement. Thus, it may be

more useful to teach about cultures utilising an anti-bias approach that encourage

teachers to teach children to respect themselves and others as well as to avoid


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discrimination and prejudice (Derman-Sparks 1989). The transformation approach

as described by Banks (2004) was evidenced in the present study, where teachers

inculcated positive values such as respect and promoted significant values of other

cultures, which are also universal in nature, to the children. This is parallel with the

aims of multicultural education which celebrates pluralism and respect for diversity

in classrooms (Banks and Banks 2004). The use of the anti-bias approach was

demonstrated by the teachers who teach their pupils about eliminating prejudice and

discrimination. Nonetheless, data on how teachers work towards eliminating

prejudice and discrimination was not provided in the present study. Future studies

could investigate how teachers practising the anti-bias approach guide children to

deal with prejudice and discrimination. Teachers should create a positive learning

environment by acting as a facilitator who eliminates oppression and prejudice

among pupils (Derman-Sparks 1989; Sparks and Verner 1995). Apart from teaching

pupils about prejudice and bias, Gorski (2010) felt that teachers should also

critically examine their own prejudices and biases as these will affect pupils’

learning experiences. Only through a continual process of valuing racial and cultural

differences, can teachers treat all pupils equally (Nelson 2001). Even though many

preschool teachers in the present study claimed that they had implemented

multicultural education, it is quite apparent that they were using the tourist and/or

contribution approach.

As for teachers who did not implement multicultural education, there are two

major factors that hold back the implementation of multicultural education at the

preschool level. Based on the teachers’ responses, these constraints can be grouped

into educator-related factors and children-related factors. One educator-related

factor is the non-existence of a clear policy on multicultural education. The teachers

felt that the current implementation of multicultural education in Malaysia is limited

mainly because teachers lack knowledge about policy and practices in multicultural

education. As a result, teachers were uncertain about the way to implement it. This

is especially true for teachers who have not been exposed to or lack awareness about

multicultural education. It is not surprising that this is happening in Malaysia as

there is no national policy to include a multicultural component in teacher

education. It is worthwhile to explore teachers’ perceptions of teacher education in

Malaysia, to find out whether teacher education in Malaysia has sufficiently

incorporated multicultural education in its curriculum. In addition to this, teachers

were undecided whether to implement multicultural education. This is related to

teachers’ personal beliefs about multicultural education. Teachers’ beliefs about

multicultural education were beyond the scope of the present study. However, a

previous study on Malaysian preschool teachers’ beliefs about multicultural

education revealed that teachers were less supportive of multicultural education

for a number of reasons (Phoon et al. 2012). These included teachers being afraid

that multicultural education would contradict religious teachings especially Islamic

teachings among the Muslims. Besides this, other reasons were that multicultural

education is not suitable for mono-ethnic classroom settings and multicultural

education would burden the pupils. These findings might be applicable to the

present study to illuminate why teachers felt undecided about the implementation of

the multicultural education.


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Table 2 Teachers’ practices of multicultural early childhood education

Practices

(N = 854)

Themes Subthemes Examples of statement

Implemented

(N = 707,

82.8 %)

Curriculum Use thematic teaching ‘‘I introduce festivals, rituals, customs and

artifacts of different cultures to my pupils

as part of my teachings’’

‘‘I use pictures and videos to show my

pupils the cultures of different ethnic

groups in Malaysia’’

‘‘I teach my pupils about different cultures

through story-telling, songs and role play’’

Use multilingual ‘‘I use three major languages in my

classroom which are Malay, English and

Mandarin’’

‘‘I use different languages in my classroom

so that my pupils can understand better.’’

Beliefs and

attitudes

Encourage peer

mixing

‘‘I encourage my pupils to mix around with

peers from diverse cultural background’’

‘‘I always divide pupils from different

ethnicities into the same group while

carrying out classroom activities’’

Positive values ‘‘I inculcate positive values of other cultures

to my pupils’’

‘‘I teach my pupils to respect people from

different ethnic groups’’

Overcome prejudice

and racism

‘‘I help my pupils to overcome prejudice

towards other pupils from diverse cultural

backgrounds’’

‘‘I help my pupils to overcome racism.’’

Not

implemented

(N = 139,

16.3 %)

Educator-

related

factors

Undecided and

unclear

‘‘…many teachers are still

undecided…unclear (about the

implementation of multicultural education)’’

Lack of awareness ‘‘limited implementation was due to lack of

awareness (about multicultural education)’’

Lack of exposure ‘‘I have less exposure to other cultures,

which make me difficult to teach about

multiculturalism’’

Children-

related

factors

Limited

understanding

‘‘Children have limited understanding (on

cultural issues)’’

‘‘Children could not understand

multicultural issues’’

‘‘Children are lacking in exposure to other

cultures, therefore, it is challenging to

create awareness and acceptance at the

early stage’’

Too early ‘‘Children at 5 to 6 years old could not

understand matters related to

multiculturalism’’

‘‘It is difficult for the children to understand

and accept other cultures…it takes time’’


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Teachers also attributed the inability to implement multicultural education to

children-related factors. One of these factors was that teachers were doubtful about

preschool children being ready for multicultural education. The majority of the

teachers felt that these children still lack exposure to other cultures, have limited

understanding about diversity, are too young and slow in understanding these issues,

may have existing prejudiced feelings and so on. In addition, the teachers were also

concerned about preschool children’s level of acceptance as they felt that those

especially from the rural areas have a lower level of acceptance of diversity. The

reasons provided by the teachers clearly reflect teachers’ perception about

multicultural education which is incongruent with the essence of multicultural

education as proposed by Banks (2004) and Derman-Sparks (1989). Most of the

reasons they have given above to justify not implementing multicultural education

are the exactly the reasons why proponents of multicultural education support its

implementation. Multicultural education should start as young as possible, as

children’s cultural understanding is commonly well-developed by 5 years of age

(Lynch and Hanson 1998). Children are capable of distinguishing differences and

similarities of their race and ethnic group and other cultural groups at this age

(Lynch and Hanson 1998), thus it is an appropriate time to promote cultural

awareness and implement multicultural education. As multicultural education is an

education for all people regardless of ethnicity, gender, class, socio-economic status

Table 2 continued

Practices

(N = 854)


Existing prejudiced

feelings

‘‘Some children have prejudiced feelings towards other

children (of different ethnicity)…it takes time.’’

Unfamiliar ‘‘Children may feel unfamiliar’’

Not interested ‘‘Children at 4 years old, for instance still like to

play…(not interested to learn about multicultural

education…’’

‘‘Children lack understanding and interest’’

Difficult to learn ‘‘Children only aware of own cultures, hence, it is

difficult for them to learn about other cultures’’

Afraid to mingle ‘‘Children are afraid to mingle with peers from other

ethnic group.

Slow in

understanding

‘‘They are slow in understanding cultural matters’’

Urban & rural

differences

‘‘Children from different cultures, particularly those

staying in the rural areas, are more resistant to accept

(multicultural education)’’

Lower level of

acceptance

‘‘Children’s acceptance differs according to rural and

urban…’’

‘‘Their (children) level of acceptance is different from the

adults’’.

Variation in

acceptance

‘‘Children may find it difficult to accept the way of life or

cultures of other ethnic groups’’


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or physical abilities (Baruth and Manning 2008), it can be implemented regardless

of the children’s background such as whether they are from urban or rural areas.

The second research question in this study was What are the challenges or

problems that preschool teachers encounter while carrying out activities on

multicultural education? To put it in a nutshell, responses from the teachers

indicated that the practice of multicultural education at the preschool level is still

limited due to numerous beliefs and barriers related to instructional practices and

language issues. Based on findings gathered from the teachers, instructional

challenges are one of the major problems that hinder the implementation of

multicultural education at the preschool level. Among the instructional challenges,

teachers stated that mono-ethnicity in a school setting is an obstacle to multicultural

education. This again shows that teachers have misconceptions about multicultural

education. It is not true that one can implement multicultural education when only

diversity exists in the classroom (Jones and Derman-Sparks 1992; Ramsey 1982).

Besides this, some teachers also mentioned that they are over-loaded with existing

academic subjects, thus they are unable to implement multicultural education. From

this statement, it is apparent that teachers might regard multicultural education as a

‘‘stand alone’’ subject. It is recommended that multicultural education should be

infused across the curriculum and not be taught separately (Banks 1992, 2001).

Other instructional challenges that were reported by the teachers include limited

instructional materials, learning aids, instructional time, curriculum focus, financial

support and children’s poor command of the language of instruction. In order to

ensure instructional effectiveness in a classroom with culturally diverse pupils,

teachers need to respect and be aware of cultural diversity, be willing to incorporate

pupils’ cultures into classroom curriculum and alter instruction (Fueyo and Bechtol

1999). In view that preschool teachers in Malaysia have limited resources to

conduct lessons on multicultural education, the relevant stakeholders which include

government agencies (e.g., Ministry of Education, National Unity and Integration

Department), NGOs, private commercial organisations, researchers and the

education community in general should produce and develop more instructional

materials and learning aids, which are suitable for young children and appropriate

for the local context. This step is crucial because the lack of multicultural materials

(e.g., books, reading materials, modules) and learning aids (e.g., CD, course ware,

visual and audio materials) may hinder effective teaching of diversity even at the

early stage of education.

The lack of support that teachers receive from the relevant authority and

stakeholders, including parents may also affect the implementation of multicultural

early childhood education. Preschool teachers need more support and commitment

from the stakeholders to implement multicultural early childhood education.

Preschool teachers felt that parents did not give their full cooperation in the

implementation of multicultural education. It is generally true that initiatives to

involve parents in multicultural education are inadequate and very often only

concerned with academic matters (Pattnaik 2003). The partnership with parents is

also crucial to help teachers meet the learning needs of children with diverse

cultural backgrounds. With such support, teachers will have wider opportunities for

training and professional development as well as an adequate supply of relevant


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Table 3 Challenges in multicultural early childhood education


Instructional

challenges

Mono-ethnicity in school setting ‘‘The school is only made up of Malay pupils,

so I am having problems in teaching

cultural aspects of other ethnicity’’

Lack of attention and co-operation

among preschool children

‘‘Children have limited attention span’’

‘‘Children could not pay attention….difficult

to learn (about multicultural education)’’

‘‘ the children did not cooperate while

activities related to multicultural education

are carried out…’’

Emphasis on academic component;

over-loaded (curriculum)

‘‘The emphasis is still on academic

component, other issues (such as

multicultural education) are too complex

for the children to understand and accept’’.

‘‘The teachers are overloaded with the

existing curriculum, lessons and

activities…’’ (do not have time for

multicultural education)

‘‘Need more references’’ (on multicultural

education)

‘‘Teachers need longer time to implement

activities related to multicultural education

to ensure better understanding’’

Lack of instructional materials, learning

aids, instructional time and extra cost

(resources)

‘‘There are limited instructional materials on

multicultural education’’

‘‘Difficulty in getting the learning materials’’

‘‘Limited materials in terms of traditional

music, clothes, and interactive CD on a

particular ethnic group’’

‘‘Need to bear the cost in preparing the

learning materials on multicultural

education’’

‘‘Require costly learning aids’’

Language issues

(Only use mother tongue; limited

command of language of instruction)

‘‘Children only use own mother tongue’’

‘‘Children could not understand Malay

Language, especially the Chinese and Thai

pupils’’

‘‘Lack of understanding in terms of

language’’

‘‘Communication issues arise due to

children’s lack of understanding in Malay

and English Languages…which made it

difficult for them to understand what the

teacher is trying to teach’’.

‘‘Children who do not speak Malay Language

need to learn the language first… then only

can learn (about multicultural education)’’


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educational resources. Teachers need to realize that the purpose of schooling extend

beyond the narrow academic focus. It is important for them to nurture well-balanced

children who are prepared for a diverse world through collaboration and support

from the parents (Pattnaik 2003). Learning about diversity should happen in an

atmosphere where teachers, pupils, and community members contribute equally to

the understanding of diversity. The involvement of various stakeholders is a

dynamic process that encourages, supports and provides opportunities for teachers,

parents and community members to work together to improve and support each

child’s unique learning needs.

Implications

From the findings of the study, it is suggested that teacher education should be

singled out as the main medium to improve preschool teachers’ practices of

multicultural education. As such, teacher education institutions are responsible for

providing training to pre-service teachers to equip them with the ability to go

beyond stereotypes related to the teaching and learning process as well as

curriculum policies and practices (Nelson 2001). It is necessary to reform teacher

education programs in order to train teachers who are culturally competent for the

further development of multicultural education (Won-Pyo 2012). Parla (1994)

recommended three main elements which can be used to prepare teachers to teach

multicultural education. The elements are (1) theoretical base, (2) linguistic and

cultural diversity base, and (3) experimental base. The theoretical base provides the

basics of common definitions, knowledge of issues and self-identity to build the

skills to implement multicultural program effectively. The linguistic and cultural

diversity base focuses on secondary language acquisition and the relationship

between languages, so that teachers can affirm the cultures of diverse pupils. The

experimental base provides trainees with the practical and hands-on experience of

working with a variety of racial and ethnic groups, which is guided by an

experienced mentor. Ethnic-diversity experiences are important, as the high-level

ethnic-diversity experienced individual demonstrates a higher level of intercultural

sensitivity (Ezhar and Ain Nadzimah 2012). On the other hand, Costa (1997) felt

that teacher training should be approached from the windows of morals and

Table 3 continued


Lack of

stakeholder

support

Lack of support and cooperation from

relevant authority

‘‘Difficulty in getting the support and

cooperation from the NGOs (relevant

authority) to make the educational

programme a success’’.

Lack of support from parents ‘‘Not getting support and cooperation from

the parents. Some of the parents still harbor

negative feelings and have low awareness

about multicultural education’’


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attitudes, with an emphasis on the understanding of the implications of multicultural

education from educational, methodological and political perspectives. Either

approaches would be a good starting point to re-visit and improve teacher education

curricula.

Conclusion

Although the majority of the preschool teachers in Malaysia felt that they had

implemented multicultural to a certain extent, many of them used the tourist and

contribution approaches when dealing with multicultural education. These

approaches were deemed less suitable as compared to the anti-bias approach. Thus,

it is important to support teachers in developing more critical understandings of

multicultural education before it is implemented. This can be done through teacher

education training or programs. Other efforts to help teachers to overcome

challenges in implementing multicultural education include producing and devel-

oping more instructional materials and learning aids, which are suitable for young

children and applicable in the local context. Preschool teachers also need the various

stakeholders to give more support and acknowledgement to implement multicultural

early childhood education. For the advancement of multicultural early childhood

education in Malaysia, it is recommended that in the future, it is worthwhile to

observe preschool teachers’ teaching strategies and compare these with their

responses to surveys. This is helpful to test the rhetoric against the practice (Howell

1997).

Acknowledgments We would like to thank Universiti Sains Malaysia for providing the University

Research Grant (1001/PGURU/811096) to conduct this study. We would also like to record our gratitude

to all participants from the government and private preschools for their willingness to participate in this

research project. Special thanks also go to all the research assistants who have helped out in this research

project. Our deepest appreciation is also due to colleagues who helped to validate the research

instruments. Finally, we would like to thank all the organizations and individuals who have contributed to

this research project, either directly or indirectly.

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Author Biographies

Hooi San Phoon is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Her research interests include speech and language development among typical and atypical developing

children, Malaysian English and multicultural education.

Melissa Ng Lee Yen Abdullah is a senior lecturer at the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains

Malaysia. Her research interests include learning skills and mental health issues amongst children and

multicultural education.

Anna Christina Abdullah is a professor at the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Her areas of specialization are preschool education and curriculum studies and multicultural education.


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Multicultural early childhood education: practices and challenges in Malaysia

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