ISSN: 2226-6348
Open access
This study explored the perspectives of Malaysian public preschool teachers regarding the implementation of early mathematics curriculum. The purpose of this qualitative research was to identify and analyse the issues, challenges, and potential recommendations to enhance early mathematics teaching practices in Malaysian preschools. In order to support data collected from open-ended questionnaires from 398 public preschool teachers, semi-structured interviews and observations on seven preschool teachers were conducted to gather triangulated insights on their early mathematics implementation practices. Findings highlight the importance of addressing issues, challenges, and suggestions on four key themes upon data analysis, including early mathematics curriculum, its implementation, the need for appropriate and digital teaching aids, as well as necessity for continuous professional development. Recommendations for fostering effective teaching practices in early mathematics classrooms in line with learners’ needs in the 21st century for Malaysian preschoolers were proposed to further improve the scenario of early mathematics implementation in Malaysian preschools.
Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2008). Experimental evaluation of the effects of a research-based preschool mathematics curriculum. American Educational Research Journal, 45(2), 443-494. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831207312908
Ghazali, M., Mustafa, Z., Rashid, R. A. A., Amzah, F., Harun, J., & Ashari, Z. M. (2022). Malaysian teachers’ perceptions on teaching early mathematics. Education 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2022.2138490
Hu, B. Y., Li. Y., Zhang, X., Roberts, S. K., & Vitiello, G, (2021). The quality of teacher feedback matters: Examining Chinese teachers’ use of feedback strategies in preschool math lessons. Teaching and Teacher Education, 98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103253
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. (2020). TIMSS 2019 international results in Mathematics and Science. https://timss2019.org/reports/wp-content/themes/timssandpirls/download-center/TIMSS-2019-International-Results-in-Mathematics-and-Science.pdf
Kenayathulla, H. B., Abdul Rahman, M. N., & A. Ghani, M. F. (2023). Quality preschool education for human capital development. In D. Adams (Ed.), Education in Malaysia: Developments, reforms and prospects (pp.101-118). Routledge.
Kong, K. (2022). Early Childhood Education in Malaysia. In L. P. Symaco & M. Hayden (Eds.), international handbook on education in South East Asia (pp. 1-32). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8136-3_13-2
Leng, A. P. W., Chong, M. C., Che Mustafa, M., & Mohd Jamil, M. R. (2023). Issues and challenges for the implementation of preschool STREAM education: What do the preschool teachers say? Southeast Asia Early Childhood Journal,12(1), 54–69. https://doi.org/10.37134/saecj.vol12.1.5.2023
Leng, A. P. W., Hui-Shen, C. L., Dhamotharan, M., & Che Mustafa, M. (2021). Preschool teachers’ beliefs and classroom practices of child-centred learning at private preschools in central region, Malaysia. Southeast Asia Early Childhood Journal,10(2), 69-83. https://doi.org/10.37134/saecj.vol10.2.5.2021
Li, X. (2021). Investigating U.S. preschool teachers’ math teaching knowledge in counting and numbers. Early Education and Development, 32(4), 589–607. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1785226
Mamat, N., Razali, A. R., Hashim, A.T., Awang, M. M., Azman, M. N. A., & Fajrie, N. (2023). A comparing key performance indicator and benchmarks of quality pre-school among the agency in Malaysia. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 12(1), 505-516. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijere.v12i1.23879
Ministry of Education. (2017). Kurikulum standard prasekolah kebangsaan. Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia.
Ompok, C. C., Teng, L. M., & Sapirai, J. (2021). Effect of games towards children’s Mathematics performance. Southeast Asia Early Childhood Journal, 10(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.37134/saecj.vol10.1.1.2021
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2023). PISA 2022 Results: Factsheets Malaysia. https://www.oecd.org/publication/pisa-2022-results/country-notes/malaysia-1dbe2061/
Seman, N., Alias, A., & Ikhsan, Z. (2020). Investigating PCK among Malaysia preschool teachers in early mathematics. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(6), 5297-5307. https://doi.org/10.37200/V24I6/17580
Seman, N., Awang, Z., Jani, N., Atan, A., & Md Ali, H. (2022). Implementation of Developmental Appropriate Practices (DAP) of pupils among early childhood educators in Malaysia. Jurnal Pendidikan Bitara UPSI, 15, 62-75. https://doi.org/10.37134/bitara.vol15.sp.7.2022
Sheridan, K.M., Banzer, D., Pradzinski, A. (2020). Early math professional development: Meeting the challenge through online learning. Early Childhood Education Journal, 48, 223–231. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-019-00992-y
World Bank. (2023). Shaping first steps: A comprehensive review of preschool education in Malaysia. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/44532923-58fc-47c1-9b50-eccc8aeb1175/content
(Siew & Tee, 2024)
Siew, S. K., & Tee, Y. Q. (2024). Perspectives of Early Mathematics Implementation among Malaysian Public Preschool Teachers: Issues, Challenges, and Way Forward. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 13(2), 343–360.
Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s)
Published by HRMARS (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seenavc at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode