Preschool Teachers’ Perception of the National Curriculum Standard for Preschool

Preschool education in Malaysia is carried out in accordance with the National Curriculum Standard for Preschool. The National Curriculum Standard for Preschool comprises three main components namely, pillars, content standards and performance standards. Preschool teachers are required to master all the components to ensure that the teaching and learning process is carried out in accordance with the curriculum. Besides, preschool teachers also need to positively perceive the National Curriculum Standard for Preschool. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the perception of preschool teachers on the National Curriculum Standard for Preschool in terms of understanding, assessment, knowledge, and support. This study employed a survey research design with a quantitative approach. An adapted questionnaire has been used for data collection. Random sampling techniques have been used in the sample selection process and a total of 30 respondents were involved. Data obtained from responses were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science and interpreted by value of mean, percentages and standard deviation. The result found that the respondent has a high level of knowledge and understanding, and a moderate level of practice on assessment and support received. This study is expected to assist relevant parties such as the Ministry of Education, State Education Department and District Education Office to plan programs or courses to enhance preschool teachers’ understanding of the National Standard of Preschool Curriculum. Apart from that, future studies can also take into account the development of questionnaire questions and the involvement of all preschool teachers in Malaysia.


Introduction
Early Childhood Education (ECE) is a crucial scope in the world of education that is emphasized by all countries.ECE is defined by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) as the phase of child development that begins from birth until the age of eight.Based on this definition, all countries in the world provide early education for children within the specified age range.The National Curriculum Standard for Preschool (KSPK) is a document developed by the Malaysian Ministry of Education (MOE) for preschool teachers.to master.This curriculum is a guideline approved by the minister under Section 22.The Education Act 1996 explained that the KSPK set under Subsection (1) must state the knowledge, skills and values expected to be acquired by the students at the end of their respective preschool education period.This also means that every student who attends preschool classes must master the aspects of knowledge, skills and values.It is explicitly ascertained that teachers involved in preschool education should have extensive knowledge related to KSPK for effective teaching in the classroom.
Preschool teachers' knowledge of curriculum content is essential as it is a determinant factor for the effectiveness of teaching in the preschool classroom.Preschool teachers who master the knowledge of curriculum content will be able to plan and conduct effective teaching so that students can learn well (Masnan et al., 2019).KSPK is not only used by preschool teachers for teaching purposes, but also necessary for assessing students.The assessment should refer to the content of the KSPK to facilitate teachers in identifying which aspects have not yet been mastered by their students.When the matter is identified, then preschool teachers can innovate or improve teaching delivery in the classroom.
Integrated curriculum implementation is planned through a practice approach that is appropriate for student development (ABP) as recommended by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).As known, NAEYC outlines ten preschool program standards, namely interaction between teachers and students, curriculum, relationships between teachers and families, teacher qualifications and professional development, administration, staff, physical environment, health and safety as well as nutrition and food service and assessment.In NAEYC, the second standard is curriculum.Therefore, it is explicit that the curriculum is compulsory content in preschool education and should be held by all teachers or individuals involved in preschool education.
In Malaysia, the preschool education curriculum is a complete document and has undergone several revisions by notable panels appointed by the Ministry of Education.The KSPK was revised primarily in 2010 since its enforcement in 2003.Then, it was revised again in 2016 resulting in the 2017 Revised KSPK which was used until today (Nazri & Baizura, 2018).Preschool teachers must strengthen their knowledge of the KSPK content to meet its designated objectives and goals.In Malaysia, numerous studies related to preschool education have been conducted.The empirical studies encompassed various aspects of preschool education, namely preschool students' development, teachers' professional knowledge, preschool classroom environment and curriculum used.However, there are still gaps in those studies that necessitate improvement by other studies.
The objectives of this study are: 1.To identify the understanding level of preschool teachers on the KSPK content.2. To identify preschool teacher assessment practices based on KSPK. 3. To identify the training and support received by preschool teachers in implementing KSPK. 4. To identify the professionalism level of preschool teachers.

Literature Review
There are six types of early childhood education curriculum, namely Creative Curriculum, High Scope Preschool Approach, Montessori, Project Approach, Reggio Emilio and Themed Based Model.All of these curricula contain comprehensive content covering all aspects of child development.The pioneers of constructivism theory consisted of several famous persons, such as Piaget, Vygotsky, Gardner and Smilansky.The Creative Curriculum was derived from constructivism theory that emphasised on child-centred approach focused on holistic development in terms of cognitive, physical and social-emotional (Hamaidia, 2020).
Subsequently, another early childhood education curriculum is High Scope Preschool Approach which was founded by David Weakert in 1960.This curriculum is concerned with the real development of a child (Kelemen, 2016).Apart from that, it also focuses on children's development progressively beginning from the child's young age.This statement indicates that this curriculum is highly concerned with the development of children from birth.
Moreover, the third early childhood education curriculum uses the approach founded by Maria Montessori which is also known as the Montessori approach.This curriculum uses learning through playing approach.The activities available in this curriculum are compelling in addition to the equipment used also taking into account the class environment and children's condition in the class.
The fourth early childhood education curriculum is the Project Approach curriculum as founded by John Dewey.This curriculum provides children the opportunity to perform play activities based on the games they create.It also provides children the opportunity to form social relationships with their peers and interact.Meanwhile, Reggio Emilio is the fifth early childhood education curriculum approach that provides children the opportunity to express themselves in many ways, including drawing and role-playing activities.These activities enable children to highlight their hidden talents and assist teachers in detecting their students' talents.The final curriculum is the Thematic-Based Approach.The thematic approach is a means of teaching and learning that includes all aspects of the curriculum that are related to each other in each theme.
In Malaysia, MOE has prepared a specific curriculum for preschool education known as the National Curriculum Standard for Preschool (KSPK).It is commonly known that KSPK is a document that contains all aspects of children's physical and mental development.These aspects are crucial in shaping the student's development and subsequently producing individuals who are competitive in all aspects.KSPK was developed based on the National Education Philosophy to emphasize individual development including physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual aspects.The detailed curriculum content not only involves National Curriculum Standard for Primary School (KSSR) and National Curriculum Standard for Secondary School (KSSM), but it also involves KSPK content.The KSPK content is comprehensive covering all aspects of students' development aged 4 to 6 years.Therefore, teachers should clearly understand the KSPK content to ensure that every teaching plan has an impact on the students and further achieves the designated objectives.
This planning process involves the process of preparing a Daily Lesson Plan (RPH) by the teachers that must take into account various factors such as themes, pillars, content standards, learning standards, teaching aids to be used, and most importantly, is the setting of objectives.The RPH is a practice that needs to be implemented by teachers, where it is related to what is to be taught and how it will be delivered so that students understand the content of the lesson (Esah, 2004).In the process of preparing RPH, it is necessary for a preschool teacher to understand the content of KSPK well.Scholars stated that preschool teachers' knowledge of curriculum content helps teachers prepare and plan lessons well (Jain et al., 2018).
Scholars stated that teachers need to possess knowledge of pedagogy, content, general and teaching expertise (Baharudin & Ibrahim, 2019).All aspects of knowledge mentioned above contribute to the effectiveness of teaching in the classroom which in turn encourages students' development.In the preschool context, preschool teachers' pedagogy, KSPK content, pedagogy and teaching expertise knowledge contribute to the development of students in all aspects as emphasized in KSPK Revision 2017.Scholars also emphasized the aspect of curriculum content knowledge, especially in KSPK (Fauzan & Hanim, 2016).They also asserted that teachers should always add and improve their knowledge regarding content and pedagogy in KSPK to assist teachers in delivering lessons in the classrooms.Assessment is also an aspect that needs to be emphasized by all teachers including preschool teachers.Assessment involves a learning process between teachers and students.Ekua (2016) defined assessment as all activities that involve interaction between teachers and students, where the information in those activities can be used to improve the teaching and learning techniques of teachers.Therefore, all the evidence recorded by the teacher needs to be kept for the purpose of improving any relevant aspect.
On another note, Yambi (2018) stated that assessment refers to the measurement process used to identify a complex attribute in an individual or a group of individuals.Based on that opinion, teachers need to use assessment instruments that are appropriate to what is to be assessed.Therefore, preschool teachers have utilized different types of instruments such as anecdotal records, checklists and reviews through students' portfolios.There are several types of assessment namely formative and summative, formal and informal, continuous, process-based and focused assessments.There are two types of assessment that are often used by teachers, namely formal and informal assessment (Yambi, 2018).In preschool, assessment conducted by teachers is informal.This is because the assessment is continuous, where the teachers always make observations of every behavior and work of the preschool students in the classroom.Continuous assessment is able to provide authentic evidence and has higher reliability compared to other types of assessments.This is because preschool teachers make assessments through observation, and review students' work every day.
Training, assistance and technical support play an important role in the effectiveness of teaching in the classroom.They can increase the knowledge of preschool teachers about KSPK.It should be noted that not all preschool teachers have a good understanding of the KSPK content, especially novice teachers.According to behavioral theory, when there is a connection or relationship between stimulus and response, then the learning process will run effortlessly.As a result, the teacher will be able to deliver lessons in the classroom.
There are various trainings that can be provided by MOE, State Education Department (SED) and District Education Office (DEO) for preschool teachers.Among them are training or courses to strengthen understanding of KSPK, preparation of RPH, teaching aids (BBM), and use of assessment tools.Scholars stated training, conferences, in-service training, lectures on the web, live demonstrations, and tutorials are able to impact the teachers' knowledge level and improve their professionalism (Sheridan et al., 2009).
The development of professionalism in early childhood education or preschool education refers to experience in the delivery of lesson content, training received and development opportunities for preschool teachers or individuals involved with children aged from birth to 8 years old (Sheridan et al., 2009).A previous study conducted reported that the effective implementation of the curriculum in the classroom depends on the teacher's level of understanding of the curriculum (Masnan et al., 2018).Therefore, it is clear that preschool teachers should have a good knowledge of the KSPK content to guarantee the effectiveness of implementing KSPK in the classroom.
However, not all teachers have the skills to implement KSPK in the assessments they conduct.Most preschool teachers have skills in conducting assessments of preschool students, but not all of them were able to implement assessments based on KSPK (Abdul Halim, et al., 2018).In other words, teachers' knowledge of KSPK was still at a moderate level.

Methodology
Through the research methodology, the researcher can examine the effectiveness level of this study in terms of its impact on other people or vice versa.Apart from that, it can also help the researcher to observe the commitment given by the selected respondents.Research methodology can be defined as a general approach used by researchers in conducting a study (Leedy & Ormrod, 2001).Chua (2011) defined survey research as a method of collecting data directly from respondents selected by the researcher using oral or written questionnaires.Most researchers use survey research design as feedback from respondents can be obtained quickly.Apart from that, this survey method is also suitable for a large number of respondents.Thus, this study employed a survey research design to collect data from the respondents.

Sample of Study
This study involved 30 respondents from preschool teachers who were randomly selected.These preschool teachers teach in all states throughout Malaysia.Apart from that, the preschool teachers involved in this study also have different demographic backgrounds in terms of academic qualifications, work experience and teaching experience in preschool classrooms.

Instrument of Study
The research instrument used in this study was in the form of a questionnaire that was distributed through the Google Form application to all the samples involved.Google Form was selected due to the pandemic factor that has affected this country and the world.It limited the movement of the researcher to meet all the respondents involved.The questions of the questionnaire in this study took into account the validity of two experts in the field of Preschool Education.Both experts agreed on all the questions in this questionnaire, but there was some confusion on some questions.The reliability value of this questionnaire was 0.95.The Cronbach Alpha value of 0.95 showed that all the questions in this questionnaire were at a very good level.

Data Analysis Methods
This questionnaire contained five parts that must be answered by all respondents involved, namely Part A: Demographic Information of Respondents, Part B: Curriculum, Part C: Assessment, Part D: Training, Assistance and Technical Support, and Part E: Teaching and Professional Knowledge.This questionnaire used a 4-point Likert scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree and 4 = strongly agree.The questionnaire in this study was developed based on the NAEYC Performance Standard.In addition, this questionnaire was adopted from a study from abroad titled An Evaluation of Quality in Early Education: The Role of Curriculum and Teacher-Child Outcomes.The questionnaire also considered the situation and atmosphere of the preschool education system in Malaysia The raw data obtained were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software.This software was used to examine see the accuracy of the data analysis results from the raw data.In this study, the mean value, percentage and standard deviation were recorded since this study was a descriptive study.

Research Findings and Discussion
The research findings of this study are explained starting with the demographics of the respondents, and then followed by the research questions.

Respondent Demographics
Items found in the respondent's demographic section were teaching experience, experience in preschool, education level, courses related to KSPK, and courses related to assessment.  1, it was found that 46.7% of the respondents had teaching experience for 6 to 10 years.Whereas, 2% of respondents each had teaching experience between 11 to 15 years and 16 years and above, respectively.In addition, 46.7% of respondents had experience teaching in preschool classes for 6 to 10 years, whereas 2% of respondents had experience teaching in preschool classes for the period of 11 to 15 years and 16 years and above, respectively.Moreover, Table 1 also shows the percentage of education levels of the respondents involved.It was found that 86.7% of the respondents had a Bachelor's degree in Education, while 3.3% of the respondents had a Diploma.Furthermore, 96.7% of respondents had received courses related to KSPK, and 3.3% of respondent did not receive course related to KSPK.For course related to assessment, about 86.7% of respondents had participated.The remaining 13.3% of respondents did not or had not yet received a course related to assessment.

Teachers' Understanding
Research Question 1: Do preschool teachers have a good understanding of the KSPK content?
Based on Table 3, it was found that the mean score of the entire item was at a high level.The mean score of 3.70 represented that the respondents agreed that KSPK emphasizes the development of students' gross motor and fine motor skills.The lowest mean score was 3.27, indicating a moderate level for questions on item number 12. Overall, the mean score of the questions in this section was 3.50, and the standard deviation was .382.Referring to the mean score interpretation table, it was at a high level.This demonstrated that the respondents understand the KSPK contents well.Notes: 1 (strongly disagree); 2 (disagree); 3 (agree); 4 (strongly agree)

Teachers' Assessment Skills
Research Question 2: Do preschool teachers have good skills in making assessments based on KSPK?Table 4 shows the mean score, standard deviation and interpretation of the mean score for questions in part C involving the respondent's skills and knowledge of assessment.The highest mean score value was 3.70 on question number 11involving the assessment carried out by the respondents on their students based on the cognitive domain.Based on the mean score value, it was found that most respondents always assess their students based on the cognitive domain.In addition, it was also revealed that the lowest mean score value was 2.90 on question number 19 involving the respondent's skill in using anecdotal records.Therefore, it implied that most respondents were less skilled in using anecdotal records when conducting assessments.Overall, the mean value was 3.38 based on the mean score interpretation table, indicating that the respondents have a simple knowledge of the assessment that needs to be conducted on preschool students in their classrooms.

Training, Support and Assistance
Research Question 3: Do preschool teachers receive training, support and technical assistance related to KSPK? Table 5 shows the mean score value for the questions in part D. The questions in this part involved training and technical assistance received by the respondents who were pre-school teachers.The lowest mean value was 3.07 on question number 1.This question involved training or courses received related to the optimal use of the classroom.Based on the mean values, it was revealed that most respondents did not receive training related to the optimal use of the classroom.This has implications on preschool classroom management systems.Overall, the mean average value was 3.20.which could conclude that most respondents did not or receive less training and courses related to KSPK.Mean score interpretation = Moderate Notes: 1 (strongly disagree); 2 (disagree); 3 (agree); 4 (strongly agree)

Teachers' Knowledge
Research Question 4: Do preschool teachers have professional knowledge of KSPK?Table 6 summarizes the mean value and standard deviation for the fourth research question involving professional knowledge of KSPK.Based on the mean score value in Table 6, it was found that the highest mean score value was 3.80 on question number 3.This question involved teacher's teaching technique taking into account the background of the students.Based on the mean score of this question, it was revealed that the respondents took into account the background of their students in the use of appropriate teaching techniques.For questions four to eight, the mean value was 3.60.This value showed that the respondents used various sources in delivering lessons and assessing their students.Overall, the mean value was 3.66 (high) which implied the respondents have a high professional knowledge of KSPK.

Discussion
Preschool teachers should have a good perception of KSPK.It is a crucial document for all preschool teachers.Based on the results of the demographic section, it was found that most respondents have six to ten years of teaching experience in preschool classes.This indicated that most of the respondents involved were novice preschool teachers.
The results of the first research question showed that the respondents have a good knowledge of the KSPK content.This will have an excellent impact on the teaching process in the classroom, and all the respondents involved were prepared to conduct the teaching process in the classroom.There is a similarity in the findings for this question with a previous study, where in the study it was stated that preschool teachers were prepared to implement KSPK in their teaching (Nazri & Nurul, 2018).
Subsequently, analysis was conducted on the second research question, which involved teachers' skills in conducting assessments based on KSPK.The findings indicated that teachers should have knowledge about assessment.According to Rethza and Jamaluddin (2010), knowledge of assessment should be applied in training or courses attended by preschool teachers.The reason was to assist preschool teachers in assessing students and be able to provide appropriate interventions.If preschool teachers do not have good exposure to assessment, it will have an adverse impact on the development of students.Through assessment, teachers can create appropriate interventions for students.
The findings were related to training, support and technical assistance related to KSPK.The findings of this study on the third research question found that its mean value was 3.20 (moderate).This exhibited that most respondents lacked training or courses related to KSPK.In addition, it was also found that most respondents did not receive optimal classroom management training.This may be due to the lack of training or courses organized by MOE, SED and DEO for this matter.This has a negative impact on classroom management.It is anticipated that this matter will be taken seriously by the responsible party to ensure that preschool teachers have good skills in optimal classroom management.
The final research question was related to preschool teachers' professional knowledge of KSPK.Based on the research findings, it was found that overall, respondents have good professional knowledge of KSPK.It may assist the respondents in delivering lessons well in the classrooms, thus creating a good learning atmosphere.Furthermore, the teacher's good professional knowledge of KSPK aids the smooth delivery of teaching in the classroom and further attracts the interest of the students to pay attention when the teaching process is going on.

Conclusion
Based on the research conducted, it clearly showed that the respondents involved have a good perception and understanding of the KSPK.These respondents were able to use KSPK as their reference when delivering lessons in classroom.In addition, the findings also found that most of the questions in this questionnaire showed high values of standard deviation, mean and percentage.Moreover, the preschool teachers' perception of was at a good level.In addition, it was revealed that the results of this study can assist those responsible for Preschool Education such as MOE, SED and DEO to identify the problems faced by preschool teachers against KSPK.This study also aids these parties to plan programs or courses to improve preschool teachers' understanding of KSPK.The limitation of the study was the difficulty in collecting questionnaire data following the ongoing pandemic.For future studies, researchers can further extend this study by developing the questions in the questionnaire and incorporating all preschool teachers in Malaysia.

TABLE 3
Percentage Score for the Frequency of Understanding About the KSPK Content

TABLE 4
Percentage Score for the Frequency of Assessment Skills Based on KSPK

TABLE 5
Percentage Score for Frequency of Training, support and technical assistance related to KSPK

TABLE 6
Percentage score for the frequency of preschool teachers' level of knowledge about KSPK