As I would more or less do every morning, I flipped the pages of the newspaper past the many pictures of LIMA, to go to the letters section. There were some rather interesting letters today, one which had this idea that with the increasing amount of social ills present in society, that pendidikan moral, or moral education, should be taught to children of all ages. I believe that this view is flawed in the sense that it does not look at the big picture. It sounds more like a product of endless "conditioning", or how we are made to believe that it can actually work judging by the amount of marks we get by putting it as one of the solutions in our essays in school.
As a person who has personally gone through the topic of moral education, I strongly believe that not only it does not address the purpose that some well meaning rakyat, the Ministry of Education, and parents think, it backfires to an extent. People think that by repeatedly asking teenagers to read about moral values, that they would be instilled with them. But is this how people really are instilled with them? I find that idea nonsensical! Rote learning is one of the worst ways to learn something. In case you don't know what is rote, it is simply repeating one fact over and over again until it sinks in. Does repeating "I will be responsible for my actions" make the person more responsible? Actions speak louder than words my friend. If you believe the converse, then can become politician already lah.
I am a firm believer in the traditional methodology of problem solving - first, we need to find out what the problem is before we can begin theorizing possible solutions to it. After all, if we don't know the problem in the first place, then how are we expected to deal with it in the best possible manner? It is the same as a doctor who doesn't know if the patient has cold or cancer. How to cure the fella? Identifying the real root of a problem is one of the most important part of problem solving, which is why there are even sectors of organizations dedicated to such a function. In fact, that is how the term troubleshooting came about. We really do need to know what is the problem before we can fix it. I dislike assuming things as they are, but as far as the letter went, I strongly believe that the person made too many assumptions, and most fatally put too much faith in a moral education subject that I would argue to be ineffective in it's best light.
If we truly believe that the problem lies elsewhere rather than just being laid on the "moral values" that our generation lacks, then many root causes appear. It could be uncontrolled birth rates in the past leading to a staggering unemployment statistic of today. It could be a lack of police involvement in certain matters where they are badly needed, leading to an upshot of crime. It could be the growing sentiments of racism and hate from one Malaysian towards his fellow Malaysian, that leads to unrest. Or it could be a "lack of moral values", leading to all of the above. Which do you think is more logical?
I understand that the basis of moral education is instill good values in the public, by teaching people the good values, examples where they are applicable, and so on. It is often cited as a "step up" to prevent another racial unrest from occurring, another May 13. But if this is an experiment to keep the peace between the races, should the Ministry of Education check on how it helps? Perhaps through surveys of some sort, or demographic studies. But I suppose it's too early for that kind of thing in Malaysia now. It is imperative that it solve it's big issues first before handling "smaller issues" like this, eh?
Another point on Moral which I highly disagree with is the fact that it counts as a "legal" A subject when scholarship applications are considered. This does not apply merely for Governmental scholarships, but also for private ones. I don't think forgoing knowledge of Physics, of Basic Economics, of Bahasa Melayu etc, would ever justify the burden that is Moral Education.
Do you learn Moral Education in where you study? What do you think of it? Does it really help with reducing the recurrence of social ills? I learn in my secondary school, SMK Methodist before, they called it "sivic" if not mistaken. kla, that's more than enough, bye bye
Brandon~~
As a person who has personally gone through the topic of moral education, I strongly believe that not only it does not address the purpose that some well meaning rakyat, the Ministry of Education, and parents think, it backfires to an extent. People think that by repeatedly asking teenagers to read about moral values, that they would be instilled with them. But is this how people really are instilled with them? I find that idea nonsensical! Rote learning is one of the worst ways to learn something. In case you don't know what is rote, it is simply repeating one fact over and over again until it sinks in. Does repeating "I will be responsible for my actions" make the person more responsible? Actions speak louder than words my friend. If you believe the converse, then can become politician already lah.
I am a firm believer in the traditional methodology of problem solving - first, we need to find out what the problem is before we can begin theorizing possible solutions to it. After all, if we don't know the problem in the first place, then how are we expected to deal with it in the best possible manner? It is the same as a doctor who doesn't know if the patient has cold or cancer. How to cure the fella? Identifying the real root of a problem is one of the most important part of problem solving, which is why there are even sectors of organizations dedicated to such a function. In fact, that is how the term troubleshooting came about. We really do need to know what is the problem before we can fix it. I dislike assuming things as they are, but as far as the letter went, I strongly believe that the person made too many assumptions, and most fatally put too much faith in a moral education subject that I would argue to be ineffective in it's best light.
If we truly believe that the problem lies elsewhere rather than just being laid on the "moral values" that our generation lacks, then many root causes appear. It could be uncontrolled birth rates in the past leading to a staggering unemployment statistic of today. It could be a lack of police involvement in certain matters where they are badly needed, leading to an upshot of crime. It could be the growing sentiments of racism and hate from one Malaysian towards his fellow Malaysian, that leads to unrest. Or it could be a "lack of moral values", leading to all of the above. Which do you think is more logical?
I understand that the basis of moral education is instill good values in the public, by teaching people the good values, examples where they are applicable, and so on. It is often cited as a "step up" to prevent another racial unrest from occurring, another May 13. But if this is an experiment to keep the peace between the races, should the Ministry of Education check on how it helps? Perhaps through surveys of some sort, or demographic studies. But I suppose it's too early for that kind of thing in Malaysia now. It is imperative that it solve it's big issues first before handling "smaller issues" like this, eh?
Another point on Moral which I highly disagree with is the fact that it counts as a "legal" A subject when scholarship applications are considered. This does not apply merely for Governmental scholarships, but also for private ones. I don't think forgoing knowledge of Physics, of Basic Economics, of Bahasa Melayu etc, would ever justify the burden that is Moral Education.
Do you learn Moral Education in where you study? What do you think of it? Does it really help with reducing the recurrence of social ills? I learn in my secondary school, SMK Methodist before, they called it "sivic" if not mistaken. kla, that's more than enough, bye bye
Brandon~~
2 comments:
moral study huh....i remember its a wonder fulllll sub as it teaches us to be good....kind.....loving......caring.....etcetc which u can actually apply all these moral values towards ur love one....n ya do believe me ....its charms !!!! hmph
bahh. i failed in this subject. haha
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