The Learning Teacher

Here’s wishing all my Hindu friends and their families a wonderful Deepavali and a day of great joy!

In 2001 I published A Bibliography of Malaysian Literature in English. I had started compiling data a few years earlier and wanted to put together a volume which documented the development of Malaysian Literature in English as a literary tradition.

I have had a very good response to the volume and I was very encouraged by the fact that the bibilography had been purchased by many international university libraries.

All bibilograhies become outdated the very day they are published as the result of the many publications that come almost on a daily basis. So there is indeed a need to continually update the data.

I have continued to collect data on the publication of Malaysian literary works in English. I have been aided by friends and writers who keep me informed of their latest publications.

I am working towards publishing an updated version of the 2001 bibliography in mid-2010. I would like to invite my readers to send me bibliographical details of Malaysian English literary publications they may know - both written in English or translated into English.

Thanks for your support!

A few of my colleagues in Asia TEFL have been sending out greetings for Rosh Hashana, Eid and the Puja festivals. Amidst all these message a Singaporean colleague shared a common ground among all our varied religions - the golden rule.

As I had just written about International Peace Day, I thought how appropriate it is to look at the various religions which attempt to bring out the best in us. So I googled “golden rule” and found the following quotes from the many religions of the world.

The religions are listed in alphabetical order.

Do take time to have a read.

Again - such wonderful material for classroom discussions.  

Bahá’í Faith:   “Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not.” “Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself.” Baha’u'llah

 ”And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself.” Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

 Brahmanism: “This is the sum of Dharma [duty]: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you”. Mahabharata, 5:1517 ”

 Buddhism:   “…a state that is not pleasing or delightful to me, how could I inflict that upon another?” Samyutta NIkaya v. 353 

 Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” Udana-Varga 5:18

 Christianity:   “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12, King James Version.

 ”And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” Luke 6:31, King James Version.

 ”…and don’t do what you hate…”, Gospel of Thomas 6. The Gospel of Thomas is one of about 40 gospels that were widely accepted among early Christians, but which never made it into the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). 

 Confucianism:  “Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you” Analects 15:23

 ”Tse-kung asked, ‘Is there one word that can serve as a principle of conduct for life?’ Confucius replied, ‘It is the word ’shu’ — reciprocity. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.’” Doctrine of the Mean 13.3

 ”Try your best to treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself, and you will find that this is the shortest way to benevolence.” Mencius VII.A.4

 Ancient Egyptian: “Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do.” The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, 109 - 110 Translated by R.B. Parkinson. The original dates to 1970 to 1640 BCE and may be the earliest version ever written. 3

 Hinduism:   This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517

 Humanism: “(5) Humanists acknowledge human interdependence, the need for mutual respect and the kinship of all humanity.”

 ”(11) Humanists affirm that individual and social problems can only be resolved by means of human reason, intelligent effort, critical thinking joined with compassion and a spirit of empathy for all living beings. ” 4

 ”Don’t do things you wouldn’t want to have done to you, British Humanist Society. 3

Islam: “None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” Number 13 of Imam “Al-Nawawi’s Forty Hadiths.” 5

 Jainism:   “Therefore, neither does he [a sage] cause violence to others nor does he make others do so.” Acarangasutra 5.101-2. 

 ”In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self.” Lord Mahavira, 24th Tirthankara

 ”A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated. “Sutrakritanga 1.11.33

 Judaism:   “…thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”, Leviticus 19:18 

 ”What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary.” Talmud, Shabbat 31a.

 ”And what you hate, do not do to any one.” Tobit 4:15 6

 Native American Spirituality:  “Respect for all life is the foundation.” The Great Law of Peace.

 ”All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One.” Black Elk

 ”Do not wrong or hate your neighbor. For it is not he who you wrong, but yourself.” Pima proverb.

 Roman Pagan Religion: “The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves.”

 Shinto:   “The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form”

 ”Be charitable to all beings, love is the representative of God.” Ko-ji-ki Hachiman Kasuga

 Sikhism:   Compassion-mercy and religion are the support of the entire world”. Japji Sahib 

 ”Don’t create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone.” Guru Arjan Devji 259

 ”No one is my enemy, none a stranger and everyone is my friend.” Guru Arjan Dev : AG 1299

 Sufism: “The basis of Sufism is consideration of the hearts and feelings of others. If you haven’t the will to gladden someone’s heart, then at least beware lest you hurt someone’s heart, for on our path, no sin exists but this.” Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Master of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order.

Taoism:  “Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.” T’ai Shang Kan Ying P’ien. 

 ”The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful.” Tao Teh Ching, Chapter 49 

 Unitarian: 

“The inherent worth and dignity of every person;”

“Justice, equity and compassion in human relations…. ”

“The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;”

“We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” Unitarian principles. 7,8

 Wicca: “An it harm no one, do what thou wilt” (i.e. do what ever you will, as long as it harms nobody, including yourself). One’s will is to be carefully thought out in advance of action. This is called the Wiccan Rede

Yoruba: (Nigeria): “One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.”

 Zoroastrianism:   “That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself”. Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5

 ”Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others.”  Shayast-na-Shayast 13:29

Some philosophers’ statements are:

 Epictetus: “What you would avoid suffering yourself, seek not to impose on others.” (circa 100 CE)

 Kant: “Act as if the maxim of thy action were to become by thy will a universal law of nature.”

 Plato: “May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me.” (Greece; 4th century BCE)

 Socrates: “Do not do to others that which would anger you if others did it to you.” (Greece; 5th century BCE)

 Seneca: “Treat your inferiors as you would be treated by your superiors,” Epistle 47:11 (Rome; 1st century CE)

Source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc.htm

How appropriate it is that this year the International Day of Peace should fall during the Muslim festive period - a  time when asking for forgiveness and apologising for wrongs is the practise.

A time for reconcilation and peace seems amicable to all. We could take this beyond all religions when all of us can gain from a world in peace.

Even as people seek reconciliation at a personal level, it is indeed important that we seek peace and reconciliation at the public sphere.   

Below is an extract from an article by Suhada  Elis  from The New Straits Times (18 Sept. 2009) on International Day of Peace and related activities in Malaysia. 

September 21 is International Day of Peace and some non-governmental bodies are celebrating it on a large scale.

CANDLE-LIGHTING for peace and a peace quiz are among the activities lined up by the Taiping Peace Initiative (TPI) for the day of peace on Monday.For the past nine years, TPI has been celebrating the event to promote a concept of “triple” peace — inner peace, social peace and earth peace — so the world would be a better place.This year, the event at the Taiping Sentral Mall is expected to pull in 20,000 people although it is the second day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
“We are confident that many people will turn up because besides the peace initiative, the event will have a festival-like atmosphere.“It will be an interesting day indeed,” said TPI co-founder and coordinator Beh Yang Toh. TPI is the brainchild of Taiping Tourist Association which partnered with Taiping Municipal Council, the United Nations and Universiti Sains Malaysia to build a foundation which supports world peace.The group, established in 2001, also promotes Taiping, which means “everlasting peace” in Chinese, as a peace centre.Beh said the celebrations this year would kick off with the “Seed of Change” exhibition, organised by the Soka Gakkai Malaysia, on earth preservation. He said a peace candle lighting would be held at the mall compound to deliver the message of peace to the public.“The crowd will also have a chance to participate in a peace quiz and watch cultural performances by teams from Germany and Belgium.“Before that, we will observe a moment of silence to pray for a better future for the country and the world.”

Great if we can make it to any of these events but more importantly, it will be good for us to spread the word about world peace. Teachers are in the best position to educate the young on this. It’s not too late to do it even after the Day when our students come back after the Raya break. The Internet could be a great source of information on the event. So here’s wishing all World Peace.  And as Eliot concluded in ’The Wasteland’ - Shanti Shanti Shanti.

Greetings to all my Muslim friends and colleagues. Have a happy time with family and friends.

Best wishes!

Edwin

The School of Education, Languages and Communications, Wawasan Open University (WOU)  will co-organise the 2nd National Literacies Day with the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) this year. The event will be held in WOU KL Campus on 10th Oct from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. A number of 2-hour workshops will be held throughout the day. The fees for each workshop is RM50 and is open to all. The workshops are held throughout the day. Interested participants should contact the MELTA Office.

Below are details about 3 workshops from Wawasan Open University staff.

Workshop 1

Political Literacy - Understanding Civil Rights

U. K Menon

Wawasan Open University

Abstract

Most systems deal with literacy in the context of reading and writing. Very often, the ability to sign one’s name is a sign of being literate. Political systems using symbols and crosses to conduct elections demand a much lower literacy. One suspects that political systems are threatened by anything higher. It is obvious that in order to be politically effective, citizens must transcend the minimum literacy required by the political system. They must be literate about civil rights and the political system.

In this session, we argue that the aims of literacy and education should be to create a community of people who are politically literate and who are able to critically evaluate political decisions. In Malaysia, a written constitution provides us with a basic text to develop political literacy. However, our schools and universities do not teach the constitution unless you chose to attend law school.  Political literacy should start with an understanding of the fundamental liberties that are guaranteed under the constitution. That literacy should be developed to a point where, not only will the citizens be able to understand and defend it but also to critically examine it. Then and only then will we be able to make some claim about being politically literate.

Participants will be led through the Federal Constitution concentrating on chapter 10 that deals with fundamental liberties.

Biodata

Mr. U. K Menon, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Strategy, Planning and Continuing Education), Wawasan Open University (WOU), is a lawyer by training and teacher by choice. Mr. Menon has taught law in 3 jurisdictions - Malaysia, Australia and the US. In the course of his long career, he has also been active in consumer affairs, civil rights and in extending higher education to people who are excluded from traditional institutions of higher education.

He has also presented a series entitled ‘Law & Us’ over RTM which ran for more than 2 years. In his current position, he is attempting to set up a series of formal programmes as part of WOU’s continuing education programme to provide Malaysians from all walks of life an understanding of our constitution and political system.

Workshop 2

See Wall-to-Wall: E-Literacies in the Digital Age

Malachi Edwin Vethamani

School of Education, Languages and Communications

Wawasan Open University

ABSTRACT

If you did not recognize the expression in the title of this workshop, then it might suggest that you are out of touch with some new expressions that have emerged in today’s digital communication. The use of computer-mediated applications, mobiles and other multimedia for communication, the emergence of new forms of social communication in the Internet and their relevance in our lives to be able to effectively communicate in the 21^st century are the focus of this workshop. Participants will be introduced to these new forms of communications and some hands-on experience will be provided.

BIODATA

Malachi Edwin Vethamani is currently Dean and Associate Professor at the School of Education, Languages and Communications, Wawasan Open University. He was with the Faculty of Educational Studies, University Putra Malaysia from 1986 till early 2009. He holds a doctorate in Literature in English from the University of Nottingham, England. He is a recipient of the Chevening Award (1993-1996), the Fulbright Scholarship (2000) and Sumito Foundation Research Grant (2009). He is Vice President of the Asian Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (Asia TEFL).

Workshop 3 

Literacy in Special Education

Leong Han Ming

School of Education, Languages and Communications,

Wawasan Open University

ABSTRACT

This workshop will focus on some of the practices in special education that are proven to have significant effects on students with difficulties in reading in English. This workshop will benefit teachers working with learning disabilities, remedial students and at-risk students who need specialised, extensive guidance in literacy. The workshop will begin with a summary of research findings and conclusions by the National Reading Panel in the United States on effective literacy instruction and discusses recommendations based on these findings. This workshop will cover three key features of effective literacy programmes for low-progress readers, that is ‘phonics’ or word attack skills, sight words recognition, and guided student reading. The workshop will examine the importance and implementation of early phonology and phonemic awareness training, developing letter recognition materials, book leveling and fluency and training. Opportunities will be made for participants to practice the skills learnt in this workshop in order to ensure that they are able to implement the strategies effectively.

BIODATA

Mr. Leong Han Ming is a lecturer at the School of Education, Languages and Communications, Wawasan Open University. He holds a Masters in Special Education from Macquarie University, where he received training in conducting the proven MULTILIT® (’Making Up Lost Time In Literacy’) Programme developed by researchers at the university. He is experienced as a special education teacher in Wings Melaka Early Intervention Center and has exposure to various international special education settings.

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My mother died peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday late evening, just before midnight after a long illness. The reality of her death has not quite sink in yet. But her illness and the eventual loss of our mother had been in my thoughts for many years.I found writing about my mother one way of coming to terms with my mum and below are two poems I feel ready at this stage to share.

My Beautiful Butterfly

Lying on my mother’s bed

I’d watch her

begin her Sunday ritual.

She’d open her cupboard

and there before her lay

shelves of neatly arranged sarees.

A splendid array of colours.

All calling out to be worn.

I never knew how she chose.

I’d put a word for my choice.

She’d smile and pay no heed.

Freshly bathed

With quaint modesty

She’d rush into her bedroom.

Now with immaculate precision

she’d drape her body

with yards of cloth.

Within minutes she’d emerge -

a beautiful butterfly!

I would stare in wonder

at the tall fair lovely woman -

my mother.

Then my young adult decisions

tore me away from her …

I never returned to my mother’s bedroom again -

A childhood privy

gone forever.

Every Sunday without fail

my mother had gone to church

(and would continue even in a wheelchair).

She no longer wears sarees

An Indonesian maid dresses her

in cotton kaftans

It’s all very practical now.

My mother’s sarees sit quietly on the shelves of her cupboard.

Are they still calling out to be worn?

I know the next time I see her in a saree

she will not be that tall lovely lady -

my beautiful butterfly.

She would lay small and shriveled

in her final bed.

Malachi Edwin Vethamani

November 2007

Loss

As I land at Sultan Ahmad Shah Airport

I think to myself:

It’s such a kudisai.

Kudisai kudisai kudisai

The words ring in my ears.

The last time I heard it

was probably on my mother’s lips.

These days the only words we hear

are those she repeats after my sister.

We once lived in what some would have called a kudisai

My fondest of childhood memories are there at that kudisai

My fiercest of nightmares, I reckon, are there at that kudisai too.

Kudisai kudisai kudisai

I have not heard that word for years

but it returned today.

Why did it return to me today?

Some foreboding of hearing my mother speak again?

An answer to my brother’s fervent prayers?

Kudisai kudisai kudisai

As I get into a taxi

I think to myself:

Lost is the kudisai we once called home.

Lost is our mother we lovingly call Amma.

Malachi Edwin Vethamani

5 May 2007

Kudisai is a Tamil word for shack or small house

A word of thanks to all of you for your words of comfort, flowers, coming to our home and for attending the funeral service and burial. 

Alex, at your request! Click on the link for highlights on the forum

http://www.wou.edu.my/news_gal_4July2009.aspx

All others are welcome to view and comment.

In my last blog I briefly mentioned my fears about the idea of making it compulsory for students to get at least a passing grade  in the English language subject for SPM. I want to take up that issue a little more.

It is common knowledge that for some SPM and STPM subjects, the passing marks are ridiculously low. I wont be too surprised if that might already be the case for the English Language subject even now.

We need to rethink about the notion of grading our students. The letter-grade has become so meaningless and we don’t know what a student with an A grade is capable of doing. We need to focus on competencies and skills. One of the things that Dr. Lee Boon Hwa, Head, English Language and Literature Unit, Curriculum Development Section, Ministry of Education, mentioned at the Wawasan Open University Forum on 4th July was how the new Primary School syllabus will focus on skills development. I believe this is a step in the right direction.

We need to focus on developing vary language skills and sub-skills. We should then set certain benchmarks to gauge our students’ development and competencies in these skills. As is the case with many other examinations, including the MUET (Malaysian University English Examination), we should have bands to show what the learners have achieved and are capable of.

We don’t even have to given an overall band. We can give individual bands for each language skill. This way, it will be clear to all what the learner has achieved after 11 years of English language instruction. There is no fear that grammar and the language arts (literature) will the be ignored. The reading and writing components will incorporate these elements in the assessment.

Let us set some benchmarks for our students to achieve so that they know what skills they are competent in and what skills they need to work at in order be considered a competent user of the language. Both the student and those reading the student’s results be able to know what skills have been achieved by the student. This I believe will help raise the standard of English among students. Appropriate remedial work can be carried out for students according to the deficiencies in the specific language skills.

What good is it to claim that students have an A grade when they cannot speak well or write a coherent paragraph? Let’s just explicitly state what the student has achieved in terms of skills and competencies.

Teaching and learning of English is back  in the news again. The School of Education, Languages and Communications and the Centre for Professional Development and Continuing Education at Wawasan Open University will hold a forum to get feeback on comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister who is  the Minister of Education. Among the things he mentioned was whether to have a mandatory pass for the English Language subject at the SPM level.

Of course there is still the other nagging question of whether Mathematics and Science will be continued to be taught in English.  I have no desire to go into any discussion about the merits about using English as a medium of instruction for these 2 subjects. Nor do I want to fuel the fire to the rumours that are going around about that policy.

However, I like to consider an option. Instead of an either or policy - teach in BM or English, why not give students, parents and teachers a choice. We now have resources in both languages. Millions of ringgit have been spent on training etc. Let’s allow certain schools to teach in English and others in BM. Testing has been bilingual for a few years. In fact most teaching, I think has been bilingual despite the present policy. So teaching in either language is still viable.

This is not reverting to Malay and English medium schools as all other subjects will continue to be taught in BM.

Again there will be teething problems - which schools teach in BM or English. School PTAs can be given the responsibility of determining the choice. If we go buy what is reported in the Press, the most rural schools will pick BM. That will be their choice. Those who continue to study in English and are proficient in English will not lose the competitive edge we want to create for our students who want to be players in the global scene.

On another note, what does it mean to make English Language a compulsory pass in SPM? Are we ready for such a decision? The disparity between rural and urban schools is a major concern. But besides that, we need to ask what competencies should our students have in order to get a pass grade. Let’s not talk about marks. The cynic in me and my experience seem to fear that the passing marks might become so ridiculously low that students will pass but the standard of English might just get worse.

Anyway, I am looking forward to the forum at WOU on Saturday. I might blog on what transpires.